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As you get older you may want to
take a drink of beer or cider or wine or some other alcoholic drink.
Before you make that choice, or if you already drink, you should
find out the facts about alcohol.
You probably understand quite a bit
about alcohol already. Your parents might take a drink, some
of your friends or older brothers or sisters might drink. You
may feel if they all drink then it must be alright for you to do the
same.
Before you make that choice take
the time to learn more about alcohol - remember that alcohol is a
drug just like cigarettes, cannabis and ecstasy
and as a result should be treated with caution and respect.
Alcohol enters the bloodstream within minutes of being drunk and
is carried to all parts of the body including the brain.
Beer
and wine and spirits all contain pure alcohol (ethanol) in different
amounts. Therefore different drinks have different strengths -
the higher the percentage of ethanol (pure alcohol) the stronger the
drink.
As well as the effect that alcohol has on your body, when
drinking, accidents are more likely to happen - sometimes very
serious ones because alcohol
affects co-ordination.
- Alcohol is used widely in the
UK.
- The scientific name for alcohol is ethanol.
- Pure ethanol is a colourless flammable liquid.
- Remember: to drink
alcohol or not to drink alcohol, it's your choice, but you must
know the facts first!
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