In Canada, each province and territory defines the legal drinking age for purchasing, possessing, consuming, and supplying alcohol. The image on the right shows the legal drinking ages across Canada. But according to recent studies, almost 60% of young people aged 15 to 19 drink alcohol.

Deciding whether to drink is a personal decision that most people eventually have to make. In this activity, you will learn about alcohol and how it affects your body so you can make an informed choice.

Alcohol is made when fruits, vegetables, or grains are fermented. Fermentation is a process that uses bacteria or yeast to change the sugars in food into alcohol.

When you drink alcohol, it's absorbed into your bloodstream. From there, it affects the brain and the spinal cord (the central nervous system), which controls just about all body functions. Alcohol is a depressant, which means it slows down the central nervous system and blocks messages trying to get to the brain. This effects a person's emotions, movement, vision, hearing, and perceptions.

When taken in small amounts, alcohol may make a person feel more relaxed or even less anxious. Larger amounts cause greater changes in the brain, and this results in intoxication. People who have drank a lot of alcohol may be seen to stagger, lose their coordination, or slur their speech. They may become confused and disoriented. Depending on the person, intoxication can make someone talkative and very friendly or angry and aggressive. People's reaction times slow dramatically — this is why people are told not to drink and drive.

Alcohol poisoning can result if large amounts of alcohol are consumed in a short period of time. The first symptom of alcohol poisoning is usually violent vomiting. Other signs of alcohol poisoning include extreme sleepiness, difficulty breathing, and unconsciousness. Seizures and even death may result.

(adapted from www.kidshealth.org) 

Why Do Teens Drink?

 During the teen years, experimentation with alcohol is common. Some reasons that teens use alcohol are:

• curiosity

• to feel good, reduce stress, and relax

• to fit in

• to feel older

From a very young age, you probably have seen advertising that shows beautiful people enjoying life and alcohol. And because many parents and other adults use alcohol socially, perhaps having beer or wine with dinner, alcohol appears to be harmless to many teens.

Binge Drinking 

Binge drinking is the heavy consumption of alcohol over a short period of time. In Canada, the definition of binge drinking is five or more drinks for a male or four or more drinks for a female on one occasion. (Recent surveys report that 30 percent of Canadians aged 15 to 19 binge drank 12 or more times in the past year.)

When you binge drink, your risk of many safety and health problems increases. These include:

• not understanding a situation or what is being said

• getting into a fight or being assaulted

• having unwanted sex or pushing unwanted sex on others

• having blackouts (when you lose all memory of where you were and what you did when you were drunk)

•  getting injured or killed while driving, biking, boating, snowmobiling, walking, or being a passenger

• getting injured or killed from a fall, drowning, or fire

 
Over a longer term, repeated binge drinking can also increase the risk of:

• damaging your stomach, pancreas, liver, and brain

• developing cancer

• developing an addiction to alcohol

(adapted from the Center for Addiction and Mental Health: www.camh.ca)