Alcohol and Drugs

You've seen how people react when they are under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Their speech is slurred, they can't walk straight, they can barely form a sentence, they spill their drinks, run into things, and so on. Put an impaired person in a powerful piece of machinery like a vehicle, and it doesn't take a lot of imagination to figure out that the person will either kill or seriously injure themselves or somebody else.

When you or someone else are under the influence of drugs or alcohol, you can't make smart decisions. One moment of stupidity can give you a lifetime of sorrow. It's not worth it!!!

Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs isn't just exclusive to teens. Adults also make poor decisions because they are not thinking with their entire brain. Your brain and body are dealing with the alcohol or drugs. Your brain is not working. Your judgment is gone. Sadly, you can't "unring the bell" the next day when you realize that you are in jail or your best friend is dead or you just lost both your legs and will never walk again. You can't ignore statistics.

Teens are killed everyday. Lives are altered forever because most teens still don't believe it will happen to them. It's not worth the risk! DMV wants you to be a healthy, thriving member of society. Your family wants that more than anyone!

 

Alcohol is a Drug

Alcohol is the chemical (ethanol or ethyl alcohol) resulting from the fermentation of grapes or grain. Alcohol is absorbed directly into your bloodstream. From your bloodstream, the fluids in your body tissues absorb the alcohol. Your brain is made up of a large concentration of fluids and will absorb a large amount of any alcohol you drink. Your liver eliminates the absorbed alcohol at its own rate of time and nothing you eat or drink can speed up the process. Your liver does this by oxidizing the alcohol (converting it into water and carbon dioxide). Coffee, food, or any other "cure" will not sober you up. Only time will do that.

How does alcohol affect my body?

Alcohol is a depressant. It has a relaxing effect on the muscles in your body. The muscles of your eyes relax and lose focus. Your eyesight will become fuzzy and you may experience double vision. As we've said, your brain is affected. Brain activity is slowed. Your judgment, reflexes, and coordination are all negatively affected.

Some vision impairments that occur when you have been drinking include:

• Narrowing of your field of vision
• Reduction in your depth perception
• Decreased ability to see in darkness
• Increased sensitivity to glare and a longer time for your eyes to readjust from the glare

Some mental (brain) impairments that occur when you have been drinking include:

• Reduced awareness of danger
• Becoming over-confident and reckless
• Difficulty in making decisions
• Reduction in balance
• Slower reflexes
• Impaired judgment

How does alcohol affect my driving?

We can't emphasize enough how dangerous it is for you to drink and drive. Your vision and your brain are the most important factors to driving safely. If you jeopardize either one by drinking and driving, you are likely to be involved in a serious or fatal collision. You may kill yourself, your best friends, or someone else's family.