system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Why are some medications race-based?
gpt
There's sufficient genetic difference between various human races to create different reactions to certain drugs, or increase the possibility of certain reactions in certain races. 

An example of one such difference is a genetic switch in some Asians that floors them completely when they have one drink because their metabolism very rapidly turns the alcohol they ingest into acetaldehyde, which is poisonous when in larger doses and gives them wicked hangovers. 

Some drugs are metabolized or take effect in different ways as programmed by race-specific genetics, and that can lead to bad side-effects such as cancer or a drug that just doesn't work at all.