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Two years ago at the age of 16, just another Saturday afternoon in Fillmore, California, a day to be filled with good memories and laughs, well that is what I had guessed. Walking into a room where the party was being held and the cups filled with drinks the color of the rainbow, and the stench of demons waiting to reach your soul filled the air. Alcohol has never been a necessity to me, but to my family now that is a different story. Everyone in my family drinks, legal or not, but myself on the other hand never saw the need for it. The only bottle you saw in my hand had the word water in front of it. I suppose something was strange about that, because it led to an interrogation by my Uncle Eric, on why I never consumed any alcohol. To tell you the truth, a part of me had always been tempted to have a sip, but the fact that my parents are against the whole idea of underage drinking really did not help me. A few minutes after the questioning begun, I had an angry mob on me, shoving alcohol in my face chanting "Drink this, try this, stop being such a chicken and just do it!" I don 't know what part terrified me the most, either taking a drink and having to face the …show more content…
Any little noise, like the drop of a pen, felt like an explosion went off in my head. Meanwhile, my throat was as dry as the Sahara Desert, and to quench my thirst I needed to consume the seven seas. The cherry on top had to be the lecture I received from my parents on how my state of being was the reason they did not allow me to drink alcohol. The day had just began, and I was already on my knees praying for it to end. Desperate to find a cure for my hangover I pulled out my phone from my back pocket, and depended on Google to give me the best remedy possible. Five minutes after finding results I was forcing myself to drink gallons of water, and stuffing my face with any greasy food in reach. Soon after that, my hangover simmered down and I felt brand
As Herie and Skinner state “Beverage Alcohol can be described as a depressant drug which diminishes the activity in parts of the brain and spinal cord in accordance with the amount of alcohol in a person’s bloodstream” (Herie & Skinner, pg. 42). With its long history and unique properties such as the cure of all diseases “prolongs life, clears away ill humours, revives the heart and maintains youth”, alcohol is often related to tradition and expressions; many of these traditions are adaptation from earlier times where it was believed alcohol reflected water of life (Herie & Skinner, 2010). This is quite evident in Days of Wine and Roses where Joe is first seen drinking because “it was part of his job” and because “he had to because of everyone
...with my first blackout, or my first drunken tumble, or my first stomach pumping. But these occurred at home or at college, where my drinking felt insulated, and I had the illusion of safety."
As a child, I did not know what alcoholism was, I just assumed that the Beefeater Gin stench coming from my relative was his cologne. However, as I grew older and was exposed to a greater variety of people and circumstances, I slowly became aware of alcoholism. I began to incorporate the new experiences I had in relation to alcohol use with a deeper understanding of my extended family. This new awareness was unsettling and painful to me.
Alcohol is the most commonly consumed harmful toxin. It is to be assumed that by the time the average person reaches the legal drinking age of twenty-one, they have heard most of the warnings and horror stories that go along with this notorious party favor. People frequently have a drink after a hard day or just a couple rounds with friends at a social gathering; yet it is when alcohol consumption goes beyond moderate drinking that real health problems can arise. Health problems are not the sole concern individuals should consider before taking their next sip. This is because alcoholism does not just affect the alcoholic; it can involve those who love and support them as well. Scott Sanders describes his father in his essay, “Under the Influence” like a stranger and as fearful as any graveyard lunatic when drunk (Sanders 235). In reality, this form of alcohol abuse has an increased
As one of the major social problem, underage drinking can cause negative affect on both teenagers themselves and the whole society. Based on the research, approximately 190,000 youth under 21 visited emergency room for alcohol related hurts, even I accompanied one of my friends to ICU for alcohol poisoning nearly month ago. Annually about 5000 individuals under 21 die from it, not including other mature people directly or indirectly killed by them. Meanwhile, child’s brain and emotional developments are still in process until 20s so that taking alcohol will produce great damage on their body health. For example, alcohol can interfere with children’s capacity to build new, short, and lasting memories of information because it shrinks hippocampus about 10
Drunk Driving is defined as: Operating a motor vehicle while one 's blood alcohol content is above the legal limit set by statute, which supposedly is the level at which a person cannot drive safely. State statutes define the legal limit to be between .08 and .10 depending on what state you’re in. Every 51 minutes in America, someone is killed in a drunk driving crash(MADD). That equates to 27 people every day. Which comes to a total of at least 9,855 deaths in a year. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 32% of fatal car crashes involve an intoxicated driver or pedestrian (MADD). As of right now, in society the total number of drunk driving accidents is slowly but surely increasing and if nothing is done about it, it’ll result in a tragic amount of deaths and injuries. Drunk drivers are extremely dangerous not just to oneself, but to society as well. That is why one serious solution to this societal epidemic is to create a portion of the driving test where drivers will be required to be at least ten beers deep and while drunk they must drive through a set of
During the last decades, college drinking, the toll binge drinking which is taking on college campuses. Highly publicized reports have raised public awareness about the high rates of heavy drinking among college students. Also, Wechsler, Nelson and Lee JE, experts of researching the phenomenon of college drinking, have concluded that binge drinking is the most serious public health problem facing US colleges. The State had a controversial discussion about steps that can be taken to take action against the binge drinking that has become part of the so-called
Drinking has been a big part of American. A lot of families will tell you that drinking has ruined their families. That is why this is such a controversial subject. Every major issue such as legalizing marijuana, abolishing slavery has been controversial issue at some point throughout our history. Alcohol has been an issue for a long time and there is no right answer. The drinking age use to be 18 years ago. Even in the 70 when it was 18 years old we still had the issue of citizen drinking and driving. That issue hasn’t changed still. We have risen the age to 21 years old and we still have citizens who feel the need to get in their car after drinking 5 shots and 4 beers in a 2-hour span. In the 1980 an organization called MADD, mothers against drunk drivers was created. They were created because there was an epidemic of drunk
The combination of driving an automobile after drinking a significant amount of alcohol has been recognized as a serious problem since the motor car was invented in the 1880s. By 1910, the law in the United States had already codified drunk driving as a misdemeanor offence. Prohibitionists used the danger created by mixing alcohol and driving as a key point in their argument in favor of the eighteenth amendment, as a result of which the sale, manufacture and transportation of alcohol was banned between 1920 and 1933. Apparently lessons were not learned and many decades later drunk driving has been called one of the most serious problems confronting America today” (Kinkade). This should not be a problem for any country as individuals should be able to control their drinking behavior.
Driving under the influence is one of the most common and dangerous situations in which anyone can be or be placed. Drinking and driving is a serious offence that can cause someone to be physically harm or even killed. Not only are you putting yourself at risk but you are also risking the lives of passengers in the car as well as any other car and occupants sharing the road with you. Many people believe that increasing fines for drunk driving offenders will play a compelling role in cutting down the occurrences of driving under the influence. However, while harsher DUI laws will look effective on paper, they will not make a significant step in the fight against drunk driving. Although there is a law enforced for drinking and driving in the
For many years, drunk driving casualties have been viewed differently. Many believe that drunk driving laws are strict while others believe that it is too lenient. In this generations, where alcohol is cheap and very accessible many tends to abuse it. This people who abuse alcohol is known as drunk drivers because after taking three or four drinks they still believe that they are not drunk and goes back to the wheel of their vehicle without thinking of what will happen next. This drunk drivers are willing to risk their lives and the lives of others because they are ashamed or too big to call a family member or a designated drivers to take them home. If they are lucky and did not die on their way home. Then they create this dangerous cycle of
Before I took a sip, I recognized a familiar smell, one I really couldn’t my finger on. It wasn’t Pepsi and I knew it wasn’t Sprite. Then it hit me, I was being offered alcohol. I was only a freshman, and I was being offered a glass of alcohol. My first glass of alcohol. I could not believe it.
Getting drunk is often a favorite past time of adults. It is fun to go out for the night, order a few drinks, and begin detaching from the concrete world into an impaired drunken haze. Nothing matters to a person in this haze besides becoming more inebriated and sustaining the buzz. The next morning, the fun fades into headaches, nausea, and maybe even regret as a person is thrust back into the real world. According to Charles Baudelaire in his poem “Get Drunk”, the hangover should never be part of the equation.
Alcohol has been in the world for many centuries and has become a pain but also somewhat of a solution to society. It can be viewed as something to be a social gathering that brings friends together or it can be taking as destruction to someone. Over the years alcohol has played many roles in the world but it plays an even bigger role in substance abuse. Doctors have made several points that it is okay to have a drink every now and again but people need to realize when one drink has become too many. The ideal of having a drink with friends or going out and having an occasional drink is acceptable; However, is it still acceptable when a person find their selves having a drink first thing in the morning or runs to a drink to solve their people.
It is illegal to buy or possess alcohol if you are under the age of 21. “One drink can make you fail a breath test. In some States, people under age 21 can lose their driver 's license, be subject to a heavy fine, or have their car permanently taken away” (“What is Moderation?”). Teenagers brains are still developing causing alcohol to be even more dangerous when they consume it. Being under 21 and drinking you should always be aware of the risk you are taking. “People who begin drinking before age 15 are four times more likely to develop alcoholism than those who begin after age 20” (“What is Moderation?”). Drinking under the age is very risky. When underage you are better off to not even be associated with alcohol. Being around alcohol and not drinking is still very dangerous and should be avoided. “If you 're around people who are drinking, you have an increased risk of being seriously injured, involved in car crashes, or affected by violence” (“What is Moderation?”). When you are under the age of 21 and you are drinking you should know the health factors that come along with drinking. Most people under the age of 21 are even more unaware of what they are actually doing to their bodies. Drinking at a young age could affect you for the rest of your life. You shouldn’t start drinking until you