ALCOHOL

The information on this page is to provide guidance to parents and other adults who are concerned about preventing minors from accessing and consuming alcohol, the leading killer of young people. Alcohol is a gateway drug and usually the drug of choice among young people.

Listing of Articles...

	Osborne Calls For End To NCAA Alcohol Advertising
	Special Resource For Parents And Students
	Ads And Pricing Affect Teen Alcohol Use
	Drinking Tied To Teens Who Work More Hours
	Campaign For Alcohol-Free Sports On TV Is Launched
	Stronger Steps Needed To Curb Teen Alcohol Use
	Facts About Alcohol In Nebraska
	Alcohol: A Message For Parents
	No Matter What Your Age
	Teen Alcohol Use
	Underage Drinking: The Straight Story About Alcohol
	Brain Damage Starts With The First Drink
	Alcohol Advertising: Fiction vs. Fact
	Supermarket Says No More Beer

Osborne Calls For End To NCAA Alcohol Advertising

Nebraska Third District Representative Tom Osborne has introduced resolution H. Res. 575, calling for an end to alcohol advertising during radio and television broadcasts of collegiate sporting events.

Representative Osborne states, “The NCAA and its member colleges and universities cannot have it both ways. It is a complete contradiction for colleges and universities to continue to take money from beer companies whose ads glamorize drinking and target a youthful audience, and then devote time, energy, and resources in the fight to discourage the same students from engaging in underage and binge drinking.”

As reported by the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth in 2002, alcohol producers spent $27 million (out of an annual total of $58 million) in advertising during the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, which had as many alcohol ads as the Super Bowl, World Series, College Bowl Games, and Monday Night Football broadcasts combined.

Representative Osborne can be contacted at:

The Honorable Tom Osborne

21 East 20th Street

Scottsbluff, NE 69361

Phone: 308-632-3333

Fax: 308-635-3049

E-mail: www.house.gov/writerep/

~ United State Congressman, 3rd District, Nebraska

News Release Dated March 25, 2004

Special Resource For Parents And Students

Listed below under Resources, PRIDE-Omaha, Inc. has a new video available. “Spin the Bottle” offers a unique opportunity for parents and college-bound students. It depicts the dangers of alcohol use on college campuses, noting that the first six weeks of college life is the most dangerous time for female students. An estimated 1,400 students die each year in alcohol-related incidents in the United States.

The video offers strategies for students to counter the constant alcohol promotions involved in college life. It challenges young people to take charge of their own lives and not be used by an industry that is manipulating young people.

We recommend parents and students watch and discuss the video together. Small groups of parents and students might wish to view this video and have discussions following each of the five sections.

Call PRIDE-Omaha, Inc. at 397-3309 to reserve this excellent resource. There is no fee for members.

~ Task Force on College Drinking, Journal of Studies on Alcohol, March, 2002

Ads And Pricing Affect Teen Alcohol Use

New research finds that eliminating alcohol advertising would lower underage drinking and youth binge drinking.

The study, “Alcohol Advertising and Alcohol Consumption by Adolescents,” by Henry Saffer and Dhaval Dave also reported that doubling the prices of alcoholic products would lower underage drinking by 28% and reduce youth binge drinking by 51%.

The study’s economic analysis, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research, found that alcohol advertising has a positive effect on whether youth drink at all and on how much young people drink—that is, it encourages underage drinking. Eliminating alcohol advertising would reduce adolescent alcohol consumption by 21% to 24%, the study concluded.

“As a result, both advertising and price policies are shown to have the potential to substantially reduce adolescent alcohol participation,” the study’s authors stated.

~ Nat’l Bureau of Economic Research, Working Paper No. 9482

Drinking Tied To Teens Who Work More Hours

U.S. teenagers, who work more than ten hours per week, are more likely to drink and to drink heavily than those who work fewer hours or not at all.

A study of over 6,500 adolescents by Mallie Paschall, a University of California researcher, was published in the January, 2004 issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health.

About 24% of teens who worked more than ten hours per week reported they had engaged in heavy drinking in the past year. Less than 10% of nonworking teens or teens working less than ten hours per week reported the same.

Work offers income to afford alcohol and also places teens with older adolescents and adults who can make drinking appear more socially acceptable.

~ Journal of Adolescent Health, January, 2004

Campaign For Alcohol-Free Sports On TV Is Launched

The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has launched a campaign to rid college sports of alcohol advertising.

The combination of television and sports makes a powerful impression on young people. Little leaguers mimic Barry Bonds’ home run trot. High school football players do a touchdown dance in the end zone. A pick-up game of basketball features big-league moves to the basket. Millions of young people get socialization cues from sports.

Alcohol advertisements also send powerful messages to young people. Youth see more commercials for beer than for juice, gum, chips, sneakers, skin care products, and jeans. Alcohol producers spent over $811 million to advertise alcohol on television in 2001, $491 million of that to promote alcohol in conjunction with televised sports events, and $58 million on advertisements during TV college sports.

CSPI has several suggested ways YOU can help:

Have your organization endorse the campaign. PRIDE-Omaha, Inc. has done so.

Watch local college games on TV for beer ads. If alcohol ads air on these telecasts involving underage players, contact the university’s president and urge them to sever the connection between beer advertising and college sports.

Get others to endorse the campaign and contact the college presidents.

Log on to www.beerfreesportstv.org.

Contact PRIDE-Omaha, Inc. for endorsement forms, contact information of local college presidents, talking points, and more information on the campaign.

Stronger Steps Needed To Curb Teen Alcohol Use

A new study, “Reducing Underage Drinking: A Collective Responsibility,” assesses the scope of underage alcohol use and outlines strategies to reduce the problem.

The study, sponsored by the Institute of Medicine and National Research Council, finds that nearly 75% of twelfth graders and 39% of eighth graders have used alcohol in the past year. More than 25% of high school seniors report having consumed five or more drinks in a row in the past week. Nebraska figures are traditionally higher in all categories.

The report recommends:

heightened adult supervision of children.

responsive alcohol and entertainment industry efforts shielding young people from unsuitable messages about alcohol consumption.

raising alcohol taxes significantly by federal and state governments.

increasing retail alcohol compliance checks.

enhancing efforts to prevent and detect false I.D. distribution and use.

national public awareness campaign informing youth of the dangers to themselves and others caused by the consumption of alcohol.

~ American Medical News, October 6, 2003

FACTS ABOUT ALCOHOL IN NEBRASKA

Alcohol is an addictive drug.

Alcohol is a depressant, addictive drug. It is a controlled substance for a great number of Nebraska citizens (namely all of those citizens under the age of 21).

Alcohol causes illness and death.

Each year, alcohol kills over 120,000 Americans. At least 25% of all hospital visits are related to the use of alcohol.

Alcohol is the number one killer of young people.

Alcohol use is related to over half of all car crashes, suicides, drownings, falls, homicides, traumas and other causes of death among America’s adolescents. Over 90% of college hazing deaths are alcohol-related. One August, 1996 study in Douglas and Sarpy County found that news accounts listed 37 people had died in these two counties under circumstances directly related to underage alcohol consumption since January 1, 1990.

Alcohol use is related to half of all problems plaguing teenagers in America.

Alcohol use is related to at least one-half of all crime, violence, rapes, sexual activity, poor school performance, assaults, accidents and other problems among underage populations in America.

Almost all first users of alcohol are under the age of 21.

Adults rarely initiate alcohol use. 90% of all high school seniors have tried alcohol, usually without the permission of their parents or guardians. 80% of these seniors are regular alcohol users, namely, they have used alcohol within the past month.

At least 8 million American teenagers drink alcohol every week.

Teens from across the United States, including Nebraska, report that it is easy to obtain alcohol. Seven million American teens report that they are able to walk into a store and purchase alcohol. Jr. and Sr. high school students in the U.S. drink 1.1 billion cans of beer each year.

Nebraska young people use alcohol at a higher rate than the national average.

Nebraska adolescents have consistently used alcohol and reported binge drinking (at least 5 drinks in a row at one sitting) at a much higher rate than the national average.

Alcohol is a gateway drug.

Like tobacco and marijuana, alcohol is a gateway drug. It’s use is a strong predictor of future drug use and problem alcohol use. The average age of first use of alcohol in Nebraska is 11.5 years of age.

The alcohol industry spends at least $3 billion annually in advertising and promotion.

Alcohol costs Nebraska approximately $600 million each year.

The cost to Nebraska, in terms of lost productivity, morbidity, health care, and crime is $400 for every man, woman and child. Yet, alcohol tax revenue in Nebraska is approximately $16 million.

7/2001

ALCOHOL: A MESSAGE FOR PARENTS

Some parents breathe a sigh of relief when they find out their teenager is "only" drinking alcohol. "At least he's not taking drugs," they often say. "Beer isn't that bad..."

Not true - alcohol can be a harmful substance. Still more parents think it's the "lesser of two evils" because it's legal, and they may be more accepting of its use. Lax attitudes have led to a continuing increase in alcohol use by teen-agers, and today it is the most commonly used mind-altering substance.

Adolescent drinking often begins between ages 11 and 13. Considering that alcohol is in many, if not most, U.S. homes, this is not surprising. However, no matter when and where alcohol use begins, almost all teen-agers have tried it at least once, and many drink just to get drunk. Once study looked just at high school seniors and found that 30% of the girls and nearly half of the boys had become "problem drinkers." It wasn't unusual for a teen to drink a six-pack of beer or a bottle of wine every day. And while some adults consider beer less of a problem than hard liquor, the truth is one can of beer contains the same amount of alcohol as a 1.5-ounce shot of whiskey!

Alcohol depresses the nervous system. It appeals to people of all ages because a drink or two can relax them, often making them feel more comfortable and confident around others. Research shows that drinking also is associated with early sexual intercourse, unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. Once pregnant, a girl who continues to drink, not knowing that she is pregnant exposes her baby to greater risk of birth defects.

Large amounts of alcohol can affect judgment, lead to risky and even violent behavior and slow down reaction time. The leading cause of death of U.S. young people ages 15 to 24, is alcohol-related car crashes. According to one estimate, 15% of the high school seniors drive while intoxicated. It's no surprise that more than 7,000 teen-agers and young adults die is alcohol-related car crashes, and another 40,000 are injured.

Other problems can be caused by mixing drugs. Drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana at the same time, for example, further distorts the senses and makes coordination problems even worse. Whether used alone or in combination with other drugs, alcohol can interfere with normal development and growth of young teen-agers. It can cause permanent physical and psychological damage through injury, poor school performance, depression, etc. Suicide and homicide - the second and third leading causes of teen-age death - are strongly associated with alcohol use.

So, before you go easy on teen-agers drinking alcohol, don't lose sight of how harmful it can be. If your adolescent has become a problem drinker, he/she may need professional help. Talk to your pediatrician.

~ Adapted from Caring for Your Adolescent: ages 12 to 21, American Academy of Pediatrics; Bantam,1991

NO MATTER WHAT YOUR AGE...

Alcohol Is A Drug...

Alcohol is a depressant, which slows down thinking and actions. It acts on the brain and affects all parts of the body. An average-size person's liver can break down about one drink per hour; the rest of the alcohol circulates throughout the body, affecting behavior, judgment, perception, and motor skills--such as driving and operating machinery.

Alcohol Affects Each Individual Differently...

Smaller-size people, women, younger or older people, and those who are ill will feel stronger effects from the same amount of alcohol than larger people, middle-aged adults, or people who are in good physical health. People with a history of alcoholism in their families may also be affects differently than people whose families have no history of alcoholism.

Alcohol Abuse Is A Health Risk...

Abuse of alcohol can cause damage to many of the body's organs. Researchers report damage to brain tissue, heart muscle, and reproductive organs in both males and females. Alcohol may cause the drinker's blood pressure to rise, putting him or her at risk for heart attack and stroke. Stomach ulcers, poor nutrition, and sexual dysfunction have all been related to alcohol abuse. There is no know safe level of alcohol use for those under the age of 21.

Alcohol Affects Driving Skills...

Alcohol is involved in over half of the fatal car crashes in the U.S. Although many states consider a driver legally intoxicated when the Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) reaches .10%, driving skills are affected at levels as low as .03-.05%. This is especially true of younger drivers, who may be less experienced. Alcohol affects crucial driving skills like quick reflexes and vision.

Alcohol Is Harmful to Unborn Babies...

Alcohol consumed by a pregnant woman can enter the bloodstream of the fetus she is carrying. Alcohol may affect the fetus in many ways; slowing both physical and mental growth before and after birth, causing severe physical malformations of the face and brain, creating learning disabilities or retardation. The safe choice is not to drink during pregnancy.

Alcohol Reacts with Other Drugs...

Consuming alcohol with certain over-the-counter or prescription drugs is dangerous. Drinking while taking medications may cause impairment of coordination, a sharp change in blood pressure, seizures, convulsions, and even death. Ask your doctor or pharmacist about how a certain medication reacts with alcohol before combining these two drugs.

Alcohol Abuse Can Lead to Alcoholism...

Drinking large enough amounts of alcohol over a period of time can produce alcoholism, a physical dependence on alcohol. People with a history of alcoholism in their family are at much greater risk of developing alcoholism themselves. Alcoholism is a treatable illness; family members and friends may need to obtain help, too.

More Facts:

Alcoholism is one of the most serious public health problems in the U.S. today. Among the 18.3 million adult "heavier drinkers," 12.1 million have one or more symptoms of alcoholism, an increase of 8.2 % since 1980.

One out of three American adults--56 million Americans--says that alcohol abuse has brought trouble to his/her family.

Chronic brain injury caused by alcohol is second only to Alzheimer's disease as a known cause of mental deterioration in adults.

About 65 our of every 100 persons in the U.S. will be in a alcohol-related crash in their lifetimes.

54% of jail inmates convicted of violent crimes were drinking before they committed the offense.

Over 80% of college presidents identify alcohol abuse as the biggest problem on their campuses.

If a man and woman of similar weight drink the same amount of alcohol, 30% more alcohol will enter the woman's bloodstream, because women have less of a certain stomach enzyme that digests alcohol.

~ Nebraska Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse and the Lincoln Council on Alcoholism & Drugs

TEEN ALCOHOL USE

PRIDE-Omaha, Inc. is frequently asked for clarification regarding youth use of alcohol. We recognize the research which indicates that there is no way alcohol can be used wisely or responsibly in the social environment of those under the legal drinking age. In every state in America the legal drinking age is 21.

The following are the reasons why parents and communities need to support the "no-use" strategy when it comes to adolescents and alcohol.

Every state in the union designates 21 years as the legal drinking age; teenage drinking is in violation of the law.

There is no known "safe" level of alcohol use by individuals under the age of 21.

Adolescent bodies and minds are still developing; the health consequences are clearly negative.

An adolescent can become alcoholic in six months to two years; this is much more rapidly than adults.

Alcohol is a sedative drug; coordination, judgment and reflexes are impaired; with judgment impaired from drinking, a teenager is not likely to make wise decisions.

Parents have the right and responsibility to set limits; our young people need parental support to say NO.

Alcohol use by youth causes many problems in the lives of youth and their families. Alcohol was a contributing factor in 30% of fatal vehicle crashes involving youth in Nebraska in 1993. Accidental overdose, suicide and criminal activity are often results of alcohol use.

Responding to the fact that the most common cause of death among the teenage population is alcohol-impaired driving, well-intentioned groups have organized to oppose driving while drinking, concentrating their efforts or reducing automobile crashes that involve teens and alcohol. While the importance of saving lives cannot be underestimated, the real issue is teenage drinking.

Millions of teenagers are drinking in violation of the law. We do not tolerate moderate amounts of vandalism or shoplifting. How then can we tolerate "moderate" consumption by our youth of an unhealthy and illegal chemical? We cannot. Our real concern should be the healthy development and maturation of young people into responsible and contributing adulthood. We must affirm a goal of drug-free youth.

If young people in your school or community want to take some positive action, please encourage them. For more information regarding youth involvement, e-mail info@pride.org.or call the PRIDE-Omaha office at 402-397-3309 or for youth leadership training, call the National Federation of Drug-Free Youth, 1-800-554-KIDS.

02/15/01

UNDERAGE DRINKING ~ The Straight Story About Alcohol

Here's What Alcohol Can Do To You.

Alcohol can make you throw-up.

Alcohol can make you pass out.

Alcohol can make you go to the bathroom.

Alcohol can give you an hangover.

And if that's not enough...

It can screw up your head.

Being drunk is a condition in which a person has overdosed on a drug.

Alcohol is an anesthetic drug. It puts the brain to sleep just like a shot of Novocaine makes gums numb.

Brain damage begins with the first drink and becomes severe in the case of an alcoholic.

It should come as no surprise that people who drink start experiencing problems at school.

It can cause a drug addiction.

Alcohol is a drug. It's also an addicting drug; 3.3 million young men and women under 20 are problem drinkers.

Alcoholism is adolescents develops rapidly, with some teens becoming alcoholics within six months after taking their first drink.

Nineteen out of 100 young people 12 to 17 years old are defined as having a serious drinking problem.

There is no cure for alcoholism.

It can destroy your liver.

About 85 % of the deaths due to cirrhosis are associated with alcohol.

Damage to the liver due to cirrhosis can not be reversed.

Liver cancer is also related to alcohol use.

It can get you into trouble.

Alcohol can get you into trouble with your parents, with the police and with your principal.

Like it or not, alcohol is an illegal drug for teens--just like marijuana, cocaine and heroin. If you're going to play, you're going to pay!

It can hurt your heart.

Alcohol is a poison to all parts of the body -- including the heart.

Even moderate amounts of alcohol can adversely affect heart function.

It can interfere with your reproductive system.

In males...

Use of alcohol can reduce the amount of testosterone in a man's body. Testosterone is the principle male sex hormone responsible for development of male secondary sex characteristics.

Atrophy of the testicles is a direct result of alcohol consumption.

Excessive drinking is an anesthetic drug. It can interfere with your adult sex life and ability to reproduce.

In females...

Birth defects found in children whose mothers drink are called Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is the third leading cause of mental retardation and the only preventable cause of birth defects.

It can wreck your car.

Every five seconds, a teenager has a drug or alcohol-related traffic crash.

One drink can impair the ability to drive -- especially when the person is inexperienced as a driver.

More than 25 cents of every dollar you pay for automobile insurance goes to pay for damage done by drunk drivers.

It can kill your friends.

Drinking and driving crashes are the #1 cause of death among teenagers.

More than 12,000 young Americans are killed each year in accidents involving young people and alcohol.

Forty thousand Americans are disfigured each year in crashes involving young people and alcohol.

It can make you act like an idiot.

That's the bottom line! People drink because they think acting like an idiot is the same as acting cool. People drink alcohol because they like the feeling of being "high"--which is actually just the feeling of having damage to the central nervous system. Who needs it?

It can kill you.

Alcohol is a killer! It is responsible for drunk driving crashes.

It is responsible for cirrhosis of the liver.

It causes drowning and other fatal accidents.

It is responsible for homicides and suicides.

All by itself, alcohol is a lethal drug. Very large amounts of alcohol can cause death by putting to sleep the part of the brain which directs the respiratory system.

Three people die every day in the United States from alcohol overdoses.

So...

The next time you are face to face with alcohol...

don't get plastered or bombed, ripped or blitzed, sloshed or wasted.

...Refuse it!

Reprinted with permission of The National Federation of Parents for Drug-Free Youth,

11159-B South Towne Square, St. Louis, MO 63123-7824 313-845-1933, NFP 1992

BRAIN DAMAGE STARTS WITH THE FIRST DRINK

A report of the Research by Dr. Melvin H. Knisely, Professor of Anatomy, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston.

Every time a person takes a few drinks of an alcoholic beverage -- even a few beers or cocktails at a social function--he permanently damages his brain, and probably his heart and liver also.

This is the startling conclusion of an important new medical discovery made by a team of scientists headed by Dr. Melvin H Knisely, Professor of Anatomy at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston.

For years it has been known that alcoholics suffer serious brain damage, but most doctors have dismissed this as simply one of the end effects after years of hard drinking, along with liver damage, kidney malfunction, and heart disease often seen in alcoholics at autopsy.

Dr. Knisely has now demonstrated that this brain damage is not merely an end effect, but occurs progressively from the first cells destroyed by the very first drink a person takes, and that the damage accumulates relentlessly with every drink he takes thereafter at any time or place.

For the first time, Dr. Knisely's research indicates how the damage occurs and how the ingestion of an alcoholic beverage triggers the mechanism that causes the damage.

From this standpoint it could be one of the most significant medical discoveries of this generation and one which urgently needs to be communicated to the public because of the present-day widespread tolerant acceptance of social drinking in our society.

Dr. Knisely's discovery is that the circulating red blood cells become agglutinated when alcohol is imbibed, and that this seriously interferes with blood circulation through the small arteries, capillaries and veins. "Agglutination" means that the red blood cells become sticky and adhere together in wads until the blood becomes, literally, a "sludge"--which is the medical term used. Oxygen can come to nerve cells only by way of the blood.

As sludge resists passage of the blood through the capillaries, anoxia (absence of oxygen) occurs in nearby tissues. Computer analysis shows that anoxia volumes of nervous tissue develop even when the blood is moving. Ultimately, as the level of alcohol increases, many small vessels become plugged, and blood flow through them stops entirely. No more oxygen can be brought to the plugged area.

Neurons, the tiny "thinking" cells of the brain require a high oxygen supply continuously, and thus are particularly susceptible to anoxia. Deprived of oxygen, they stop their normal functioning. If complete oxygen deprivation lasts for three minutes or more, they are seriously damaged. If it persists for fifteen to twenty minutes, the damage is permanent--the nerve cell, or "neuron," dies.

Brain cells, as medical men have long known, do not multiply and are irreplaceable. Thus, successive damage done to the brain accumulates throughout life. Many people who live long enough show the effects of brain cell loss in the well-recognized symptoms of advanced age, failure of memory, reduction of sensual acuity, loss of the power to reason clearly.

Every time a person takes a few drinks he hastens this process, damaging his brain by cutting off oxygen supply to enormous numbers of small areas of brain tissue, thereby killing large numbers of brain cells prematurely.

Dr. Knisely, like other teachers of anatomy, had long observed that chronic alcoholism does a frightening amount of damage to the brain. Recently he said that "the brains of skid row drunks are usually worthless for use is teaching the structure of the normal brain to medical students.

Published recently in the little-known but highly respected medical periodical Microvascular Research, the paper by Dr. Knisely and his associates, Drs. Herbert A. Moskow and Raymond C. Pennington, may stand as one of the monumental contributions of all time to medical study of alcoholism because of its implications, devastating of the widespread theory that drinking in moderation is harmless.

The report deserves and is receiving widespread careful study.

The finding that alcohol agglutinates the blood cells, thereby depriving brain cells of oxygen, contributes to understanding the development of large numbers of chronic alcoholics in such countries as France. It is not uncommon for French families to give quite young children small amounts of wine instead of water, or with their meals.

Many children become addicted to wine drinking early in life. Once the children are addicted, it is difficult to get them out of the habit. Consequently, for many years they accumulate damage to the various parts of the brain, the spinal cord, and nerves. France today has one of the most severe chronic alcoholism problems of any civilized country.

The studies of Drs. Moskow, Pennington and Knisely are built upon the solid scientific foundation laid by the late Dr. C.B. Courville in his book entitled, Effects of Alcohol on the Nervous System of Man, most recently published by the San Lucas Press, Los Angeles, CA, 1966. Dr. Courville was a famous neuropathologist, who studied in great detail the central nervous systems of persons who died after various periods, up to years, of drinking alcoholic beverages. Also, which is very important, as controls he studied the nervous systems of people who probably had not been drinking long and perhaps not even very much, but who were killed in car crashes while they were partially under the influence of alcohol.

He researched all the medical literature and brought together in great detail the fundamental knowledge of many investigators on this subject.

Dr. Courville's book proves with detailed pictures that almost every part of the human central nervous system is badly damaged as a result of drinking enough alcohol over a long period of time. The cerebral cortex, which is indispensable for thinking, is badly damaged; the cerebellum, which is concerned with the coordination of various muscle groups and with balancing, is badly affected. Nerve cells in each of the above die, and are gone, and in many instances the remaining cells show visible evidence of alterations from the normal.

Also, the peripheral nerves, both sensory, which carry messages toward the central nervous system, and motor, which carry messages away, show physical signs of damage. All this knowledge has been available but has been widely scattered in medical literature for a long time.

Some of the effects of alcohol on the brain are shown in a 16mm film entitled "Verdict at 1:32," obtainable from the publishers of Listen magazine. In this film Dr. Courville personally shows in his laboratory some of the effects of alcohol on nervous tissue. These effects are obvious to people who are familiar with the types of brain damage.

Dr. Knisely says that he once was a moderate social drinker, and earlier as a medical student had no objections to the customs of an occasional glass. He knows something about hangovers firsthand.

"I used to be a moderate drinker, but I have quit," he says. When he found in the laboratory the evidence of alcohol's effect on the brain, he felt it was not rational for any human being to continue using it, even for the sake of being a good fellow at a party. "There is only one way to be safe from the danger of alcohol," he declares; "that is to quit it cold."

The studies by Dr. Knisely and colleagues were carried out by focusing microscopes into the side of the white of the eye, which permits direct study of a statistically valid sample of the moving blood coming up from the heart through the aorta and then through all the arteries going into the head. In more than 200 healthy normal persons who had not been drinking, it was found that blood cells are separate from each other, that they do not stick together, but flow into and through narrow vessels easily and rapidly. The researchers then studied thirty persons brought to a private sanitarium because of alcoholic involvement, and correlated the concentration of alcohol in the blood of each patient with the physical condition of his blood, the rate of flow of blood through narrow vessels, and the number of vessels which were plugged.

Every person who had alcohol in his blood had red cells sticking together in wads. Even patients with as little as .025 percent alcohol in the blood showed agglutination of blood cells. Persons are not considered too drunk to drive in England until they have .08 percent alcohol in the blood; in some countries it is .05 percent; in some states of the United States the legal threshold is now .08. As concentrations of alcohol in the blood increased above .025 percent, the blood cell wads were larger, went through the narrowest vessel more slowly, and finally plugged visible vessels. Separate experiment showed that when agglutinated blood is visible in the vessels of the eye, it is also present all over the body.

To return to the writings of Dr. Courville, among other things he pointed out that at autopsy, "the brain of the alcoholic is often edematous (saturated with watery fluid like an overfilled sponge), frequently it contains many congested small vessels, areas of atrophy in the cerebral convolutions (nervous tissue wasted away), and multiple hemorrhages from small vessels into the substances of the brain itself."

Dr. Courville stirred the medical profession by suggesting that many deaths attributed to falls, automobile accidents and even murder, are not caused by those conditions at all but are directly due to alcoholism. A blow to the head from which a normal man would recover will kill an alcoholic because his brain will hemorrhage so readily. In fact, spontaneous hemorrhages (strokes) are one of the major causes of death among alcoholics, one of the principal reasons they live an average of only fifteen years after becoming problem drinkers.

Dr. Courville suggested that, although severe damage is not seen in its grossest form until after many years of drinking, lesser damage is already present in young people in their twenties who have been drinking but a short time. Dr. Knisely agrees.

Dr. Otto Haug of the Psychiatry department at Frederikstad, Norway, has demonstrated damage to the brain in alcoholics, using a quite different method in his studies. He takes X-rays of the heads of living patients under special conditions. These have shown that in alcoholics there is a decreased amount of brain tissue remaining.

His method, called pneumoenchphalography (PEG), consists of withdrawing a small amount of spinal fluid under a local anesthetic and replacing this with air, which passes harmlessly into the head. The air remains for a short time until it is absorbed, and there displaces the fluid in the cavities of the brain and makes the outlines of these cavities visible to X-rays. There is a special cavity in each side of the brain and one in the middle. The X-rays show that in people who have been drinking, the cavities are enlarged. This could only be true if the volume of the brain tissue itself has decreased. Surprisingly, people who had been mainly beer drinkers showed as much damage as persons who had been drinkers of whiskey, and often more.

Dr. Haug urged that the PEG test be made a part of the diagnosis of every person admitted for treatment for the alcohol syndrome, since it is impossible to know how much the patient's brain is damaged. He pointed out that many patients had so damaged their brains that conventional psychotherapy could be of little value, that such patients could only be institutionalized for their own protection and for that of society.

All of which is important for the people of our modern society. A high percentage of the persons admitted to mental hospitals in the United States have histories of moderate to long-term drinking. M. Gorman in the book Every Other Bed (World Publishing Company, New York, 1956) pointed out that one half of all hospital beds in the United States are permanently occupied by mental patients. As soon as one mental patient leaves, another arrives. The percentage of psychiatric patients who have histories of alcoholism is not exactly known, but estimates run as high as 25 to 33 percent.

In any case there can be no doubt that the consumption of alcohol is a large contributing factor to direct damage to brains and to deviations from normal emotions and behavior, thus contributing to the enormous numbers of psychiatric patients and the incredible total costs of hospital care.

~ LISTEN, Journal of Better Living, Volume 22, Number 12

ALCOHOL ADVERTISING ~ Fiction vs. Fact

In today's society, media has become a powerful influence on our lives. As children enter adolescence, print and electronic media help them define who they are and what they want to become. By the time children reach middle school, they have spent tens of thousands of hours watching television, movies and videos; listening to the radio, CDs and cassettes; reading magazines, newspapers, and books; playing video and computer games and surfing the Internet.

Advertisers of alcohol use the power and influence of media to convey a positive message for their products. Alcohol advertisements glamorize drinking and play directly into the needs of teen-agers by promising fun, popularity, relaxation and escape. It is important that parents help their children understand what advertising tells us and more importantly -- what it doesn't. It's up to parents to help children distinguish between fact and fiction.

SUPERMARKET SAYS "NO MORE BEER"

The owner of a supermarket in Tupelo, Mississippi, has said his store will no longer carry alcoholic beverages, calling his decision one based on moral principals.

Eldon Blount has owned and managed Blount’s Supermarket for almost 17 years, but finally decided the time had come to take a stand.

"I couldn’t tell my two teenage children not to drink I’m selling beer," Blount said. "I wish I’d made this decision to quit selling beer a long time ago."

Blount said the store might lose some business, but felt the decision was the right one. He added that if customers stood behind him and other business owners who try to make the right decisions, more businesses might take similar action.

~ True Hope, March/April, 1998, as reported in American Family Association Journal, May, 1998