Alcohol and It's Effect

Alcohol is a depressant that slows down the body's reactions. It also affects the working of the brain and the nervous system. The more a person drinks, the more their ability to make important decisions become impaired. After just one drink a person can lose their ability to perform everyday tasks.

There are many causes of people drinking, but the major two are causal drinking and peer pressure. Causal drinking occurs when a person goes to a party or bar and he or she does not intend on drinking, but they do anyway. The next cause is peer pressure. Why does peer pressure cause drinking? The first reason is when someone's friends keep going on at them until they drink. The second reason is when someone's friends' drink, they think it is cool and they don't want to be left out, so they drink too.

The effects alcohol can have on a body are numerous. It increases the workload of the heart, causing irregular heartbeat and high blood pressure. It poisons the liver, causing extensive damage and failure. It can stop the kidneys from maintaining a proper balance of body fluids and minerals; it can also affect the brain, causing unclear thinking. Large amounts of it can cause unconsciousness or death. Even knowing this some people will still make bad and dangerous choices when it comes to alcohol.

One of the most dangerous things you can do is, driving under the influence (D.U.I). Not only are you endangering yourself, you are endangering your passenger, other road users, and pedestrians. Every year more than 7,000 people are injured from alcohol related crashes, and more than 16,000 die. That means every 30 minutes someone is involved in an accident that involves alcohol. Within those crashes innocent people are killed.

Alcohol can change a person's life in an instant. One bad decision caused by drinking could lead up to someone loosing their life. Even people know that it is wrong they say to their selves, "this could never happen to me," so they do it. Today we need to stop and think, is a drink worth killing someone over.