Alcohol - The Hard Truth

[Lincoln]

Alcohol - The Hard Truth
By Admin.,  October 24, 2003

You hear about it in hip-hop. You see it in videos and in the movies. Billboards and commercials constantly remind you of how cool it is. And you and many of your friends and family may indulge in it, even if only socially. But alcohol is a dangerous killer that can ruin your life.


Do You Know...


Alcohol is a factor in the four leading causes of death among persons ages 10 to 24: (1) motor-vehicle crashes, (2) unintentional injuries,(3) homicide, and (4) suicide.

Young people who begin drinking before age 15 are four times more likely to develop alcohol dependence than those who begin drinking at age 21.

More than 67% of young people who start drinking before the age of 15 will try an illicit drug. Children who drink are 7.5 times more likely to use any illicit drug, more than 22 times more likely to use marijuana, and 50 times more likely to use cocaine than children who never drank.

Teens under 15 who have ever consumed alcohol are twice as likely to have sex as those who have not. Nearly 4 in 10 (39%) sexually active teens who use alcohol have had sexual intercourse with four or more individuals.

Underage drinking costs Americans nearly $53 billion annually. If this cost were shared equally by each congressional district, the amount would total more than $120 million per district.

Researchers estimate that alcohol use is implicated in one to two-thirds of sexual assault and acquaintance or "date" rape cases among teens and college students.

In 1999, 21% of 15- to 20-year-old drivers who were killed in crashes were intoxicated.

Are You An Alcoholic?


Alcoholism is hard to deal with. Understand that nobody is too young (or too old) to have trouble with liquor.

That's because alcoholism is an illness. It can hit anyone - any age, any race, and any income level.

It doesn't matter how long you've been drinking or what you've been drinking. It's what drinking does to you that counts.

To help you decide whether you might have a problem with your own drinking, we've prepared these 12 questions. The answers are nobody's business but your own.

If you can answer yes to any one of these questions, maybe it's time you took a serious look at what your drinking might be doing to you.


Simple 12-Question Quiz designed To Help You Decide

1. Do you drink because you have problems? To relax?

2. Do you drink when you get mad at other people, your friends or parents?

3. Do you prefer to drink alone, rather than with others?

4. Are your grades starting to slip? Is your job performance suffering?

5. Did you ever try to stop drinking or drink less — and fail?

6. Have you begun to drink in the morning, before school or work?

7. Do you gulp your drinks?

8. Do you ever have loss of memory due to your drinking?

9. Do you lie about your drinking?

10. Do you ever get into trouble when you're drinking?

11. Do you get drunk when you drink, even when you don't mean to?

12. Do you think it's cool to be able to hold your liquor?


The Effects of Alcohol and People of Color


A study of alcohol-related mortality in California showed that blacks and Latinos had higher rates of mortality from alcoholic cirrhosis than did whites or Asian-Americans. Nationwide, death rates attributed to alcohol dependence syndrome also were highest for blacks, although a higher percentage of blacks than whites abstain from using alcohol. The high rates of medical problems seen in blacks thus occur among a smaller percentage of the black population when compared with whites.

This same study suggests that for many alcohol-related causes of death such as alcohol dependence syndrome and alcoholic hepatitis, Latinos had either similar or lower mortality rates compared with whites. However, the mortality rate among Latinos from alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes was 9.16 per 100,000, significantly higher than the rates for whites (8.15) or blacks (8.02).

Asians in the California study had lower rates of alcohol-related mortality than any other group for most causes of death. Their mortality rate from motor vehicle crashes, for example, was 5.39 per 100,000. Asians tend to have lower rates of drinking and alcohol abuse than whites.

Although highly variable among tribes, alcohol abuse is a factor in five leading causes of death for Native Americans, including motor vehicle crashes, alcoholism, cirrhosis, suicide, and homicide. Mortality rates for crashes and alcoholism are 5.5 and 3.8 times higher, respectively, among Native Americans than among the general population. Among tribes with high rates of alcoholism, reports estimate that 75 percent of all accidents, the leading cause of death among Native Americans, are alcohol related.


Why is it important to mention these figures, you may ask?


Because alcohol is marketed to people of color more, that's why! Because there's liquor store on almost every corner in our communities, and because imagery and messages in hip-hop affect many of us more than others!


If you have decided, for whatever reason, that you want to stop drinking, there is a world of help and support available.


To get a better picture of where you are now, so that you can make an informed decision about how to proceed, perhaps the first person to talk with should be your family doctor, if you have one.


Sometimes admitting to yourself and others that you need help can be one of the most difficult steps to take on your road to recovery.


Resources


Here are some contacts from which you can receive futher information about resources that may be available to you online and in your own community:



National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism

Scientific Communications Branch
6000 Executive Boulevard, Suite 409
Bethesda, MD 20892-7003
(301) 443-3860

Makes available free informational materials on all aspects of alcoholism, including the effects of drinking during pregnancy, alcohol use and the elderly, and help for cutting down on drinking.

National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (NCADD)


12 West 21st Street
New York, NY 10010
(800) NCA-CALL

Provides phone numbers of local NCADD affiliates (who can provide information on local treatment resources) and educational materials on alcoholism via the above toll-free number.

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) World Services


475 Riverside Drive, 11th Floor
New York, NY 10115
(212) 870-3400

Makes referrals to local AA groups and provides informational materials on the AA program. Many cities and towns also have a local AA office listed in the white pages of the telephone book.

Al-Anon Family Group Headquarters


1600 Corporate Landing Parkway
Virginia Beach, VA 23454-5617


Makes referrals to local Al-Anon groups, which are support groups for spouses and other significant adults in an alcoholic person's life. Also makes referrals to Alateen groups, which offer support to children of alcoholics.

Locations of Al-Anon or Alateen meetings worldwide can be obtained by calling the toll-free numbers Monday through Friday, 8 a.m.-6 p.m. EST:
U. S.: (800) 344-2666 or Canada: (800) 443-4525


Free informational materials can be obtained by calling the toll-free numbers (operating 7 days a week, 24 hours per day):
U. S.: (800) 356-9996 or Canada: (800) 714-7498.

Source:http://206.14.217.112/thoughts/doc3258.html

Just some things to think about.

[Doggystylin]

Alcohol - The Hard Truth


Teens under 15 who have ever consumed alcohol are twice as likely to have sex as those who have not. Nearly 4 in 10 (39%) sexually active teens who use alcohol have had sexual intercourse with four or more individuals.

HELL YEAH, i dont think thats gonna make people stop drinking alcohol, if anything they should have left that part out, lol

[Suga Foot]

Alcohol is dope.

[7even]

Alcohol - The Hard Truth


Teens under 15 who have ever consumed alcohol are twice as likely to have sex as those who have not. Nearly 4 in 10 (39%) sexually active teens who use alcohol have had sexual intercourse with four or more individuals.

HELL YEAH, i dont think thats gonna make people stop drinking alcohol, if anything they should have left that part out, lol

who the hell wants to have sex before marriage?!

[Lincoln]

Alcohol - The Hard Truth


Teens under 15 who have ever consumed alcohol are twice as likely to have sex as those who have not. Nearly 4 in 10 (39%) sexually active teens who use alcohol have had sexual intercourse with four or more individuals.

HELL YEAH, i dont think thats gonna make people stop drinking alcohol, if anything they should have left that part out, lol

who the hell wants to have sex before marriage?!

I know you're being sarcastic, but I don't.

[7even]

Alcohol - The Hard Truth


Teens under 15 who have ever consumed alcohol are twice as likely to have sex as those who have not. Nearly 4 in 10 (39%) sexually active teens who use alcohol have had sexual intercourse with four or more individuals.

HELL YEAH, i dont think thats gonna make people stop drinking alcohol, if anything they should have left that part out, lol

who the hell wants to have sex before marriage?!

I know you're being sarcastic, but I don't.

you can image to only have sex with 1 single women during your entire life?

EDIT: my bad... you gonna have 4 wives, right? that's when the long wait pays off! LOL!

[Lincoln]

Alcohol - The Hard Truth


Teens under 15 who have ever consumed alcohol are twice as likely to have sex as those who have not. Nearly 4 in 10 (39%) sexually active teens who use alcohol have had sexual intercourse with four or more individuals.

HELL YEAH, i dont think thats gonna make people stop drinking alcohol, if anything they should have left that part out, lol

who the hell wants to have sex before marriage?!

I know you're being sarcastic, but I don't.

you can image to only have sex with 1 single women during your entire life?

EDIT: my bad... you gonna have 4 wives, right? that's when the long wait pays off! LOL!

I'd have no problem having sex with only 1 woman my whole life, that's where love comes in. One day, I'll look back and say "Boy am I glad I waited, good thing I wasn't some immature young punk."

And I can't have 4 wives, that's illegal in Canada.