ALCOHOL AND TOBACCO
What is alcohol?
Alcohol is the most commonly used drug. If you make careless decisions
regarding alcohol, you may be faced with serious consequences – including
possible jail time, suspension of your driver's license, injury, or even death effects Alcohol is a drug that is absorbed into the bloodstream from the stomach and
small intestine. It is broken down by the liver and then eliminated from the
body. There are limits to how fast the liver can break down alcohol and this
process cannot be sped up. Until the liver has time to break down all of the
alcohol, the alcohol continues to circulate in the bloodstream, affecting all of the body's organs, including the brain.
WHY DO COLLEGE STUDENTS DRINK?
Feeling less inhibited in social situations, fitting in with others that are drinking, Expressing feelings that are difficult to express when they are sober and suppressing painful feelings such as shame, anger, sadness, or loneliness.
WHAT IS TOBACOO?!? Tobacco is an agricultural crop, most commonly used to make cigarettes. It is grown all over the world and supports a billion-dollar industry. The psychoactive ingredient is nicotine, a stimulant, but more than 4,000 other chemicals (2,000 of which are known to be poisonous) are present in cigarettes .Tobacco is a nervous system stimulant that triggers complex biochemical and neurotransmitter disruptions. It elevates heart rate and blood pressure, constricts blood vessels, irritates lung tissue, and diminishes your ability to taste and smell.
ADDICTION
Nicotine in tobacco – a strong poison – is the most addictive of all drugs. It stimulates the same areas of the brain as cocaine and amphetamines, and tolerance to nicotine develops faster than to cocaine or to heroin. Neurochemically, the body adapts to the toxins in tobacco a few hours after smoking – which quickly makes smoking necessary in order to feel