10
FAQs About ALCOHOL, Health and the Law
Alcohol:
Also known by its scientific name
“ethanol”, alcohol is a colorless, volatile, and pungent solvent
in liquid form found in fermented liquors such as beer, wine,
wine coolers, champagne, and liquors. It is a depressant
to the central nervous system when ingested. If ingested
in large amounts, coma or death will occur.
Alcohol
Abuse:
A pattern of problem drinking that results in adverse health
consequences, negative social problems or interactions, or
both. Consumption of alcohol can lead to criminal problems
whenever the person consuming alcohol violates the laws relating
to the most common intoxicant. Crimes such as public
drunkenness, underage possession of alcohol, drunk driving,
hunting while intoxicated result in more arrests each year
than any other substance-based crime.
Alcoholism:
A primary, chronic disease with genetic, psychosocial, and
environmental factors influencing its development and manifestations.
Binge
Drinking:
A social phenomenon defined by alcohol abuse experts as “consumption
of five or more drinks on a single occasion”. This quantity
is approximately the amount of alcohol needed to raise the
average sized person's blood alcohol concentration to about
0.10%. To the lay person, the term “binge drinking”
is associated with young adults or teens slamming down an
excessive number of alcoholic beverages over a short time
period, possibly resulting in brain damage, respiratory failure
or death.
Blood
Alcohol Concentration (BAC):
The amount of alcohol in the bloodstream, measured as
a percentage of the total blood supply.
Cirrhosis:
A serious, life-threatening liver disease, and probably the
most recognized medical complication of chronic alcoholism.
It is a grave and irreversible condition characterized by
a progressive replacement of healthy liver tissue with scars,
which can lead to liver failure and death.
Enabler:
A person (often a relative, spouse or life partner) who, without
malicious intent, helps to support the abusive behavior of
the person who uses alcohol or drugs. An example
of an enabler would be someone who tries to shield the user
from the full consequences of their anti-social or illegal
behavior.
Fetal
Alcohol Syndrome (FAS):
An irreversible medical condition associated with excessive
consumption of alcohol by a pregnant woman. The “fetal
alcohol syndrome” child is born with low birth weight, noticeable
facial deformities (typically, an undeveloped nose and eyes
closely set) as well as other developmental deficiencies.
Low brain function is the norm for these children. With
severe cases, the child dies within a few years of birth,
due to abnormalities caused by the birth mother’s excessive
use of alcohol.
Intoxication:
A condition of diminished mental (and physical) capacity that
occurs when the brain is exposed to alcohol (or other psychoactive
drugs, substances or plant material) resulting in temporary
changes in mood, judgment, cognitive functioning, motor functioning,
and behavior. In general, an intoxicated person is said
to have slower, depressed mental acuity as a result of ingesting
(or otherwise taking into the person’s system) an inhalant,
beverage or intravenous that has impairing substances in it.
Wine
Coolers:
also known as "wine foolers," are mixtures of wine
and fruit juice, based upon the "Sangria" punches
that were popular in Europe. These pre-mixed punches
are about 1.5 times more potent---ounce for ounce---than the
typical American beer. Because they taste so good, the
person drinking them may not appreciate how much of the beverage
has been consumed. Fortified wines are fermented wine
beverages that have been “spiked” with additional ethanol
(alcohol) to create a more potent beverage (higher proof and
higher alcohol content).
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