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How Much Do YOU Know About Alcohol and Other Drugs? Answer each of the following questions "true" or "false." 1. Alcohol is a drug. 2. Everyone reacts the same way to the same amount of alcohol. 3. A person can die of alcohol poisoning. 4. Alcoholism is a disease. 5. Alcoholic people can be helped. 6. Certain symptoms warn people that their drinking may lead to alcoholism. 7. Beer drinkers never develop alcoholism. 8. "Passing out" and "blacking out" are the same thing. 9. Alcohol is a stimulant. 10. Drinking coffee or taking a cold shower can help "sober up" a person who has had too much alcohol. 11. Two warning signs of an alcohol problem are blackouts and increased tolerance (needing to drink more and more to feel good). 12. Marijuana contains more cancer-producing elements than tobacco cigarettes. 13. Marijuana doesn't affect driving performance. 14. Cocaine is a stimulant. 15. Crack cocaine use will cause your heart and respiration (breathing) rates to decrease. 16. Dependency on heroin can develop within a few weeks of daily use.
THE ANSWERS... 1. True... Alcohol is a depressant drug that affects the way one acts, thinks, and feels. 2. False... Age, weight, gender, stomach content, mood, use
of oral contraceptives ("the pill") and other drugs, menstruation,
and recent illness or tiredness all affect one's body reaction to
alcohol and should be considered in your choice to use alcohol. 3. True... Drinking a large amount of alcohol in a short period of time may affect the brain and lead to an alcohol-induced coma or death. Prolonged use of alcohol may also cause death by poisoning various body organs so they do not function properly. 4. True... The American Medical Association and the World Health Organization recognize alcoholism as a disease. Like other diseases, alcoholism has definite signs and symptoms. 5. True... More than 600 studies confirm that treatment helps people improve their lives. As with most other diseases, the earlier an alcohol addiction is identified and treated, the better the chances for recovery. 6. True... A variety of changes in a person's behavior can signal a problem, including sudden changes in work or school attendance and/or performance; withdrawal from family members and friends; and deterioration of physical appearance and grooming. 7. False... Alcohol, in any form, is an addictive drug. If a person abuses enough alcohol over a long enough period of time, dependence on the drug is inevitable. 8. False... A "blackout" is a temporary memory loss during which the person stays conscious and active, and may even appear sober, but later cannot remember, even if reminded, where he or she was or what he or she did. 9. False... Alcohol is a depressant and slows down and alters body functions. 10. False... Because the body metabolizes alcohol at an average rate of one drink per hour, only time can reduce a person's blood alcohol content. 11. True... There are a couple of signs that may be helpful in identifying an alcohol problem. 12. True... In fact, because marijuana smokers try to hold the smoke in their lungs for as long as possible, one marijuana cigarette can be as damaging to the lungs as four tobacco cigarettes. 13. False... Marijuana impairs driving skills for at least four to six hours after smoking a single cigarette. 14. True... Cocaine produces an accelerated heart rate (makes it beat faster) while at the same time constricting the blood vessels (making them smaller and tighter), while they are trying to handle this additional flow of blood. These physical changes may be accompanied by seizures, cardiac arrest, respiratory arrest, or stroke. 15. False... Some of the physical risks associated with using any amount of crack cocaine include increases in blood pressure, heart and breathing rates, and body temperature. 16. True... Use of heroin causes physical and psychological problems such as shallow breathing, nausea, panic, insomnia, and a need for increasingly higher doses of the drug to get the same effect. To learn more "facts about" alcohol
and other drugs, Contact SAISD,
or Click one of those "facts about" below. 
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