Marylou Ambrose - Investigate Alcohol

Alcohol is part of many people's social lives, but excessive drinking can lead to addiction. What are the physical and mental effects of alcohol abuse? How does casual use lead to alcoholism? How do you resist peer pressure and help friends who may drink too much? Real-life case histories bring this book to life.

Alcohol has been around for a really long time. We know that people made some form of alcohol as long as 12,000 years ago. Since then, alcohol has had its ups and downs. Many people today are still not sure how they feel about it.

So what do you know about alcohol? Did you know it was a drug? Did you know that drinking alcohol moderately has been acceptable in most cultures for thousands of years? Did you also know that drinking too much has been frowned upon for just as long?

On this tomb painting from ancient Egypt ca. 1500 B.C., men can be seen treading grapes to make wine. On the right, men are picking grapes.

Roughly 64 percent of people in the United States drink alcohol. A small number of that 64 percent actually abuse alcohol. They either drink too much over a short period of time or they cant live without it. Unfortunately, the small number who abuse alcohol can affect the rest of us.

This book will give you the straight facts about alcohol. It covers how alcohol works in your body and the many aftereffects of using it. It describes the risk factors, symptoms, prevention, and treatment of alcoholism. Youll discover how alcohol can affect a teens home, school, and social life. Youll also read stories about real people whove overcome problems with alcohol, and some who werent so lucky.

Youll get the information you need to make smart decisions about the role alcohol will play in your life, now and in the future.

In 2010, rates of current alcohol use were 3.1 percent among persons aged 12 or 13, 12.4 percent of persons aged 14 or 15, 24.6 percent of 16 or 17 year olds, 48.9 percent of those aged 18 to 20, and 70.0 percent of 21 to 25 year olds. These estimates were similar to the rates reported in 2009.

Stephen King has published more than eighty horror and fantasy books and stories. But the real horror story in his life is how alcohol nearly killed him.

The first time King got drunk was in 1966, during his high school senior class trip to New York City. Back then, the legal drinking age in New York was eighteen, so King was able to buy a bottle of cheap whiskey. He drank most of it himself and was so sick to his stomach, he spent the next day in bed. He missed part of his senior trip and swore he would never drink again. But the next day, he bought a bottle of bourbon and got drunk for the second time.

King continued to drink heavily during his college years at the University of Maine. A month before graduation, he got drunk in a bar and was arrested for driving around and stealing traffic cones. He got off easy, with only a $100 fine.

Novelist Stephen King gestures as he speaks to creative writing students at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell in Lowell, Massachusetts, December, 2012. King struggled with alcoholism for years before becoming sober.

After college, King became a high school English teacher. He also worked on his writing. Even though he was married and had two young children, he spent his weekends getting drunk. Sometimes he went to bars, but usually, he got drunk at home.

I found the idea of social drinking ludicrousif you didnt want to get drunk, why not just have a Coke? he once said.

King sold his first book, Carrie, in 1973. In 1974, he sold The Shining. King eventually made enough money from his writing to quit his teaching job. But his drinking only got worse. He was often drunk when he appeared in public to sign his books and was even drunk when he spoke at his mothers funeral! He also began using cocaine and other drugs. He was ashamed and scared, but he couldnt imagine life without alcohol. He was also afraid that if he stopped drinking, he would lose his ability to write. His wife, Tabitha, who is also a writer, would find King passed out in a puddle of vomit next to his desk every morning.

Finally, Tabitha gathered her children, other family members, and friends together at their house. She dumped a trash bag full of her husbands beer cans, cigarette butts, and drugs on the floor. She told him to clean up his act or leave the house for good. It took King a few more years, but with the help of a rehabilitation center and a group called Alcoholics Anonymous, he finally gave up alcohol and drugs in 1989. Hes been sober ever since.

Stephen Kings family was afraid his drinking would kill him. King himself admits if he hadnt sobered up, he probably wouldve died years ago. Alcohol might be legal, but its effects on the body can be criminal. Drinking too much can ruin a persons health and also destroy the lives of family members.

Stephen King couldnt imagines a life without using cocaine, drugs, and alcohol.

Alcohol goes by many slang names: booze, brew, sauce, vino, and a cold one are a few. Types of alcoholic drinks include beer, wine, and hard liquor, such as whiskey, rum, or vodka. Most alcoholic drinks contain fruits or grains. Alcohol is produced when yeast, sugars, and starches are broken down by a chemical process called fermentation.

Alcohol is an unusual substance because its classified three ways: as a food, a chemical, and a drug. Its a food because it provides energy, or calories. For example, 12 ounces of beer might have 150 calories while 8 ounces of wine could have 200 calories. Alcohol is a chemical because it has a molecular composition. Ethanol, the type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages, has the chemical composition C2H5OH. Alcohol is also classified as a drug of abuse, because it alters consciousness and may be habit-forming.

When a person drinks alcohol, it quickly moves from the stomach and intestines into the bloodstream. There, it travels to every tissue in the body, including those in the brain, liver, and heart. What happens next depends on how much and how fast alcohol is consumed. One or two drinks may make a person feel happy, relaxed, and self-confident. Several drinks will usually cause sleepiness, lack of coordination, slurred speech, and all the signs we associate with intoxication, or drunkenness. If someone drinks a lot of alcohol at one time, he or she can become unconscious or even stop breathing and die.

Drinking too much over a span of time also can be fatal. It can harm the organs and destroy a persons health. For example, alcohol can damage the heart by causing it to beat irregularly and cause scar tissue to form in the liver and destroy it. Alcohol can even contribute to cancer of the mouth and throat.