The Dangers of Drink Spiking

Binge drinking is considered to be a health problem because nearly half of all college students have reported to drink more than 5 drinks is a short period of time (Hennessee, 2013). There has been about 1,825 college students who have died from alcohol-related injuries such as motor-vehicle crashes with the students being between 18 - 24 years old (College Drinking Fact Sheet, 2015). An increase of 6% of college deaths has occurred due to binge breaking increasing the total amount from 1,600 to 1,700 (Hingson, Heeren, & Wechsler, n.d.).

“According to the CDC, about 90% of all teen alcohol consumption occurs in the form of Binge Drinking, which experts say peaks at the age of nineteen.” (qtd by Listfield). Binge Drinking is the consumption of excessive amounts of alcohol in a short period of time. The author, Emily Listfield, defines that the standard alcohol consumption over a two hour period is considered to be four beers for women and five beers for men. This has become a great distraction for college students nationwide and a major dilemma on college campuses. Nearly two hundred thousand students visit emergency rooms each year due to the abuse of alcohol, and more than one thousand seven hundred students die. In the article “ The Underage Drinking Epidemic”, Listfield identifies the problems that underage drinking can cause, the dangers that could happen, and four solutions on what parents can do to keep their kids from binge drinking.

“’ Were seeing kids coming in with blood alcohol see levels in the mid-.3s, even .4, which four to five times the legal limit for driving. That’s the level at which 50% of people die,”’ says Dr. Mary Claire O’ Brien, an emergency medicine physician and associate professor at Wake Forest University School of Medicine. Underage drinking has become an issue in young teens. Teens are drinking large amounts of alcohol in short periods of time. The effects of alcohol in adolescents are much more life threating then an adult. In the article “The Underage Drinking “, Emily Listfield acknowledges that binge drinking is common in adolescents, it causes long term effects, physical injury and death.

This pattern often encourages people to drink more to keep the buzz going." ( Net Biz Mentor ). When people get like that they usually get a little bolder and want to do normal tasks and routines like driving a motorized vehicle. The effects of alcohol result in poor coordination, slurred speech, double vision, decrease of self-control, lost of consciousness and maybe even death.

People seem to get the wrong impression that alcohol is classified as a stimulant or “upper”, but in actuality alcohol is a depressant. The short term physical effects depend on the blood-alcohol level. It ranges from random changes in mood to complete lack of coordination, impaired vision, lack of balance and slurred speech. However, larger amounts of blood alcohol can strongly effect brain functioning and eventually cause a person to “black out”. In examining the thought process for drinking and driving behavior, Kulick and Rosenberg (1999) found that while the majority of their college student sample frequently drove after drinking, these students rationalized this behavior in a variety of ways. The most commonly found reasons for driving under the influence of alcohol were the strong desire to get to a specific destination (e.g., home), convincing oneself as being only slightly intoxicated, and/or believing

Alcohol can also leave many physical effects on a person's body. Zailckas described her first ever blackout by receiving details from her friends and parents because she herself could not remember. “I passed out on the dock in a puddle of my own vomit” (Zailckas 92). Passing out in your vomit is a common effect of alcohol abuse and has led to many people suffocating and dying. She explained how she woke up in a hospital bed with bruises all over from her also drunken friends dropping her while trying to carry her lifeless body. Being as though the people that she was with were also intoxicated, her situation was worsened and more damage was done.

According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Many young people are facing the consequences of excessive drinking, at a too early age. Because of this issue, underage drinking is a leading public health problem. Each year, approximately 5,000 young people under the age of 21 die as a result of underage drinking including about 1,900 deaths from motor vehicle crashes, 1,600 as a result of homicides, 300 from suicide, as well as hundreds from other injuries such as falls, burns, and drownings (1–5).

     ?Alcohol?s effects are progressively more noticeable as the blood alcohol concentration increases. At a BAC of .02 to .05 percent the effects are almost entirely pleasurable. The drinker feels relaxed and sociable. There may also be some modest impairment of reasoning or memory and general reduction in caution. A BAC of .05 to .07 produces a state of excitement. The drinker begins to suffer from what may be a slight but nonetheless noticeable impairment of balance, speech, vision, reaction time, and hearing. Judgement and self-control are also effected. The driver?s behavior is apt to become more aggressive. In general, the drinker feels stimulated and highly capable. In reality his or her ability to safely perform tasks such as driving that require quick reactions, concentration, and good judgement has been significantly reduced.

like people think, but are likely to end up in serious, long term physical or paralyzing damage or

The symptoms of binge drinker include drinking for fun, drinking quickly and being dependent on the alcohol in a public setting. The other symptoms of binge drinking include “a decreased heart rate, loss of memory after drinking, rapid change in emotions, poor balance and co-ordination, accidental falls and feeling nausea or vomiting” . It leads to “alcohol poisoning, sexually transmitted diseases, unintended pregnancy, high blood pressure, liver disease, sexual dysfunction and children born with fetal alcohol spectrum” . Current treatments for Binge include advisory for individuals to drink slowly, eat enough food so

Many Young adults choose to be rebellious to prove their social status; many young adults are mixing energy drinks with alcohol. Mixing a depressor like alcohol with a stimulant like caffeine cause the human body to forget the effect of alcohol, and make the youth drink more alcohol to feel the buzz feeling; leading them to consume more alcohol than their usual body limit. In 2010, nine college students were hospitalized after drinking alcoholic energy drink called four loko (Hogan, 2010). Four loko can be found in any gas station for about three dollars,it is commonly called “ blackout in a can” , it can raise your alcoholic blood level to .3; the legal limit for blood alcohol level is .08. One can of four loko contain as much alcohol as a six pack of beer laced with several shots of espresso.

Alcoholism is perhaps the most common form of drug abuse in North America today. Scientists report that the reason alcohol is so popular to people is because it is pleasant, relaxing, and is considered a "social beverage." But what individuals often do not take in to consideration is the fact that alcohol dulls the brain and confuses physical reactions. This can lead to numerous injuries, accidents, and death. Alcohol affects every part of an alcoholic's life: their body, their mind and their family life. The body has a natural chemical that gives a feeling of a "natural high". It happens in the presence of a life-endangering situation. This chemical is adrenaline, which is meant to prepare the body for defense in

That scenario shows only a few of the side effects alcohol can cause to a person. Alcohol creates a disruption regarding the connection of the brain. The brain controls physical and psychological actions. Many people do not think about the possible outcomes that alcohol can cause to themselves. Most american’s drink occasionally and some frequently.

Drugs and alcohol can play a major role in date rape and 25% of drugs are even are factored into rape. Drinking can help loosen inhibition and reduce common sense, and while at this act, drinks could also be spiked by a drug called rohypnol. Rohypnol is a common date rape drug that could be used anywhere but more commonly at a party or at clubs. Other drugs such as GHB and Ketamine have other types of drugs such as cherry meth and acid are mixed into one drug. Date rape drugs often have no smell or taste makes it easy for the persecutor to quickly put the drug in their drink without the victim's knowledge. People who have experienced these date rape drugs have said that they felt dizziness, confusion, paralyzed, and that they have problem talking. Drugs are the most dangerous when they are factored with drinking because it is almost impossible to detect, they make a victim feel weak and confused which can cause them to pass out. There are many precautions a victim can take when they are in a vulnerable environment. Some of these precautions may be, getting a new drink, keeping an eye on the bartender, and also bringing your drink along with

Alcohol poisoning causes deaths in teens and young adults all around the world. When a person ingests too much alcohol it poisons the body, hence the name alcohol poisoning. If someone has alcohol poisoning they will vomit uncontrollably, have seizures, slow breathing, and no sense of rationality or safety. When a person gets intoxicated, based on the level, it could go many ways. They could just wake up the next morning with a hangover or die. A hangover is the feeling left behind the day or days after being intoxicated. People experience severe headaches and/or migraines and in some cases dehydration.