ALCOHOL AND DRUG ABUSE

Do you know the effects of alcohol?

If you are under 21, it is illegal for you to possess or drink alcohol, but you may find yourself in situations where you are being pressured to drink by your friends, classmates, or maybe even your brother or sister. You need to know that MOST - 80 to 90 percent - of middle school kids DON'T drink alcohol. And that's not all. In a recent poll, more than 80 percent of teens supported keeping the drinking age at 21, or even raising it!.

Short-term / Long-term

Alcohol is a drug that can affect your body, your mind, and your feelings. In the short-term, alcohol can:

• Cause you to use poor judgment
• Cause you to take unhealthy risks
• Make you look stupid in front of your friends
• Could cause you to be arrested and go to jail, which could give you a permanent criminal record

In the long-term, alcohol can:

• Reduce your learning ability. Research indicates that adolescents who abuse alcohol may remember 10 percent less of what they have learned than those who don't drink.
• Increase your risk of lifelong problems with alcohol. More than 40 percent of individuals who begin drinking before age 13 will develop addiction or alcohol dependency, or other problems associated with alcohol use at some point in their lives.

Remember, Be Smart, Be Safe!

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