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Drugs, alcohol, and smoking

Straight talk about alcohol

What do teens think about alcohol?
Not everyone drinks!
Alcohol is a drug. How can it hurt your body?
How much alcohol would it take to affect a person?
What exactly do "impaired" and "intoxicated" mean?
What is binge drinking?
What is the law?
What about my parents? They drink and it doesn't seem to hurt them.
What are the signs of addiction to alcohol?

What do teens think about alcohol? top

What do teens think about alcohol? Are they right or is there more to the story? Find out the real deal about teens and alcohol. Click on the pictures to learn more!

"Drinking alcohol…it's what everyone does on the weekends."

"If someone's parents are out of town and there's a party at the house, I'll just have a few drinks – enough to give me the courage to talk to a few guys. No big deal."

"It's ridiculous that the law says I can't drink until I'm 21. I can go to war and vote before that, but I can't buy alcohol? Please!"

"It makes me feel good. And besides, my parents drink with their friends."

Not everyone drinks! top

It may seem that everyone around you drinks, especially with alcohol ads all over the place, but there are many teens that do NOT drink. You do not need to drink to have fun, be popular, or be comfortable with other people. You can choose to say NO to alcohol when friends want to drink. Here are some ways:

• Just say, "No thanks" or "I don't drink."
• Don't go to places where there will be drinking. Suggest another activity to do. You can catch a movie, go out to dinner, go shopping, go see a school play, or attend a sports event.
• If you are somewhere where there will be drinking, figure out what you're going to say ahead of time to anyone who offers a drink to you. Also, always take extra money and your cell phone to an event where your friends or other teens may be drinking. NEVER get into a car with someone who has been drinking! Call a taxi or your parents to come pick you up.
• If you're at a party with alcohol, drink something else instead, like soda or water.

You may have heard that drinking alcohol at a party helps you to loosen up, talk to people, and make new friends. But the truth is alcohol—no matter what amount—can make you have less control over what happens to you and your body. You can end up in uncomfortable or even dangerous situations. The best decision you can make is not to use alcohol at all. Most importantly, if you are drinking a soda or juice at a party, NEVER put it down and go back to finish it! Someone can spike (put alcohol in) your drink or even put a drug in it! Check out these questions and answers for more information.

Booze. Sauce. Brewskis. Hard stuff. Juice. Call it what you want, but alcohol is a drug. How can it hurt your body? top

Alcohol can cause short-term and long-term damage to your body. Look at the picture to find out how alcohol affects your health.

Read a text version of this information

How much alcohol would it take to affect a person? top

Every person is affected differently by alcohol. Females have less body water than males. With less water, alcohol reaches a girl's organs faster than a guy's. Other factors that affect how fast you process alcohol are your weight, how much you've eaten, and how fast you drink. Your hormones also affect alcohol absorption. During the month, your hormones go up and down, which changes how much alcohol stays in your blood.

Remember that you don't have to slur words or stumble around to be impaired or intoxicated (drunk). Once you have been impaired or intoxicated, the only thing that will sober you up is time. Coffee, cold showers, exercise, or other things you've heard about will not speed up your body's rate of getting rid of alcohol from your system.

What exactly do "impaired" and "intoxicated" mean? top

Whether you are impaired or intoxicated depends on how much alcohol is in your body. The amount of alcohol in your body is measured in terms of blood alcohol content (BAC), or the number of grams of alcohol in 100 millimeters of blood. BAC can be measured in blood, urine, or breath. Impairment and intoxication are defined as:

• Impairment starts with your first drink. It's when the amount of alcohol you have had affects your judgment, coordination, and reaction time. With low BAC levels, some people may not appear to be impaired, but they have been affected. Since it takes time for alcohol to leave the stomach and enter the blood stream, a person may continue to become more impaired for a period of time following their last drink.
• Intoxication is a legal term for the highest BAC level allowed by the law. Anyone who is found with a BAC level at or above the intoxication limit is breaking the law and can be punished. It normally doesn't take many drinks to reach that level!

What is binge drinking? top

Binge drinking means having a lot of alcohol on one occasion, like at a party. For females, having four or more drinks in a row is considered binge drinking. Too much alcohol can lead to serious problems, like:

• throwing up
• difficulty breathing
• sleepiness
• unconsciousness
• being the victim of sexual assault
• car accidents from drinking and driving
• getting a sexually transmitted disease (STD)
• getting pregnant
• coma
• death
• painful or irregular periods
• damage to the brain, liver, and kidneys and other health problems

What is the law? top

The legal drinking age is 21. You may think the law is unfair – that you should be allowed to drink before you turn 21. Even if you have strong feelings about this, you will still suffer the legal consequences if you are caught drinking before you're 21. You could be arrested, pay a big fine, lose your license, have points added to your driving record, ordered to do community service, have to take a driving class, or enter a drug and alcohol addiction program. The laws vary in different states. For example, in Pennsylvania, for your first offense of underage drinking, you could pay a $300 fine, have your license suspended for 90 days, or even go to jail. The consequences can be much greater if you are caught drinking and driving. Also know that if you're at a party with alcohol and you're not 21 – even if you're not drinking – you could be arrested.

What about my parents? They drink and it doesn’t seem to hurt them. top

Adults process alcohol differently than teens. Because their bodies are mature, adults can handle alcohol as long as they drink a reasonable amount. Teens, however, are still growing in many ways, so even a small amount of alcohol can affect their physical and mental development. Besides, your parents are allowed by law to drink. When they drink, they should be doing it responsibly and in moderation—which means they never drive after drinking, and they have one to two drinks a day or less. So it's okay if they have a glass of wine at dinner or a beer during the football game. But if your parents misuse alcohol for any period of time, they will also cause serious damage to their health.

What are the signs of addiction to alcohol? top

Alcoholism is a disease where a person drinks too much alcohol on a regular basis and depends on alcohol to solve their problems. Even young people can have an alcohol problem. If you can relate to any of the items listed below, you should think about how alcohol is affecting your life and talk to an adult you trust for help.

• Alcohol has become more important than your schoolwork, family activities and relationships, or friendships.
• You use alcohol to escape from things that make you unhappy.
• You drink when you're mad at your parents, family, or friends.
• You can't control your drinking once you start. Even if you decide you'll only have a few drinks, you end up having a lot.
• When you drink, you act like a different person than when you are sober.
• When drinking with friends, you can drink more than anyone else.
• You have blackouts or events you don't fully remember after drinking.

Don't be afraid to talk to someone if you or someone you know has these signs. People want to help you. Talk to your parents, doctor, school counselor, or another adult you trust.

Content last updated March 28, 2008

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