Alcohol Part 2

Being Alcohol Free

• A commitment to staying alcohol free helps you: – Maintain a healthy body– Make responsible decisions– Avoid risky behavior– Avoid illegal activities

Refusing Alcohol

• Be Assertive!!!• Refuse to drink• Leave the situation quickly• Get to a safe spot that does not involve

alcohol• Avoid environments where alchol will be• Practice refusal skills

Refusal Skills

• Say no in a firm voice• Explain why you are refusing• Suggest alternatives to the proposed activity• Back up your words with body language• Leave if necessary

Short-term Effects of Drinking

• Effects are different for each individualFactors include:

-Body size and gender-Food-Amount and rate of intake

Alcohol and Drug Interactions

• Having another drug in your body and adding alcohol to it can be very dangerous!!

• Multiplier Effect: the medication has a greater or even a different effect when mixed than when taken alone

Alcohol and Drug Interactions

• May slow down absorption increasing risk of harmful side effects

• Can cause medication to be broken down faster thus reducing effectiveness

• Alcohol can change the chemical makeup of the medication making it harmful to certain organs

• Can increase the effects of some medications (increased drowsiness/dizziness)

Driving Under the Influence

• DUI is the leading cause of death among teens• A person is intoxicated when their Blood

Alcohol Concentration (BAC) exceeds the state’s legal limit

• BAC- amount of alcohol in a person’s blood, expressed as a percentage

What’s Legal

• In NC the legal limit for drinking is a BAC of .08• However, you can begin to show signs of being

intoxicated at a BAC as low as .02

Consequences of DUI• Harm to the driver and others• Severely restricted driving privelages and/or

immediate confiscation of a driver’s license• Alcohol-related injuries, property damage, and death• Living with regret• Loss of parental trust/respect• Arrest jail time, court appearance, and a heavy

bail/fine• A police record and possible lawsuits• Higher insurance rates

Binge Drinking

• Drinking five or more alcoholic drinks at one sitting

• A rapid binge of drinking is especially dangerous

Alcohol Poisoning

• Severe and potentially fatal reaction to an alcoholic overdose

• Alcohol can shut down involuntary actions such as gag reflexes and breathing

• Likely to vomit and aspirate on that vomit

Effects of Alcohol Poisoning

• Mental confusion, stupor, coma, inability to be roused, vomiting, and seizures

• Slow respiration• Irregular heartbeat• Hypothermia or low body temperature pale

or bluish skin color• Severe dehydration from vomiting

Activity

• If you don’t have a computer, work with someone who does

• Find an article (either a current scholarly article or a current newspaper article) about DUI, Binge Drinking, or Alcohol Poisoning involving teens

• Write a summary with an analysis (your reaction) that is at least 1 whole typed page

• Attach it to an email and send it to brobinson@vcs.k12.nc.us