Alcohol detoxification
![Results of the ISCD 2010 study ranking the levels of damage caused by drugs, in the opinion of drug-harm experts. When harm to self and others is summed, alcohol was the most harmful of all drugs considered, scoring 72.](/Images/godic/202412/18/HarmCausedByDrugsTable.svg5055.png")
![GHB sold in Italy for therapeutic use.](/Images/godic/202412/18/Alcover_17,5_-_Gamma-Hydroxybutyric_acid5055.JPG")
Alcohol detoxification, or detox, for individuals with alcohol dependence, is the abrupt cessation of alcohol intake, a process often coupled with substitution of cross-tolerant drugs that have effects similar to the effects of alcohol in order to prevent alcohol withdrawal.