This is my article i wrote for my magazine.
ALCOHOL KILLS SLOWLY
So what? Who's in a hurry?
What do you think about alcohol? Do you find it attractive; do you think it tastes delightful? Would you get into your car and drive when you’re “smashed”, do you become violent? Are you an alcoholic? Who Knows?
Having spoken to a few of you guys that the outcome of this was not attractive or delightful; to be honest they are quite violent results. Fake ID, memorising the date of birth, being rejected and ending up in a park with 3 litres of cider, what could be better for our underage youths?
30% of boys & girls who we interviewed have either been injured or been involved in some sort of “scrap” as you youths would call it on the streets. We also found out that you guys start drinking from 12 to 15. So what you might argue? But drinking early can cause use of long term and short term physical problems.
The long-term effects of alcohol have a big affect on the liver, brain, lungs, kidneys & heart. The brain may be affected causing confusion and memory loss. The peripheral nerves may be damaged causing changes in sensation and numbness. The liver has proven to have the ability to regenerate itself, but the effects of alcohol eventually wear down the liver, causing damage that in most cases cannot be reversed. Excess alcohol can produce heart irregularities and weakening muscles of the heart wall. It can also upset the body's natural control of blood fats and blood sugar levels. When you drink a little bit of alcohol the kidneys filter that alcohol and are okay. But then, if you drink a lot in a short amount of time the kidneys become overworked, and you may have kidney failure, AND DIE!
Alcohol is a Depressant.
Alcohol abuse can cause psychiatric disorders such as the following: major depression, drug abuse and dependence, chronic low-level depression, anxiety disorders, other addictive disorders, insomnia, memory problems, and suicide attempts. In addition, overuse of alcohol causes lack of coordination, fatigue and weakness. It can exaggerate antisocial behaviors such as irritability, anger and aggression. You youths do not want to end up like this, I once new a man called Dave Crosby, he lost his wife to MS and then started to hit the drink every single day of his life, waking up to a can of Super Skol every morning, acutely he use to pinch drink, pinch money of his family just to get his special sauce, in the end he lost he daughter because he was too much of a bum, he was paranoid, he was out of control of his own life. All of a sudden he started to feel ill and his skin colour changed from a bright and healthy face to a red alcoholic nose like Rudolf and skin colour near enough to Homer Simpson, he had liver failure and he was dying unless he stopped drinking but this addiction was to strong, it took control of his life. 6 month later Dave died.
I once knew a pleasant guy who use to enjoy a good drink on the weekend, loved his cider or any type of can you chucked at him, he’d drink as much as he could well I say pleasant but when he had a big drink and I’m talking 30-40 units on a Saturday night, he was not the same person...
Fighting, arguing, kicking right off, we’re talking Boxing Day 2011, about four of us boys decided to get into a night club on Boxing Day all underage and raring to go. Luckily enough we got into this night club without any type of identification, straight away we noticed everyone was drinking underage so it seemed to be a good night, until the drink kicked in, cheap shots, cheap pints, a cheap night to get wasted. After all of this alcohol getting chucked down I sat down feeling quite ill then saw one of my mates called Alex, see his ex girlfriend kissing a quite tall guy on the dance floor. It was liked he changed into a different person in like 30 mini seconds. Running towards this tall guy, and attacking him, throwing punches left, right and centre, we all ran towards the dance floor but by the time we got to Alex he was already getting dragged about by two huge, baldy bouncers, chucking him down the stairs and out of the door. We all knew this was not the normal Alex, he was a quiet lad but the drink sent him wild!
Consequences of him seeing his ex girlfriend kissing another lad in a night club were atmospheres with alcohol are dangerous, when some people have had too much, resulting in Alex being humiliated; bruised back, split eye brow, a loss of respect from friends and his self respect.
The moral of this article is not to scare you from alcohol and make you turn straight edge, not to keep you off it. Alcohol can be fun and you can have awesome times but please just know your limits, which all you need to know to keep yourself healthy & safe!
