Alcohol is a depressant, it slows the function of the central nervous system, blocking some messages trying to get to the

brain. Short term effects of alcohol can altered hearing, perception, vision, movement and emotions. It small amounts alcohol can help someone feel more relaxed, but in larger aounts it causes intoxication. Intoxication can cause slurred speech, lose of coordination. Reaction times are dramatically slowed, it can cause very aggressive or abnormally friendly behavior and can also cause a person to become confused and disoriented. When alcohol is abused over a long period of time it can have devastating effects. People abuse alcohol are at an increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease, malabsorption, chronic pancreatitis, alcoholic liver disease, and cancer. Withdrawl symptoms can occur which can include hallucinations, tremors, and convulsion. If a women abuses alcohol while she is pregnant the baby develops Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, which can result in metal retardation and fetal abnormalities. Depression, domestic and family troubles, loss of employment, loss of custody of children, and divorce are all at an increase risk when someone abuses alcohol.

About fourteen million people in the United States abuse alcohol, one in every thirteen adults. Men are four times more likely to become heavy drinkers and men are twice as likely to become alcoholics or be alcohol dependent. In the United states more than 100,000 people die in alcohol related deaths.

There are several treatment options available to people who are seeking treatment for alcohol abuse. Short term residential treatment facilities to hospitalized in patient facilietes are avaible for the beginning stages of treatment where they are closely monitored during withdrawl. Outpatient counseling and therapy is also avaialable to keep people on the right track to recovery. There are medications that are available to deetur and help people stay sober as well.

Alcoholic Anonymous is a program that has been widely successful in helping people stay clean and sober from alcohol and provideds people with a sponser or person they can turn to if they feel as if they want to drink or veer off the path of sobriety.

The first article was studying the correlation between drug abuse and drink in Adult Children of Alcoholics (ACOAs), compared to non-ACOAs. The study showed that ACOAs were more likely to have a drug abuse problem than non-ACOAs. ACOA were more likely to start drinking at a younger age but non drink more often or heavier than non-ACOAs. Throughout the ACOAs if their mother or both parents abused alcohol it showed a greater chance of becoming liketime drinkers or alcoholics. Parental use of drugs or alcohol seems to have an effect on a child but the studied showed that a mothers abuse has a greater inpact on a child rather than a fathers abuse, mainely because the mother is the primary care giver not the father.

Why did you select this particular drug? Was there a specific reason? What did you know about the drug before your research?

Write a brief summary of the important points of interest of your articles (usually it is not in the introduction section of the article more so in the results/conclusion/discussion section of the article. Make sure to include the properties of the drug and who, when, where, and how it is typically used. What is the current incidence (extent or frequency of occurrence) as well as prevalence (total # of cases in a given population at a specific time) of this particular drug use? Discuss the immediate short term as well as any long term physiological and/or psychological consequences possibly linked with the use of the drug. What are some of the treatments and/or programs available for this drug abuse/use/addiction? What, if any, did you learn about this particular drug from reading the articles that you previous had no, little, and/or wrong ideas about? Make a point of the most interesting

thing you learned.