Prevention Education Programme for Drug Awareness

Information on Alcohol

Direction: Read the following information carefully.

1. Alcohol is a drug. If you are dependent on alcohol, you are dependent on a drug. Alcohol is the most widely used drug among adults and youth today.
2. Many different beverages contain alcohol in varying amounts. These include beer, wine and wine coolers, whiskey, rum, vodka, and other forms of liquor.
3. Each of the following contains about the same amount of alcohol:
   • A can of beer
   • A glass of wine
   • A shot-glass of whisky or liquor
4. Drinking alcohol while using other drugs, particularly other depressants like sleeping pills, is extremely dangerous and can lead to death. The effect of the two chemicals together is much more serious than the effect of either one alone.
5. How alcohol affects people depends upon many factors, including their size, age, health, Drinking experience, expectations, mood, how much they drink, how quickly they drink it, how much food they have in their stomach, and where they drink.
6. Although alcohol affects the user in many ways, it is mostly a depressant. Alcohol slows down the functioning of the central nervous system-heartbeat, breathing rate, and digestion.
7. Alcohol dulls people’s thoughts and affects their actions and coordination. It can affect judgment and self-control.
8. Alcohol is addictive. It can cause both psychological and physical dependency (the user desperately wants and needs it).
9. The most common adverse reaction to alcohol is a hangover, the “morning after” feeling of tiredness, headache, dizziness, nausea, and vomiting.
10. Many people believe that a hangover can be cured by strong coffee or cold showers. The only “cure” for a hangover is time. After a while the outward effect of the alcohol will wear off. However, over a long period of time, too much alcohol damages the user’s internal organs.
11. Drinking over a long period of time can cause many problems, including a serious disease called cirrhosis of the liver, which is a major cause of death.
12. Too much drinking can also damage the lining of the stomach and lead over time, to stomach ulcers.
13. In spite of what beer, wine, and hard liquor advertisements suggest: (alcohol is very ‘sexy.’) In fact, alcohol can cause impotence and sterility.
14. It is possible to overdose and die from drinking too much alcohol at one time.
15. A heavy alcohol habit may result in brain damage.
16. Under the influence of alcohol, some people can become dangerous, depressed, angry, homicidal, or suicidal. Half of all murders and one- third of all suicides are alcohol-related.
17. Drinking problems don’t just hurt the person who drinks. The person’s family, friends, and employer can be affected. So can innocent bystanders if the person drink and drives.
18. If a pregnant woman drinks, her unborn baby can be seriously hurt Alcoholic women run a great risk of having babies with birth defects. These babies may be deformed or mentally retarded, or suffer from other problems.
19. Half of all car accidents involve a driver who has been drinking.
20. Alcohol affects how the brain operates. As a result, people who have been drinking often have poor judgment and make poor decisions.
21. Some important words:

    Abstainer:

    One who doesn’t drink alcohol or use other drugs.

    Alcoholic:

    A person who suffers from a disease called alcoholism; a problem drinker who can not control her/his drinking.

    Alcoholism:

    The disease of being addicted to alcohol.

    DWI:

    Driving While Intoxicated, a serious crime that can lead to jail, a fine, and/or loss of one’s Drivers license.

    Ethyl Alcohol:

    The form of alcohol in beer, wine, and hard liquor.

    Liver:

    The only organ in the body that can change alcohol (oxidize it) into carbon dioxide and water.

    Methyl Alcohol:

    A poisonous form of alcohol used in anti-freeze, fuel, and paint thinner; it is processed from wood and sometimes called wood alcohol.

    Proof:

    This word is used to describe the amount of alcohol in hard liquor. The proof number is twice the percentage of alcohol. For example, 80 proof whiskey contains 40 % percent alcohol.

    Tolerance:

    A condition that occurs when a person’s system has become accustomed to a certain level of alcohol; the person needs more of the chemical to get high or drunk each time.

Directions: Answer the following questions.

1. What is Alcoholism?


2. What is a hangover, and how can it be cured?


3. Is alcohol considered a drug, and, if so, can people become addicted to it?


4. What happens to the heartbeat and breathing rate of a person who has been drinking alcohol?


5. What can make a difference in the ways different people react to alcohol?


6. How does a problem drinker or an alcoholic hurt more people than just herself/himself?


7. Should a pregnant woman be concerned about drinking alcohol? Why or why not?


8. In what ways can alcohol have negative effects on a person’s body?