[Alcohol--forensic aspects]

Alcohol (resp. ethanol) in forensic medicine includes mainly the following areas and fields of problems: analysis (in particular blood- and breath alcohol), ability to drive resp. DUI/DWI, impairment of responsibility, alcohol use, abuse and dependence, intoxication, alcohol as direct and indirect cause of death and organ damage. A short overview presents these problem areas of alcohol use and misuse as well as results of alcohol research ("ethanology") which may be relevant for clinical use.