Description
Your journal should include your reaction to the reading assignment and how the material can be used by you at this point in time.
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Alcohol
This chapter begins with a short description of the process of fermentation and discusses alcohol as a consumer product. This discussion covers all of the main products such as beer, wine and distilled spirits. A short history of the productions of distilled spirits and prohibition is presented. The pharmacology of alcohol is covered in some detail in this chapter and includes discussions of absorption, metabolism and Central Nervous System (CNS) effects of alcohol. The concept of blood alcohol concentration and behavioral effects is presented along with a discussion of negative effects of the drug such as blackouts, inhibition of sexual behavior and withdrawal. The chapter ends by presenting several issues relating to toxicity of alcohol. Topics in this section include hangovers, brain damage, heart and liver disease and fetal alcohol syndrome.
An Alcohol Timeline
8000 BC First alcoholic beverages In Persia and the Middle East a fermented drink is produced from honey and wild yeasts.
6000 BC Viticulture, the cultivation of grapevines for making wine is believed to originate in the mountains between the black and Caspian seas.
4000 BC wine making is established in Mesopotamia (Iraq).
30000 BC both beer and wine are produced in ancient Egypt: wine production and trade become an important part of Mediterranean commerce.
800 BC Barley and rice beer are produced in India.
625 Islamic Prophet Muhammad order his followers to abstain from alcohol.
1100 – A medical school in Italy documents alcohol distillation. The product is named ?spirits?.
1516 – Germany passes a beer purity law, making it illegal to make beer with anything but barley, hops and pure water.
1600 – 1625 ? During the reign of James 1st in England, numerous writers describe widespread drunkenness from beer and wine.
1789 – The first American temperance society is formed in Litchfield, Connecticut with the goal of reducing alcohol consumption. Similar societies soon follow in other states.
1791 – ?Whiskey Tax? enacts a tax on both publicly and privately distilled whiskey in the United States.
1793 – During the whiskey rebellion of Pennsylvania government troops arrest a handful of distillery leaders who refused to pay taxes on their whiskey.
1802 – The Whiskey tax is repealed.
1814 – 1817 A new alcohol tax is is temporarily imposed in the United States to help pay for the War of 1812.
1850?s ? New York Bartenders invent the cocktail.
1860 in the United States 1,138 legal alcohol distilleries are operating and producing 88 million gallons of liquor per year.
1862 – Abraham Lincoln imposes a new tax on liquor to help pay the bills from the Civil War.
1884 – Laws are enacted to make anti alcohol teaching compulsory in public schools in New York State. The following year similar laws are passed in Pennsylvania with other states soon following.
1906 – The pure food and drug act is passed, regulating the labeling of products containing alcohol.
1910 – New York introduces the first drunk-driving laws.
1920 – The passage of the 18th Amendment (prohibition) and the Volstead Act effectively outlaw the production, sale, and transportation of alcoholic beverages in the United States.
1920 – 1933 – The illicit alcohol trade booms in the United States.
1933 – Prohibition is repealed: most states restrict youth under 18 from possessing or consuming alcoholic beverages.
1935 – Alcoholics Anonymous is established: The American Medical Association passes a resolution declaring that alcoholics are valid patients and alcoholism is a disease.
1944 – The U.S. Public Health Service labels alcoholism the fourth largest health problem.
1964 – The Grand Rapids study shows that the risk of an automobile crash increases as more alcohol is consumed.
1970 – 1975 – The minimum drinking age is lowered in 29 states from 21 to 18, 19 or 20. following the enactment of the 26thAmendment to the U.S. Constitution, which lowers the legal voting age to 18.
1980 – Mothers Against Drunk Drivers is established.
2000 – A new federal law requires states to pass legislation making it a crime to drive with blood alcohol concentration (BAC) at or above .08%
Alcohol Sales and Binge Drinking
Wine sales have increased, beer sales have leveled off, and the sales of distilled (distillation allows for greater concentration of alcohol) spirits have increased. The beer industry is controlled by a few big brewers (I bet you could name them). American wines are identified as generics or varietals.
CNN reported that binge drinking cost the U.S economy a staggering $249 billion in 2010! This was according to a study released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and prevention.
Hangovers in the workplace cost the U.S. a whopping $77 billion in lost productivity while another $29 billion comes from treating people for drinking-related health problems. Other costs include alcohol related deaths, crime and property damage, such as vehicles destroyed in accidents.
It may be fun to throw back a couple of pints with friends, but binge drinking shouldn?t be taken lightly, as it is responsible for about 88,000 deaths a year. Every year!
Alcohol Affects
Alcohol requires no digestion and can be absorbed unchanged from the stomach and small intestine. Absorption is affected by the concentration of alcohol and the presence of food and carbonated liquids. Gender can influence metabolism. Alcohol is a CNS depressant, but its use as an anesthetic was discontinued because of some major disadvantages. The effects of alcohol are dose-related although one can develop behavioral and physiological tolerance. Alcohol?s effects are influenced by the user?s gender, weight and speed of drinking.
Alcohol and alcoholism has been shown to result in a number of sexual problems. Hangovers, a well-known after effect of alcohol consumption leave the drinker with withdrawal like symptoms. Alcohol is related to brain tissue damage, heart disease, cancer and lower immunity.
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) refers to physical and behavioral abnormalities caused by the presence of alcohol during fetal development. In other words, the mother drank alcohol during pregnancy. It can cause brain damage and growth problems. The problems caused by fetal alcohol syndrome vary from child to child, but defects caused by fetal alcohol syndrome are not reversible. There is no amount of alcohol that?s known to be safe to consume during pregnancy.
The severity of FAS varies, as some children experience them to a far greater degree than others. Signs and symptoms may include any mix of physical defects, intellectual or cognitive disabilities and problems functioning and coping with daily life.
Physical defects include:
Distinctive facial features, including small eyes, exceptionally thin upper lip, a short upturned nose, smooth skin surface between the nose and upper lip.
Deformities of joints, limbs and fingers.
Slow physical growth before and after birth, low birth weight.
Vision difficulties or hearing problems.
Small head circumference and brain size.
Heart defects and problems with kidneys and bones
There will also be poor coordination or balance, learning disabilities, poor memory and trouble with attention and processing. Poor judgment, hyperactivity, rapidly changing moods. Difficulty in school, trouble in getting along with others, problems with impulse control and concepts of time. It is difficult for them to stay on task and plan for working toward a goal.
Treatment
Treatment of alcoholism is imperative for the pregnant mother as it is for any alcoholic. Alcoholics Anonymous believes in the disease model and thus abstinence is the only and main goal. The medical approach to alcoholism was stimulated by Jellinek?s stage theory with detoxing being the first procedure to stabilize the alcoholic. Aversion therapy involves electrical shock or a chemical that makes alcohol consumption very unpleasant. Nalrexone and controlled drinking are also methods used to try to control alcoholics’ drinking. Those who enter treatment programs do have significantly higher success rates than those who don?t.
Your text discusses cultural influences on drinking, Social problems relating to alcohol such as Driving Under the Influence, (DUI), crime, suicide, job/production lost and of course family problems.
- Resources
- Check out the below site to learn more about the push for the legal limit on DUI?s to be .08 in the nation:
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Legislative History of .08 Laws
- Then look at the below sites to learn about DUI in California and the fines and penalties they accrue.
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California Driver Handbook – Alcohol and Drugs
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Arrest for Driving Under the Influence DUI General Information
Also look at
current fatalities of DUI?s in California and the U.S
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