Originally Posted by nomis
With regards to Asians not being prone to alcoholism, all I can say, is anyone who says that has clearly never laid a foot in Korea. Alcoholism and abuse is a very present reality in that country, perhaps due to 40 years of Japanese colonialism, division of their country (in some cases families) and a devastating civil war.
There is some evidence to suggest genetic mutations related to ethnicity play a part in addiction. The comment from the other poster about Asians and addiction is not completely unfounded, but it is by no means meant to be taken as a sweeping generalization. I've read about in various places.
This article discusses it a little bit.
The quest for genes that influence alcohol abuse follows two paths. One goal is to locate genes that predispose a person to alcoholism. The other is to identify genes that help to prevent this from happening. Li and his coworkers have made important advances in this latter category. "We have identified two genes that protect against heavy drinking, and these are particularly prevalent among Asians," Li says. "We have shown that Native Americans, who have a high rate of alcoholism, do not have these protective genes. The one that is particularly effective is a mutation of the gene for the enzyme aldehyde dehydrogenase, which plays a major role in metabolizing alcohol. The mutation is found very frequently in Chinese and Japanese populations but is less common among other Asian groups, including Koreans, the Malayo-Polynesian group, and others native to the Pacific Rim. "We've also looked at Euro-Americans, Native Americans, and Eskimos, and they don't have that gene mutation," says Li. Thus, incidentally, the study of genetic mutations and alcoholism links native North-American populations to central Asian ancestors, not to those from China and Japan.
Again, doesn't really mean a lot in the scheme of things, because anyone who drinks or uses can potentially find themselves addicted, but it's still interesting stuff.