Just the Facts About Alcohol
Over 1,000 people are killed annually on Florida roadways in alcohol-related crashes.
The human body takes about one hour to eliminate the alcohol contained in an average drink. So it will take the average person about four hours to recover from the effects of four standard sized alcoholic beverages. Drinking coffee or taking a cold shower does not reduce the amount of time that the body needs to process alcohol. That is a myth.
You don’t have to be the one drinking to feel the effects of alcohol. Innocent victims of traffic crashes, robberies, hate crimes, and sexual assaults feel the effects of alcohol impairment on a daily basis in Florida.
Those who begin drinking before the age of 14 are five times more likely to be injured while under the influence of alcohol at some point during their lives than those who begin drinking after the age of 21.
Alcohol affects people differently, depending on their size, sex, body build, and metabolism.
Alcohol use plays a substantial role in all three leading causes of death among youth—unintentional injuries (including motor vehicle fatalities and drowning), suicides and homicides.
People who drink alcohol while dining tend to eat more—about 350 calories more—than at meals without alcohol.
Most teens believe that drinking is less dangerous than using drugs, in spite of the much higher rate (4 times) of alcohol-related deaths.
The brain goes through dynamic changes during adolescence, and alcohol can seriously damage long- and short-term growth processes. Damage from alcohol while a young person’s brain is still developing can be long-term and irreversible. In addition, short-term or moderate drinking impairs learning and memory far more in youth than adults. Adolescents need only drink half as much to suffer the same negative effects.
A clear relationship exists between alcohol use and grade-point average among college students: students with GPAs of D or F drink three times as much as those who earn As.
The costs of youth drinking are an estimated $53 billion annually, and include costs to society such as medical care costs and lost productivity, as well as costs to the young drinker such as pain and suffering and loss of income.
In Florida, a DUI conviction stays on your driving record for 75 years and on your criminal record for life! That means that every time you apply for a job you will have to check yes to the question, have you ever been convicted of a crime.
