Alcoholism

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"Alcohol is a socially acceptable, legal drug that is consumed by the majority of Americans without problems to themselves or others (Milgram xiii)." Misuse of alcohol can lead to alcoholism, one of the most widespread and complex problems in America. The reasons some people become dependent on alcohol and others do not are unknown. Many health problems are associated with chronic alcohol abuse, including damage to the liver, brain, or central nervous system.
Alcohol is probably the most widely used recreational drug in the world. The production of alcohol is the result of the fermentation of plant products such as fruit grains. Gin, Vodka, Whiskey, and other hard liquors, require a further process known as distillation. The active chemical ingredient in beer, wine, and other alcoholic beverages is ethyl alcohol. Ethyl alcohol is a potentially addictive drug and a depressant of the central nervous system (Kestler 6).
Alcohol acts as a sedative and as an anesthetic, reducing nerve transmissions and impulses to the central nervous system. This depresses mental, motor, and vital functions such as pulse rate, respiration, and blood pressure (Kestler 6). The body can absorb alcohol very quickly, approximately 20% goes directly into the blood stream from the stomach, the rest enters the body through the small intestine. Moments after alcohol enters the blood stream it reaches the Cerebral Cortex, the part of the brain responsible for judgement. The areas of the brain controlling caution and self control are effected first, so most people feel more relaxed. Extremely large doses of alcohol may result in coma or death (Knox 42).
Intoxication varies greatly from one person to the next depending on his/her blood alcohol level. The speed of consumption can cause the blood alcohol level to rise. Other factors including body weight, emotional state, tolerance to alcohol, amount of time over which drinking takes place, and the amount of food in the stomach can also influence the blood alcohol level (Kestler 7).
In a one-hundred and sixty pound person, alcohol is burned at the rate of one drink every two hours. The more rapidly alcohol is ingested, the faster the peak blood alcohol level will be reached. When a person drinks faster than the ...

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...he devastating effects of alcoholism are well documented. Louis Ridenour, in discussing the role of science said:
There cannot be such a thing as a valid or eternal controversy in science because the very foundation of scientific work is to agree on an experimental frame which permits questions of interest to the scientists to be answered. (Monroe 69)

Cultural patterns have sanctioned both drinking and abstinence in the United
States. In the past the alcohol question has been viewed as a moral issue. As scientific knowledge of the physiological, psychological, and sociological effects of drinking has increased the taboo on discussion of alcoholism and related problems has decreased. It is no longer arguable that if the alcoholic would just exert enough will power, he/she could control his/her drinking. Research has proven that unaided, he/she cannot.

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