| A lot of parents are relieved to find out that, when their kids
"party," they do so with alcohol instead of marijuana or cocaine.
And a lot of kids feel that by sticking to wine or beer they’re
going to avoid the sorts of problems that their drug-taking peers are going
to have.
Neither group ought to feel too good about this. There isn’t
a problem caused by illicit drugs that can’t be caused just as easily
by alcohol.
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Alcohol and the LAW
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If you under 21, ALCOHOL is just as illegal to possess, buy or be under
the influence of as other drugs. And if you get caught Driving Under the
Influence the conviction won’t clean when you turn 18. It will screw
up your driving record, insurance, etc. just as bad if you were an adult.
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Alcohol and Health
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"Crack" gets all the press coverage these days as the Deadly Drug. But
the truth is that NO DRUG will mess up your body as much as Alcohol in frequent
and heavy doses. There’s hardly an organ in your body that isn’t
seriously harmed by alcoholic drinking.
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Alcohol Dependence
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Of course, the big argument for Alcohol is that millions use it without
ever growing dependent or becoming alcoholic. They never move beyond
being "social drinkers."
Let’s look at this.
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The idea behind "social" or "moderate" drinking is to drink without
getting drunk – to have one or two or three drinks as part of a larger
event.
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Is that how most kids drink? If you look at most teenage parties you
are struck by the fact that most will use alcohol the same way they use other
drugs – to get intoxicated.
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There really isn’t a teenage equivalent of having two drinks and
going out to dinner. Or buying a bottle, having a shot or two, and putting
it away for the next week. The agenda at a keg party is to drink until the
keg is empty. And when three friends buy a bottle of booze, they generally
plan to drink it all that night.
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No one denies that many or even most people drink occasionally and
moderately. But the point is that most adolescents do NOT drink this way.
If you can make a distinction between using alcohol as a beverage and using
it as a drug, then most kids use it as a drug.
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They get into bad drinking habits FAST.
How Alcohol Dependence Happens
When people first start to drink, they KNOW ABOUT alcohol problems (marital,
job, money, health, etc.) but that’s not what’s going on. All they
experience at first is the good feelings they get from being high.
They always figure that if problems DO show up, they’ll cut
down or quit. Unfortunately, this rarely happens.
At first, alcohol is used when you’re already feeling bad
(like at a party) and want to feel better. But it all takes is one
experience when you’re feeling bad (for instance, bored) and alcohol
makes you feel BETTER (cures the boredom) and you’re on the road to
dependence.
Say I’m at a party where I feel out of place. Someone gives
me some booze and all of a sudden I’m loose, relaxed, and having a great
time. The next time I feel lousy at a party, I may remember how well the
booze worked and try it again. In no time at all I don’t even wait to
get to the party to see how I feel. Drinking becomes something I automatically
do in a party situation.
Soon, any party with no drinking as a drag. It may feel like "I
drink because I want to, not because I have to." But the truth
is that I have to drink to enjoy myself in a party situation.
THAT’S DEPENDENCE
Alcohol and Alcoholism
Somewhere in the middle of Alcohol Dependence lies Alcoholism,
which is a form of drug addiction.
Signs of alcoholism include an early and high tolerance to alcohol
(being able to drink and handle more than average drinkers), drinking fast
at the beginning to "catch the buzz" quickly, and trying hard to get as much
as possible when the supply is limited.
A VERY serious sign is "Blackouts", little chunks of amnesia where
you don’t remember part or all of the night before. This often doesn’t
happen until later on in alcoholism, so if it shows up early in your drinking
career, it’s a REAL BAD SIGN!!
The DEFINITE sign of alcoholism is "lack of control" over drinking.
This means not being able to stick to a drinking limit. Suppose you decided
you were drinking too much and decided to cut back. You set a limit that
won’t get you buzzed (no more than two or three) and try to stick to
it for the next several months. But you find that many times when you drink
you go over the limit. Non-alcoholics who try to stick to such limits can
do so. Your failure means you are an Alcoholic.
Since there is no way to cure this condition once it develops
(No going back to non-alcoholic drinking) your two options are to have it
get worse and worse as the years go by – or to learn how not to
drink.
Dealing with Alcoholism
Most people won’t believe they can’t be ‘cured’
and learn to drink moderately again. They usually have to prove this to
themselves. If you think you can learn to drink normally again, by all means
give it your best shot: No more than two or three from now on and NO
CHEATING.
Of course, if you’re under 21 this is illegal. And you may
get into other kinds of trouble while you’re horsing around. So give
some serious thought to quitting drinking.
Most people can’t do THAT on their own either. But again,
if you think you can, have at it.
We’re always available to talk about this more. Many people who
haven’t reached a decision use us to help sort out their thinking.
There’s plenty of help for you – Free and confidential.
Don’t spend half your life finding out you can’t handle
booze. There are few recovering alcoholics who don’t wish they’d
cleaned things up sooner than they did. Take the time to find out what your
situation is with Alcohol and deal with it while you’re still young
and haven’t loused things up too badly.
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