system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
[Marvel, but could apply to other universes] Can characters with a healing factor get intoxicated?

I am not only meaning drugs and alcohol, but poisons as well. I watch more movies then I read comic books, so I am not exactly sure.
gpt
Well, they should be able to. For the most part, intoxication isn't caused by "damage" it's caused by certain chemicals interacting with other brain chemicals and neuroreceptors in the same way that many normal bodily processes do, like hormones. While many intoxicants cause damage to the brain and other organs, this is just a problem for long term users and it's not the damage that causes the intoxication.

I remember an episode of Heroes where the cheerleader was able to drink loads of tequila and not get drunk because "her liver healed instantly" which is complete nonsense. While alcohol can cause liver damage, this is not directly related to the intoxication effect. A healing factor would merely mean that you could get totally pissed every day for the rest of your life and not worry about cirrosis.

On a related note, many characters with healing factors also have high metabolic rates which would mean that the alcohol gets filtered out of their bloodstream quicker.

So, for example, the Hulk would need to drink an immense amount of alcohol to get drunk (due to his significant body mass) he wouldn't be drunk for long due to his high metabolism and his healing factor means that he could do so without worrying about liver damage, it may also help with a hangover.