Your head throbs rhythmically and stomach pains churn like you've just eaten three Taco Bell bean burritos. One look at the rays of sun that slice through the blinds sends you diving under the covers with a sudden desire to vomit.
For some college students, these symptoms are all too familiar after an intense night of drinking, making hangover prevention and cures a hot topic.
The latest product to hit the market claiming to help fight against hangovers is AWOL, which stands for Alcohol Without Liquid.
North London businessman Dominic Simler developed the idea for the AWOL machine, which originally vaporized liquors including vodka and absinthe to be breathed in through the nostrils. Now, all types of alcohol are vaporized in the machine and users can suck the cloudy mixture into their lungs through an attached tube. It takes about 20 minutes to inhale one shot of alcohol.
The product, which is essentially an extension of the popular oxygen bar trend of the late 1990s, is not sold in Tempe.
But, the U.S. distributor of AWOL, Spirit Partners Inc., is trying to change that.
While some local businesses such as Ruby Tuesday's on Mill Avenue declined to test the new product, stating that the machines cost too much money and are a risky investment, others have given it a shot.
The Tavern on Mill Avenue hosted a demonstration of the machines a few weeks ago. The bar had mixed reactions.
"It's like smoking your liquor," says Tempe resident Doug Collins, who sampled a few hits of AWOL during the demonstration.
Collins was with a group of friends when he tried the machine using Crown Royal and says the vapor was very aromatic.
"It hits your bloodstream immediately after you inhale and lasts for about 10 or 15 minutes, just like regular alcohol," he says.
However, Collins was less enthusiastic about buying his own machine or paying for a shot of it at the bar.
"It was fun, but it wouldn't be worth it to pay for it," he says.
Economics junior Dan Sowders also tried AWOL at The Tavern and had mixed opinions.
"The buzz was intense, but it scared me a little because it hits you right away," Sowders says.
AWOL was first introduced to the world at a bar in Bordello, England. Soon after, it became widespread in bars throughout Europe and Asia.
After the debut of AWOL in New York, the state passed a bill prohibiting businesses to sell more than three consecutive shots of AWOL to one customer.
However, most other states including Arizona, have not yet passed any laws regarding the contraption simply because AWOL has not yet been sold on a regular basis in any of them.
"I'm not aware of any legal bars to the possession of it in Arizona," says Andrew Ching, city attorney for Tempe. "Since it is so new, there really hasn't been an opportunity to think about that."
While a one-person machine costs $300 plus shipping, a four-person machine -- which would make the most sense for businesses -- costs $3,000.
The product promises a "sense of well being and a mild euphoria," and is being marketed as a creative way to enjoy the perks of drinking alcohol without dealing with pesky hangovers.
But some experts say the promise of avoiding hangovers is questionable.
"There's no way you could avoid a hangover by vaporizing alcohol, since hangovers occur as a result of alcohol being present in the blood," says Stephen Williams, a chemistry professor at ASU.
"You will feel it right away because it is traveling through the lungs instead of the stomach, but that has nothing to do with having a hangover since the alcohol itself is what dehydrates the body," he says.
Still, ASU students say they would like to AWOL to be available to them.
"I would definitely be interested in trying AWOL, even if I had to pay $5 or $6 a shot for it," says marketing junior Brandon Weaver.
Kristian Lindo, a doorman at The Tavern, says the bar does not plan on arranging for any more samples of AWOL since the reactions were not entirely over the top.
"The cost-benefit doesn't make sense. Not enough revenue would be brought in versus the cost of the product," he says.
Kevin Morse, president of AWOL, did not return calls to SPM for comment.
Reach the reporter at kate.kliner@asu.edu.
