Alcohol dependence is a diagnosable disease characterized by several factors including a strong craving for alcohol, continued use despite harm or personal injury, the inability to limit drinking, physical illness when drinking stops, and the need to increase the amount drunk in order to feel the effects. Alcohol abuse is a pattern of drinking that results in harm to one’s health, interpersonal relationships or ability to work. Certain manifestations of alcohol abuse include failure to fulfill responsibilities at work, school or home; drinking in dangerous situations such as while driving; legal problems associated with alcohol use and continued drinking despite problems that are caused or worsened by drinking. Alcohol abuse can lead to alcohol dependence.
60% of UA students have 4 or fewer drinks when they party.
71% of UA students party less than one night per week.
(2015 HWS, n=2,705)
Your friend is in luck as there are several strategies that can reduce or eliminate hangovers:
- Set a limit on the amount of alcohol consumed (less is better)
- Space the drinks instead of downing them fast
- Drink water during and after drinking (alcohol can dehydrate)
- Eat before and during drinking
Arizona Revised Statutes clearly define sexual assault as “intentionally or knowingly engaging in sexual intercourse, masturbatory behaviors, or oral sexual contact with anyone who does not consent” and further states, “Sexual assault occurs if the victim is unable to give consent to the sexual act because of drugs or alcohol or any other similar impaired state.”
What this definition means is that if someone has been drinking or using drugs, a high level of caution needs to be observed. Someone who is incapacitated cannot consent to sexual activity. Being “passed out” is clearly incapacitation and engaging in sexual activity with a person who is incapacitated is sexual assault. If someone has been sick due to alcohol or drug use, one can conclude that they are incapacitated by alcohol.
Our body processes alcohol in four stages: absorption, distribution, metabolization and elimination. Upon consumption, alcohol is absorbed mostly by the small intestine and stomach. As alcohol is water soluble, it rapidly enters the bloodstream where it is distributed throughout the body, reaching the areas with the richest blood supply most quickly – the heart, the liver, and the brain. The liver metabolizes 90% of the alcohol in the bloodstream and may take many hours to eliminate depending on the quantity of alcohol consumed.
According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism binge drinking is defined as a pattern of consumption that brings the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) level to 0.08% or above. This pattern usually corresponds to more than 4 drinks in a single occasion for men and more than 3 drinks in a single occasion for women, generally within about two hours.
It depends. On gender, size, emotional state, and presence of other substances. Use the Standard Drink Guideline and the Blood Alcohol Content Calculator.
According to the “Dietary Guidelines for Americans,” drinking in moderation is defined as having no more than one drink per day for women and no more than two drinks per day for men. This refers to the amount consumed on any single day and is not intended as an average.