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 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 s 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.