Alcohol

Description

Alcohol (chemical name ethanol) is usually found as a beverage and is a colourless liquid in its pure form.

It acts by slowing down the body’s reactions in many different ways.

There are three main forms of alcoholic drink, divided by strength:

• Beers – up to 7-8% ABV (alcohol by volume)
• Wines – up to 20% ABV
• Spirits – up to 40% ABV (in the UK)

ABV: Alcohol by volume (abbreviated as ABV, abv, or alc/vol) is a standard measure of how much alcohol (ethanol) is contained in an alcoholic beverage drink.

Method of Use

It is usually drunk.

Desirable Effects

• Relaxed feeling
• Enables people to enjoy socialising
• Release pent-up aggression

Undesirable Effects

• Weakens bodily control and co-ordination
• Blurred vision
• Slurred speech
• Decreased sexual performance

Pharmacology

Alcohol acts specifically in the central nervous system (spinal cord and brain) to depress signals. They do this through their actions on the excitatory (stimulating) and inhibitory (depressant) chemicals GABA and glutamate, respectively.

At low doses it seems to work by activating the excitatory receptor (NMDA) and chemical (glutamate) in the brain and acting in areas related to memory, pleasure and thinking.

Higher dose seem to slow down (depress) the central nervous system by activating the inhibitory receptors related to the release of the chemical GABA. This leads to poor coordination, memory loss, blurred vision etc.

Very high doses can cause vomiting, coma and death through respiratory failure. The fatal dose is considered to be around 500mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood.

Harm Reduction

The aim of harm reduction thinking in alcohol intake is to reduce the negative consequences that drinking may have on you both physically and mentally.

• Ask yourself why you drink? Do you feel insecure in company? Does it help you forget trauma? If the answer to any of this is an emphatic ‘yes’ then you may find you need some help with your drinking. Even if you know that alcohol makes you and many others feel more confident and less anxious, your drinking could be masking a problem that lead to a heavier more entrenched drinking pattern.
• Mixing alcohol with some drug types is very dangerous and never beneficial. Alcohol is a central nervous system depressant and mixing it with anxiolytics like diazepam can cause respiratory depression.
• Be aware that heavy drinking can cause you to alter perception and the boundaries of your usual behaviour and leave you vulnerable. If you do find you have drunk too much-tell a friend, keep near people you trust and don’t travel home alone.
• Many people suggest that it is better not to mix alcohol types particularly spirits.
• Ask yourself if you have a ritual around your drinking that causes you not to question your drinking levels.
• Change to a less potent regular drink (drink with a lower ABV)
• Have something to eat before/ while drinking
• Taking your time over your drink.
• Environment and company is important. Socialise outside heavy drinking circles. Competitive drinking can be risky and damaging. If you go out with a big crowd you may be expected to keep up.
• Have alcohol free days . Hydrate yourself, water and fruit juice are good. Give your liver a day off!
• Have a budget for the night – certain amount of cash/no cards.
• Regular drinking at home is not advisable. Be aware when you are drinking alone.
• Not playing or severely limiting getting  involved in drinking games is sensible.
• Have smaller measures – 25ml instead of double, small glass of wine instead of large.
• Changing what you drink – type of drink/ less units e.g. 25ml vodka and tonic (1 unit) rather than large glass of wine (3 units) or 330ml bottle of Lager 3.8% (1.2 units) rather than pint of stronger lager (5%) (2.8 units).
• Decide how much you are going to drink on an evening and stick to it – think about commitments the next day e.g. children, work, driving.
• Alcohol can stay at detectable levels in your urine over night. This could get you a conviction, a ban or worse a prison sentence.
• When you drive a car or motorbike after a heavy drinking bout, or immediately after a moderate drink you might be endangering not just your life but the lives of others. You may have to live with the consequences of an accident even if you did not cause it. Ask if it is worth the risk.
• Think about how quickly you drink (more quickly than others?)
• Publicans are not daft- salty snacks/nuts may make you thirsty and drink more.
• Distance yourself from certain personal influences/ social situations where drinking is the norm.
• That last 150 mls in the bottle isn’t challenging you to drink it, if you don’t feel like it -don’t.
• Do you notice other people are making comments about your drinking?
• Do you get into fights /arguments? Is alcohol provoking an inner anger? Are you projecting your frustration onto others?

History

Alcohol is an extremely ancient element of human diet. As well as being a nutrient, it has functioned as a recreational drug, a euphoriant, a medicine, a ritual substance with symbolic and cultural significations, and so on. It played a strong role in Greco-Roman religion, where it was identified with the god Dionysus or Bacchus, and is still used in the Catholic Church as the Eucharist, symbolic of the blood of Christ and a link with the divine.

In pre-modern societies beer and wine were widely consumed; water was often impure and carried infections, while wine was a safe source of liquid. Beer tended to be the drink of the poor, and was in many ways a food as much as a drink, owing to its offering of cheap calories. Beer was consumed for breakfast in medieval and early modern Europe, mixed with oatmeal as a form of porridge. It was also drunk throughout the day; it is likely that many individuals went through life in permanent state of semi-drunkenness; when they drank to get drunk at festivals and celebrations, they tended to get “dead drunk” and did not stop until unconsciousness intervened.

While distillation had been practiced for centuries, the modern age brought new techniques, with improved copper stills and the availability of sugar assisting the process. Aqua Vitae or spirits were much stronger than the traditional beers and wines- they had a higher ethanol content and could be kept for long periods without deterioration. Their use spread rapidly, resulting in the scenes of drunken excess depicted by Hogarth in the “Gin Lane” prints. Whiskey and brandy improved with age, and brandy was added to wines to produce “fortified” wines. Slave-produced sugar from Britain’s West Indian colonies was used to produce rum.

Unlike Western drinks, which have typically been brewed from fruit and grain starches, Far Eastern alcoholic beverages are traditionally fermented from sugars and grains such as rice. Culturally, they have been consumed with food rather than on their own, although recent decades have seen a rise in drinking and socialising subcultures, particularly among young people.

Law

• Possible offences:

• Driving or being in charge when under the influence of alcohol

• Maximum sentence – maximum penalty of six months’ imprisonment, a fine of up to £5,000 and a minimum 12 months’ ban – worse if a higher offence e.g. causing death through careless driving while under the influence

• Giving a child under 5 alcohol unless in an emergency or under medical supervision (Children and Young Persons Act 1933)

• Max sentence – fine

• Buying alcohol when under 18
• Sale of alcohol to someone under 18 (s.146 Licensing Act 2003)

• Max sentence – fine

• Allowing an unaccompanied child to be present in a prohibited area

• Max sentence – fine

• Allowing the sale of alcohol to children

• Max sentence – fine

• Purchase of alcohol by or on behalf of children

• Max sentence – fine

• Consumption of alcohol by children on relevant premises

• This does not apply where the alcohol is beer or wine, the “child” is 16 or 17, it is purchased with a meal, with an over 18 year old present.
• If these conditions are not met, the maximum sentence is a fine.