California Teens, Binge Drinking and Alcohol Poisoning | Testing It Up – Drug & Health Testing News – Test Country Blog
California Teens, Binge Drinking and Alcohol Poisoning December 13
Filed under Substance Abuse by VirtualTest | 0 comments
It is certainly a frightening thought; fifteen-year-olds are ideally not supposed to lose their lives over such a thing as drinking too much. But in California, this is apparently a reality. A 15 year-old girl reportedly died after a sleepover in Gilroy.
Apart from the dangerous consequences that irresponsible alcohol consumption can bring – the most common and most deadly of which are fatal vehicular accidents that involve drunk drivers – young Americans should be made aware that alcohol itself can kill. Binge drinking – which is defined as consuming more than 5 drinks of alcohol within a two-hour period for men or more than 4 drinks in that time frame for women – can lead to a condition called alcohol poisoning.
Consumption of alcohol results in the depression of nerves that control such involuntary actions as breathing and the gag reflex, which prevents choking. Indiscriminate alcohol intake will eventually lead to the cessation of these functions altogether.
Debbie Allen’s daughter Shelby Lyn was 17 when she died after drinking with a couple of friends December of last year. She has since founded the Shelby Lyn Allen Alcohol Poisoning Education Foundation, and she goes about sharing her story and educating people about the dangers of alcohol poisoning.
Education will be very necessary – but extremely difficult. It is said that hard liquor has replaced beer as the drink that teenagers turn to. In reality, they should not be reaching for anything, beer or otherwise, just yet. Dissuading teenagers can be a rather gargantuan task, partly because anti-alcohol consumption advocate’s competition comes in the form of sophisticated television series that show snooty high school girls in frilly pajamas and tiaras sipping vodka martinis and munching on olives. Who can compete with that? It may actually take a lot of time and effort, but we actually can – and should.
Tags: teen addiction, teen alcoholism, teenage alcohol abuse, teenage drinking, teenage drug abuse
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