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Rise in alcohol abuse by teens disturbs police
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What is Alcohol
Alcohol is often not thought of as a drug - largely because its use is common for both religious and social purposes in most parts of the world. It is a drug, however, and compulsive drinking in excess has become one of modern society's most serious problems. The beverage alcohol (scientifically known as ethyl alcohol, or ethanol) is produced by fermenting or distilling various fruits, vegetables, or grains. Ethyl alcohol itself is a clear, colorless liquid. Alcoholic beverages get their distinctive colors from the diluents, additives, and by-products of fermentation.
How Alcohol Works :
Alcohol- is rapidly absorbed into the bloodstream from the small intestine, and less rapidly from the stomach and colon. In proportion to its concentration in the bloodstream, alcohol decreases activity in parts of the brain and spinal cord. The drinker's blood alcohol concentration depends on:
the amount consumed in a given time
the drinker's size, sex, body build, and metabolism
the type and amount of food in the stomach.
Once the alcohol has passed into the blood, however, no food or beverage can retard or interfere with its effects. Fruit sugar, however, in some cases can shorten the duration of alcohol's effect by speeding up its elimination from the blood.
In the average adult, the rate of metabolism is about 8.5 g of alcohol per hour (i.e. about two-thirds of a regular beer or about 30 mL of spirits an hour). This rate can vary dramatically among individuals, however, depending on such diverse factors as usual amount of drinking, physique, sex, liver size, and genetic factors.
Alcohol
is any of a class of organic compounds with the general formula ROH, where R represents
an alkyl group made up of carbon and hydrogen in various proportions and OH represents
one or more hydroxyl groups . In common usage the term alcohol usually refers
to ethanol . The class of alcohols also includes methanol ; the amyl, butyl, and
propyl alcohols; the glycols ; and glycerol . An alcohol is generally classified
by the number of hydroxyl groups in its molecule. An alcohol that has one hydroxyl
group is called monohydric; monohydric alcohols include methanol, ethanol, and
isopropanol . Glycols have two hydroxyl groups in their molecules and so are dihydric.
Glycerol, with three hydroxyl groups, is trihydric. The monohydric alcohols are
further classified as primary, secondary, or tertiary according to the number
of carbon atoms bonded to the carbon atom to which the hydroxyl group is bonded.
Many of the properties and reactions characteristic of alcohols are due to the
electron charge distribution in the COH portion of the molecule (see chemical
bond ). Chemical reactions involving the hydroxyl group in an alcohol molecule
include: those in which the hydroxyl group is replaced as a whole, e.g., reaction
of ethanol with hydrogen iodide to form ethyl iodide and water; those in which
only the hydrogen in the hydroxyl group is replaced, e.g., the reaction of ethanol
with sodium, an active metal, to form sodium ethoxide and hydrogen; and those
in which the carbon-oxygen bond becomes a double bond to form an aldehyde or ketone
depending on whether it is a primary or secondary alcohol. Alcohols are generally
less volatile, have higher melting points, and are more soluble in water than
the corresponding hydrocarbons (in which the OH group is replaced with hydrogen).
For example, at room temperature methanol is a liquid, while methane is a gas.