Leslie thought she didn't have a problem with alcohol
and had driven under the influence countless times until her actions turned her life upside down, inside and out.
CLICK THE THUMBNAIL AND WATCH LESLIE'S POWERFUL TESTIMONIAL.
Slang: Booze, Brews, Sauce, Hooch, Hard Stuff, Brewskis, Juice.
Drinking at an early age is a very risky business.
Alcohol, contrary to what many teens may think, is a drug and a depressant that can lead to many adverse effects on your body.
It can affect your mood and your thinking process.
It can get you into legal trouble,
damage relationships with friends and family, and hurt people.
It can damage every organ in your body and cause death.
How can that be possible, everybody else is doing it!
Teenagers see lots of people using alcohol, such as friends, parents, and other adults who unfortunately use other substances as well.
TV and magazine ads also have an influence on how teens view alcohol by connecting it to popularity, parties, sports,
and even popular rap music, which depicts substance abuse as an OK thing to do.
So how can drinking be wrong?
. Alcohol is illegal to buy or possess if you are under 21.
. Each year, approximately 5,000 young people under the age of 21 die as a result of underage drinking.
This includes about 1,900 deaths from motor vehicle crashes, 1,600 as a result of homicides, 300 from suicide,
and hundreds from other injuries such as falls, burns, and drowning.
. Teens who start drinking before the age of 15 are four times more likely to
develop alcohol dependence at some point in their lives.
Health Facts:
Since a teen's brain is still developing, teens who drink heavily are more likely to significantly lower
their mental abilities than adults who drink heavily. Just a few years of heavy alcohol use by a young person
can lower brain function and change the ability to learn.
On the left, the brain of a young non-drinker. On the right, the brain of a 15-year-old with an alcohol problem.
Both were given the same memory task. The image on the right shows poor brain activity indicated by the lack of pink and red coloring.
Source: Susan Tapert, PhD, University of California.
Alcohol can damage every organ in your body. It is absorbed directly into your
bloodstream and can increase your risk for a variety of life-threatening illness such as cirrhoses of the liver, kidney failure,
and cancer of the esophagus and pancreas. Furthermore, drinking while pregnant increases the chance of birth defects; this is called Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.
Alcohol depresses your central nervous system, lowers your inhibitions, and impairs your judgment.
Drinking can lead to risky behaviors such as having unprotected sex, which may expose you to HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases or cause unwanted pregnancies.
Alcohol can hurt you even if you are not the one who is drinking.
If you are around people who are drinking, you have an increased risk of being injured, such as being involved in a car crash or becoming a victim of domestic violence.
Know the Facts. . One drink can make you fail a breath test in some U.S. states if you are under the age of 21, which will result
in losing your driver's license and paying heavy fines. In some jurisdictions such as Albuquerque, New Mexico, your car can be permanently taken away.
. Mixing alcohol with other drugs is extremely dangerous and can lead to accidental deaths.
. Alcohol makes you gain weight and gives you uncontrollable bad breath.
. Binge drinking means having five or more drinks on one occasion. Binge drinking has been reported on many college
campuses; many cases have resulted in alcohol poisoning leading to death.
Drinking and Driving.
Drinking and driving is the leading cause of death among young people who consume alcohol.
Here are a few images of the effects and consequences of drinking and driving in the state of New Mexico. The victims were drivers who were under the influence.
Photos are a courtesy of Sgt. Dennis O'Brien.
Please visit our Memorial Wall for those who died from Drugs.
