Alcohol

DRUGS The Straight Facts Alcohol DRUGS The Straight Facts Alcohol Cocaine Hallucinogens Heroin Marijuana Nicotine DRUGS The Straight Facts Alcohol Heather Lehr Wagner Consulting Editor David J. Triggle University Professor School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences State University of New York at Buffalo CHELSEA HOUSE PUBLISHERS VP, NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT Sally Cheney DIRECTOR OF PRODUCTION Kim Shinners CREATIVE MANAGER Takeshi Takahashi MANUFACTURING MANAGER Diann Grasse Staff for ALCOHOL ASSOCIATE EDITOR Bill Conn PRODUCTION EDITOR Jaimie Winkler PICTURE RESEARCHER Sarah Bloom SERIES & COVER DESIGNER Terry Mallon LAYOUT 21st Century Publishing and Communications, Inc. ©2003 by Chelsea House Publishers, a subsidiary of Haights Cross Communications. All rights reserved. Printed and bound in the United States of America. http://www.chelseahouse.com First Printing 1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Wagner, Heather Lehr. Alcohol / by Heather Lehr Wagner. p. cm.—(Drugs, the straight facts) Includes index. ISBN 0-7910-7260-6 1. Alcohol—Juvenile literature. 2. Alcoholism—Juvenile literature. 3. Drinking of alcoholic beverages — Juvenile literature. 4. Teenagers — Alcohol use — Juvenile literature. [1. Alcohol. 2. Alcoholism.] I. Title. II. Series. HV5066 .W34 2002 613.81—dc21 2002015919 Table of Contents The Use and Abuse of Drugs David J. Triggle 1. Thinking about Drinking 6 8 2. Alcohol: Past and Present 20 3. The Health Effects of Alcohol 34 4. Teenage Trends and Attitudes 50 5. Alcoholism: Identifying the Disease 62 6. Alcoholism: Treating the Disease 74 7. Exploring Additional Resources 84 Appendix 92 Bibliography 94 Further Reading 96 Index 98 The Use and Abuse of Drugs The issues associated with drug use and abuse in contemporary society are vexing subjects, fraught with political agendas and ideals that often obscure essential information that teens need to know to have intelligent discussions about how to best deal with the problems associated with drug use and abuse. Drugs: The Straight Facts aims to provide this essential information through straightforward explanations of how an individual drug or group of drugs works in both therapeutic and non-therapeutic conditions; with historical information about the use and abuse of specific drugs; with discussion of drug policies in the United States; and with an ample list of further reading. From the start, the series uses the word “drug” to describe psychoactive substances that are used for medicinal or nonmedicinal purposes. Included in this broad category are substances that are legal or illegal. It is worth noting that humans have used many of these substances for hundreds, if not thousands of years. For example, traces of marijuana and cocaine have been found in Egyptian mummies; the use of peyote and Amanita fungi has long been a component of religious ceremonies worldwide; and alcohol production and consumption have been an integral part of many human cultures’ social and religious ceremonies. One can specu