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Love for Life
6 Banbridge Road
Waringstown
Craigavon
Northern Ireland
BT66 7QA
Telephone - (028) 3882 0555
Fax - (028) 3882 0550
Web - www.loveforlife.org.uk
Email - info@loveforlife.org.uk
Copyright © 2001 Love for Life

www.whoschoosing.org.uk

ALCOHOL

Introduction
...alcohol can make you feel sick and do things you may feel bad about afterwards!

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 should know all the facts first!

Effect of Alcohol on Your Body

Alcohol enters the bloodstream within minutes of drinking it and is carried to all parts of the body including the brain. The first effect of alcohol is to change a person’s mood. It is a depressant drug - it depresses (or slows down) the way the body works. It switches off the part of the brain that controls judgement, making people do things they may not normally do.

How alcohol affects the body depends upon things such as:

- body weight

- male or female

- how quickly it is drunk

- length of time from last meal

- if taken with another drug

The same amount of alcohol may have different effects upon different people. Young people especially need to be careful because their bodies may not be fully ready to deal with alcohol in the same way as an adult. This is partly due to the smaller body size and partly because a young person’s liver is not as good at dealing with the toxic substances found in alcohol.

In small amounts alcohol may produce feelings of relaxation, fun and laughter. It can make it easier for people to enjoy the company of others, and for a short time it may help people forget about things that are worrying them.

However, in larger amounts alcohol may make some people want to fight and argue. People drinking alcohol may become uncoordinated and lose control, may become sleepy, and may (if they drink a lot) cause serious harm to themselves and possibly others.

Short Term Effects	Long Term Effects
vomiting headache accidents getting into fights losing control of one's actions death through alcohol poisoning attempted suicide family arguments dehydration	damage to the liver, stomach, heart and/or brain loss of memory put on weight changes in personality become dependant - need it all the time unable to digest food properly

Strength of Alcohol

All alcoholic drinks contain pure alcohol (ethanol) in different amounts. The strength of the alcoholic drink is shown on the label by a number followed by 'Alcohol % vol', '% vol' or '% ABV.' The higher the percentage, the stronger the drink.

For example, a bottle of beer may have '3.5% ABV' written on the label - this means that 3.5% of the drink is pure alcohol.

One way of comparing the amount of alcohol in different types of drinks is by using ‘units’. One unit is the same as 1cl of pure alcohol. Each of the following contains one unit:
(ABV = alcohol by volume)

A small glass of wine = 1 UNIT
(9% ABV, but many wines are 11 or 12% ABV)

Half pint of ordinary strength lager/beer/cider = 1 UNIT
(3.5% ABV, but many bottled beers are 4-5% ABV)

A 25ml pub measure of spirit = 1 UNIT
(40% ABV)

A 330 ml bottle of alcopops = 1.7 UNITs
(5% ABV)

Watch Out!!! - Alcopops often contain more alcohol than many beers, lagers or ciders.

They have been designed to hide the naturally strong alcoholic taste of traditional drinks. Because they taste fruity and are easier to drink doesn't mean they will have less of an effect - they will have the same if not more effect as other alcoholic drinks

There are guidelines on how many units of alcohol an adult can drink a day before risking their health. These are 2-3 units a day for women and 3-4 for men. However, these guidelines do not apply to young people. Adult bodies react differently to alcohol and the adult liver is larger.

It takes about 1 hour for the adult body to get rid of 1 unit of alcohol. This may be slower in young people because of differences in physical maturity.

Alcohol and Accidents

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:

	Around half of all pedestrians aged 16-60 who are killed in road accidents have more alcohol in their blood stream than the legal drink-drive limit.
	Around half of all adults admitted to hospital with head injuries are drunk.
	Nearly half of household fires are linked with people who have been drinking.
	Where criminal offences (such as damage or violence) take place, being drunk is no excuse in a court of law - you will still receive a criminal record.
	About 1,000 young people aged 15 are admitted to hospital each year in the U.K. with acute alcohol poisoning. All need emergency treatment.
	Each year between 10,000 and 40,000 people die in the U.K. as a result of drinking alcohol.
	Alcohol impairs driving skills, so NEVER get into a car driven by someone who has been drinking.
	Overdose (drinking far too much) can lead to loss of consciousness and death. When unconscious, users risk choking on their own vomit. This can also KILL.
	Alcohol is a factor in at least 7 out of 100 accidental drownings.

Alcohol Stories

Flavoured Kiss

No party

Black Out

"A year ago me and my ex-boyfriend took a bottle of cider to the park and drank it on the swings. A bit later on we started kissing but after a couple of minutes he said he had to leave for a short while and disappeared for about a minute or so.

"I didn't think anything then, but he came back with a nervous grin and we continued snogging. When I got home later that evening I had a funny taste in my mouth that I couldn't get rid of. When I brushed my teeth I discovered what seemed to be small lumps of diced carrot on my toothbrush.

"The horrible truth hit me. I went to my ex with my evidence the next day and he confessed to having thrown-up and then had conveniently forgotten to tell me before kissing me again. Obviously that was the moment he became my ex."

Sinead, aged 15

"My friend Debbie and I were at a party. I had one or two glasses of wine and left it at that but Debbie just kept drinking more and more. She told me that she felt less inhibited and that she could be the real Debbie after a few drinks.

"It's all rubbish because the real Debbie ended up having to be taken to the hospital A&E after she fell semi-conscious, to the floor. The ambulance man asked what she'd had to drink and then asked me to come along with them to the hospital.

"Her face had gone all grey and she was sick all over the red blanket she was wrapped in. At the hospital I was told that she had alcohol poisoning and that there was little point in her stomach being pumped because she had been drinking spirits all evening and they are absorbed quickly into the blood stream.

She was kept under observation for the night and allowed to go home with her relieved yet very angry parents the following morning."

Anne, aged 17

"I woke up because something was digging in my face. As soon as I opened my eyes my head started hurting, everything was really bright. When my eyes became accustomed to the daylight I found that I had been lying face down in a car park.

"I have no idea for how long or how I got there. I remember going drinking with friends the night before but I really cannot remember anything else at all.

"I picked myself off the floor and wiped off bits of gravel that had stuck to my face. I had to wander round in the freezing cold for a while to get my bearings. I was in a car park on the other side of town. I wanted to get a taxi back home but I couldn't find my wallet or keys anywhere.

"I eventually made it home by walking and phoned my friends who told me that they said goodbye to me at 11pm the night before and I was pretty well plastered. What happened to me between then and waking up in the car park is a mystery."