DRINKING: PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS

By: Luke Swift

Alcohol Related Facts

Each year approximately 1,700 kids between the ages of 18 and 24 die from alcohol unintentional injuries.

A whopping 599,000 students are injured each year when alcohol is present.

About 696,000 students are assaulted by another student who has been drinking

Continued More than 97,000 students between the ages of 18-24

are victims of sexual abuse or date-rape each year. Over 400,000 students have ad unsafe sex when

intoxicated, and over 100,000 of them were to drunk to know if they gave consent to the person.

Over 25% of college students have reported to struggle in academics due to drinking to much.

Each year more than 1,500 students develop a health related problem due to drinking.

Alcohol Effects

Alcohol can cause many health problems, both long term and short.

Long Term Effects

Alcoholism Heart disease Liver disease Cancer Depression Memory loss

Osteoporosis Weakened heart

muscles High blood

pressure Malnutrition Increased risk for

stroke

Short Term Effects

Violence Unprotected sex Can become emotionally unstable Impaired judgment Decreased reaction time Senses dulled Relationships can be hurt

Effects On How You Perform About 72 hours after you have been binge

drinking, even though your BAC is 0.0, your strength, speed, power, judgment, and stamina is affected

Drinking can decrease performance by 10-20%

The carbohydrates in alcohol are converted to fatty acids not glucose.

Alcohol can severely dehydrate you.

That Cant Happen to me.

Everyday you hear people say that exact same phrase.

People think that these things cannot happen to them and nothing bad will come of being a irresponsible drinker.

Is it going to take something bad to happen to you so that you might be a little smarter when drinking.

How could this happen?

Simple actions that can lead to more problems Binge drinking Allowing yourself or a friend to walk home alone Allowing your friend or yourself to go home with

someone that you might not be too close with Sharing drinks Taking drinks from other people Trying to “keep up” with someone else Not watching your drink Driving

The Proof is There

Every weekend you hear of people getting assaulted, robbed, or rapped.

Each week we get emails that show us that these things happen.

These are just the reported ones, many more are out there that go unnoticed

What is it going to take for you to take action.

Should I just stop drinking? No. this would be unrealistic for me to ask. Also not

to mention I am still going to drink to therefore I would be a hypocrite

I’m not trying to get you to stop drinking at all. I am trying to inform you of the problems that binge

drinking and being a irresponsible drinker can have on yourself and others.

You can have fun drinking without getting to drunk. Stop drinking once you feel good, there is no point in

trying to drink more when your already drunk or just feeling a little more loose.

Drinking more and more will just cause problems and the night is probably not going to be as fun.

Is this our problem?

Yes and no. NO

I feel like kids are thrown into college without proper knowledge of drinking therefore they do not know what is acceptable or not.

Many kids are not exposed or experiment with alcohol and this is the first time doing it.

I feel like if parents were to teach kids how to drink then as they got older they would be more experienced and know how to drink.

Also if drinking was not made such a big deal in our society I feel like kids would have less of an urge to rebel.

YES Although we have not been exposed enough to drinking, I feel like

we as 18 – 24 year olds can make smart decisions and not be so stupid when drinking.

All it takes is a little willpower and the ability to make your own decisions

Brighter Future

Hopefully the government realizes that we as a nation have a problem with our drinking rules and regulations

Other countries that have a lower drinking age do not have problems.

Maybe in the future we will see a change and this change can bring us a better/ safer relationship with alcohol.