Health - High proof Alcohol, used responsibly?

[Stanemac12]

Hi all I'm somewhat new to drinking (have been drinking for about 5 months) and I have some questions about health risks in alcohol. There is this high proof alcohol called everclear that is 95% and I have heard about how it can be hazardous to health to the point its illegal to drink it in many states. My question is this: is it really hazardous if you use it "safely" or only if you are stupid about it. Like I can see how if I drank a whole bottle of it straight it might do some harm. But like what I do with it often is mix it with say a soda or something in relatively small quantities and drink it somewhat slowly. Over the course of a night I might drink 1/3 to 1/2 of the flask (the whole flask is 200 mL). So can anyone let me in on this and tell me anything that can help me be more knowledgable? Thanks a lot in advance.

[Paracelsus]

As long as it is mixed into something else to reach a reasonable concentration (30-70% ABV, depending on taste), such high-purity alcohol is not any more dangerous than other drinks of the concentration you dilute it to.

[AquafinaOrbit]

Alcohol is Alcohol. If you intake 5 shots of 50% or 2.6 shots of 95% your body will be intaking the same thing. However, it is a good idea to dilute it some because that much alcohol at once can be hard to digest for the body, not to mention it will burn your throat. So yeah, as said simply dilute the stuff yourself and youll be fine.

[gunnaknow]

It's dangerous neat because it damages cellular tissue. When diluted it is completely safe. The usual dilution rate is one part pure alcohol to one part water/juice because it's simple and easy to measure, giving approx. 48% ABV. If one wants something extra strong then they usually mix two parts pure alchol with one part water/juice, to give approx. 63% ABV. The very edge of what is safe is three parts alcohol to one part water/juice, giving approx 71% ABV but it's not advised to take it that far because one wants a safe margin for error just incase one slightly under or over measures. There is no margin for error when mixing 3 parts pure alcohol to one part water/juice, so it's safer to stick with a 2/1 ratio as the maximum.