Each April since 1987, the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence have “sponsored Alcohol Awareness Month to increase public awareness and understanding,” as said by NCADD.  

According to NIH, alcohol is a serious drug. Ethyl alcohol, or ethanol, is an intoxicating ingredient found in beer, wine, and liquor. Alcohol is produced by the fermentation of yeast, sugars, and starches. It is a central nervous system depressant that is rapidly absorbed from the stomach and small intestine and then into a bloodstream. Intoxication can impair your brain.

Also according to NIH, alcohol can affect every organ in the drinker’s body and can damage a developing child. Heavy use of alcohol can increase the risk of certain cancers, stroke, and liver disease. Alcoholism is a disease that is diagnosable which is characterized by a strong craving for alcohol. Alcohol abuse is a pattern of drinking that results in harm to one’s health, relationships, or ability to do other tasks. Alcohol can affect parts of the brain that control a person’s movement, speech, judgement, and memory. These effects lead to familiar signs of drunkenness, meaning difficulty walking, slurred speech, memory lapses, and impulsive behavior. According to Men’s Health, “just one sip of beer, wine, or whisky hangs out in your body for about 2 hours. Once it quickly enters your bloodstream, it touches down on nearly every organ system in your body.”

Treatment has three stages. The first stage is Detoxification, or Detox. Detox may be needed immediately after use of alcohol and can sometimes be a medical emergency. Detox can result in withdrawal seizures, hallucinations, delirium tremens, and sometimes may cause death. The next stage is Rehabilitation. Rehabilitation includes counseling and medications to give the recovering alcoholic the training needed for keeping their sobriety. There are over 1,000 different medications to take. This step in treatment can be done inpatient or outpatient. Both are said to be equally effective. The last stage is Maintenance of Sobriety which requires an alcoholic to be self motivated, which often includes attending regular AA, or Alcoholics Anonymous, meetings and getting a sponsor.

As said by CDC, “100,000 people die each year from alcohol related causes such as drinking and driving crashes, falls, fires, alcohol related homicides, suicides and other causes. Every day, almost 30 people in the United States die in motor vehicle crashes that involve an alcohol-impaired driver. Because of that, alcohol is the third highest cause of death in the U.S. This amounts to one death every 51 minutes.”

“Women who binge drink are more likely to have unprotected sex and multiple sex partners. Alcohol consumption increases aggression and, as a result, can increase the risk of physically assaulting another person. These activities increase the risks of unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases,” also said by CDC.

According to SADD, In the past month, 26.4% of underage students (12-20) have used alcohol. Nearly three quarters of students (72%) have consumed alcohol by the end of high school. Teen drinking becomes more dangerous during prom season.

Drinking is a very serious deal that can lead to situations no person wants to be in.