• Just say, "No thanks" or “I don’t drink.”
  
  
• Don’t go to places where there will be drinking.
  
  
• Suggest another activity to do.
  
  
• You can catch a movie, go out to dinner, go shopping, go see
  a school play, or attend a sports event.
  

If you are somewhere where there will be drinking, figure out what you’re going
to say ahead of time to anyone who offers a drink to you.

If you’re at a party with alcohol, drink something else instead, like soda or water.

You may have heard that drinking alcohol at a party helps you to loosen up, talk
to people, and make new friends. But the truth is alcohol——no matter what
amount——can make you have less control over what happens to you and your
body. You can end up in uncomfortable or even dangerous situations. The best
decision you can make is not to use alcohol at all.

Booze. Sauce. Brewskis. Hard stuff. Juice. Call it what you want, but alcohol is a
drug.

How can it hurt your body?

Alcohol can cause short-term and long-term damage to your body.

Brain

Drinking alcohol leads to a loss of coordination, poor judgment, slowed reflexes,
distorted vision, loss of memory, and even blackouts.

Heart

Drinking alcohol could cause your blood pressure to rise, increase your heart
rate, cause your heart to beat abnormally, and can increase the size of your
heart.

Stomach

You're putting empty calories into your body, which could cause weight gain. If
you drink too much, you may vomit because alcohol is toxic. Drinking alcohol can
also cause stomach ulcers and cancer.

Liver

Drinking alcohol could cause diseases such as cirrhosis (sir-o-sis). It can also
cause hepatitis (inflamed liver) or even liver cancer, which weakens the liver's
ability to clot and keep our blood free from poisons and bacteria.

Reproductive System

Heavy drinking can cause painful periods, heavy flow, discomfort before your
period (PMS), and irregular periods (not getting your period when you're
supposed to). Drinking also raises the risk of getting sexually assaulted and
having unsafe sex.

How much alcohol would it take to affect a person?

Every person is affected differently by alcohol. Females have less body water
than males. With less water, alcohol reaches a girl’s organs faster than a guy’s.
Other factors that affect how fast you process alcohol are your weight, how much
you’ve eaten, and how fast you drink. Your hormones also affect alcohol
absorption. During the month, your hormones go up and down, which changes
your alcohol blood concentrations.

Remember that you don't have to slur words or stumble around to be impaired or
intoxicated. Once you have been impaired or intoxicated, the only thing that will
sober you up is time. Coffee, cold showers, exercise, or other things you've heard about will not speed up your body's rate of getting rid of alcohol from your
system. 

There are no “safe” alcoholic drinks! One 12 ounce can of beer has the same
amount of alcohol as a 5 ounce glass of wine, or a 1.5 ounce shot of hard liquor.
Mixed drinks may contain more alcohol. Don’t assume that you can judge the
amount of alcohol in a drink by tasting it. Many sweet or fruit-flavored alcohol
drinks have just as much alcohol as bitter-tasting drinks.

What exactly do “impaired” and “intoxicated” mean?

Whether you are impaired or intoxicated depends on how much alcohol is in your
body. The amount of alcohol in your body is measured in terms of blood alcohol
content (BAC), or the number of grams of alcohol in 100 millimeters of blood.
BAC can be measured in blood, urine, or breath. Impairment and intoxication are
defined as:

Impairment starts with your first drink. It’s when the amount of alcohol you have
had affects your judgment, coordination, and reaction time. With low BAC levels,
some people may not appear to be impaired, but they have been affected. Since
it takes time for alcohol to leave the stomach and enter the blood stream, a
person may continue to become more impaired for a period of time following their last drink.

Intoxication is a legal term for the highest BAC level allowed by the law. Anyone
who is found with a BAC level at or above the intoxication limit is breaking the law and can be punished. It normally doesn't take many drinks to reach that level!

What is binge drinking?

Binge drinking means having a lot of alcohol on one occasion, like at a party. For
females, having four or more drinks in a row is considered binge drinking. Too
much alcohol can lead to serious problems, like:

• throwing up
  
  
• difficulty breathing
  
  
• sleepiness
  
  
• unconsciousness
  
  
• being the victim of sexual assault
  
  
• car accidents from drinking and driving
  
  
• getting a sexually transmitted disease (STD)
  
  
• getting pregnant
  
  
• coma
  
  
• death
  
  
• damage to the brain, liver, and kidneys. It can also make
  menstruation (your period) worse
  

 
Don't let friends drive who have been drinking. Take their keys, offer to drive
them home if you have a car, call a cab, or let them sleep at your house. You can
also call an adult to help you. Don't let them walk home alone. Instead of
drinking, make plans with friends that don't involve alcohol, like dinner and a
movie, a sports event, playing sports, shopping, or going to a concert.

What is the law?

The legal drinking age is 21. You may think the law is unfair - that you should be
allowed to drink before you turn 21. Even if you have strong feelings about this,
you will still suffer the legal consequences if you are caught drinking before
you’re 21. You could be arrested, pay a big fine, lose your license, have
pointsadded to your driving record, ordered to do community service, have to
take a driving class, or enter a drug and alcohol addiction program. The laws vary in diffrent states. For example, in Pennsylvania, for your first offense of underage
drinking, you could pay a $300 fine, have your license suspended for 90 days, or
even go to jail. Also know that if you’re at a party with alcohol and you’re not 21
–– even if you’re not drinking –– you could be arrested.

What about my parents? They drink and it doesn't seem to hurt them.

Adults process alcohol differently than teens. Because their bodies are mature,
adults can handle alcohol as long as they drink a reasonable amount. Teens,
however, are still growing in many ways, so even a small amount of alcohol can
affect their physical and mental development. Besides, your parents are allowed
by law to drink. When they drink, they should be doing it responsibly and in
moderation——which means they never drive after drinking, and they have one to two drinks a day or less. So it’s okay if they have a glass of wine at dinner or a
beer during the football game. But if your parents misuse alcohol for any period
of time, they will also cause serious damage to their health.

What are the signs of addiction to alcohol?

Alcoholism is a disease where a person drinks too much alcohol on a regular
basis and depends on alcohol to solve their problems. Even young people can have an alcohol problem. If you can relate to any of the items listed below, you should think about how alcohol is affecting your life.

• Alcohol has become more important than your schoolwork, family activities and relationships, or friendships.
  

• You use alcohol to escape from things you are unhappy with.
  

• You drink when you’re mad at your parents, family, or friends.
  

• You can't control your drinking once you start. Even if you decide you'll only have a few drinks, you end up having a
  lot.

• When you drink, you act like a different person than when
  you are sober.

• When drinking with friends, you can drink more than anyone else.
  

• You have blackouts or events you don't fully remember after drinking.
  

Don't be afraid to talk to someone if you or someone you know has these signs.
People want to help you. Talk to your parents, doctor, school counselor, or another adult you trust.

Source: 4girls.org

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