Iwas doing some reading about the Tarahumara (Rarămuri) Indians of the Mexican Sierra Madre and ran across this explanation for intoxication. It works for me!
When a person drinks the alcohol, in this case the corn beer,(it) goes to their stomach which is the area where the largest souls in the body live. And the souls don't like the smell of the beer so they leave. And that means that the only souls that are left inside the body, taking care of the body but also, um, controlling the body, are the smaller souls which are like small children. And so people say that is why when people drink they act like small children. -William Merrill, Smithsonian InstitutionI am assuming that this was part of an interview. I did a small amount of editing for clarity. Here is the link if anyone would like to read more.
http://www.powernet.net/~jackkelly/tarahumra/raramuri.html 
