PARENTS PLEASE STOP ALLOWING TEENAGERS TO DRINK  ALCOHOL!

(An occassional drink at home with you does not usually stop binging when they are with friends, as binge drinking is the style of drinking that is usual amoungst teens now.)

No drinking is the safest rule, and is being advocated Internationally now.

Get teens to become AlcoFreeTeens™, to save their brains being damaged by binge drinking.

  ALCOHOL POISONING

THIS IS A ROUGH GUIDE - AS EACH PERSON CAN "HOLD " DIFFERENT AMOUNTS OF ALCOHOL - SO DEATH OCCURS WITH DIFFERNT AMOUNTS OF UNITS.  

DEATH CAN OCCUR FROM AS LITTLE AS 8-10 UNITS WITH A SMALL SiZED/ UNPRACTICED DRINKER.

ALCOHOL IS A CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM DEPRESSANT.THE BODY SHUTS DOWN SLOWLY,OR QUICKLY IF VERY STRONG ALCOHOL IS "DOWN-DOWNED."

• THE FIRST SYSTEM OF THE BODY TO BE AFFECTED IS REASONING.
• THEN SPEECH BECOMES SLURRED.
• THEN CO-ORDINATION IS AFFECTED.
• THEN THE PERSON BECOMES UNCONSCIOUS.
• THEY THEN BECOME COMATOSE AND UNRESPONSIVE.(OFTEN ARE PALE AND PASTY.)
• THE FINAL SYSTEM THAT SHUTS DOWN IS THE RESPIRATORY SYSTEM- SO THE PERSON STOPS BREATHING,AND WILL DIE IF NOT ARTIFICIALLY RESUSCITATED.
• (BRAIN DEATH OCCURS AFTER A FEW MINUTES OF THE BRAIN BEING STARVED OF OXYGEN.)

FIRST AID: IF THE PERSON IS UNRESPONSIVE CALL FOR MEDICAL HELP IMMEDIATELY.

082 911 NETCARE / 084 124 ER24 / 10117 EMRS /10111 POLICE FLYING SQUAD.

• LIE THE PERSON ON THEIR SIDE IN RECOVERY POSITION.(NOT ON THEIR BACK. THEY CAN VOMIT,AND CHOKE ON THE VOMIT.)

• CHECK THE PULSE.

• IF BREATHING HAS STOPPED, DO ARTIFICIAL RESUSCITATION.

• DO NOT TRY AND MAKE THEM VOMIT.

• DO NOT POUR WATER ON THEM OR PUT THEM IN A SHOWER/POOL.

• THE ONLY THING THAT TAKES ALCOHOL OUT OF THE BODY IS TIME.

• GET AN ADULT / PARENT TO ASSIST.

• GET TO HOSPITAL ASAP.

• “More facts about alcohol poisoning. What is it?”

• Alcohol depresses nerves that control involuntary actions such as breathing and the gag reflex, which prevents choking.

• Someone who drinks a fatal dose of alcohol will eventually stop breathing.

  Even if someone survives an alcohol overdose he or she can suffer irreversible brain damage.

  Rapid binge drinking (which often happens as a bet or on a date etc) is especially dangerous because the victim can drink a fatal dose before losing consciousness.

  A person’s blood alcohol concentration can continue to rise even while he/she is passed out.

  Even after someone stops drinking, alcohol in the stomach and intestine continues to enter the blood stream and circulate through the body.

  A person who appears to be sleeping it off may be in real danger.

  Critical signs of alcohol poisoning include mental confusion, stupor, coma, or the person cannot be roused;

  Vomiting, seizures, slow (fewer than 8 breaths per minute) or irregular (10 seconds or more between breaths) breathing;

  And hypothermia (low body temperature), bluish skin colour, and paleness.

• ALCOHOL & SPORT

  "Short term alcohol use can impede muscle growth,while long term alcohol use diminishes "protein synthesis"- resulting in a decrease in muscle build up.Alcohol use 24 hrs before excercizing makes it more likely to develop muscle cramps.

  Time is needed(min. 48 hours without any alcohol in body) for body tissues to recover."

  Research at PMB University found 2 Beers adversely affected sport performance for up to 4 days.

  Olympic Sportmen stay off alcohol completely to achieve maximum results!

  *Check your own sports performance.

  Are you underachieving at sport because of your drinking? 3rd Team instead of 1st Team?

  Alcohol can affect your sport, or academic achievement.(See Treatment)

  
  

Isn't this a terrible indication of SA society now?

Lots of people think it is OK and normal to pass out after drinking.It is NOT OK. It can cause alcoholism (dependence / addiction.) It causes enormous problems to the person, and to society. Many criminals do not remeber having committed the crime they committed e.g. murder, because they had a blackout.

STATISTICS             Ref:  http://christiandrugsupport.wordpress.com/most-commonly-used-drugs/sa-statistics/

• In 2008 SANCA reported an increase in 19-20 year old alcoholics.   (Cathy De vos, SANCA)
• 18-22 years olds are the group of heaviest alcohol abuse. (The Lancet medical journal, 2009)
• 35% of High schools kids are problem drinkers who drink at least 9 units spirits, 1 liter wine or 2 liters of beer. (Rapport, 11.05.2008)
• According to research done in May 2008, 20% of 14 year old boys and nearly half of 17 year old boys drank in the previous month. Girls was a bit lower with 18% of 14 year olds and 35% of 17 year olds in the same period. (CDA)
• 122 out of every 1000 Grade 1 pupils in the Northern Cape town of De Aar have foetal alcohol syndrome – the highest incidence of the syndrome in one population anywhere in the world.

Will stricter legislation on alcohol make a difference? 
25 Jun 2012 -  Trish Beaver

DRINKING is a national pastime. South Africans take it seriously, but not its effects. 

Earlier this year, Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini called for stronger measures against alcohol, suggesting a bill to raise the legal drinking age to 21. Predictably, there has been an outcry. 

While the draft bill to raise the age for drinking is still in the cupboard, the move to ban alcohol advertising is more imminent.   

Speaking in Pretoria last week, members of the Social Protection and Community Development Cluster said that the draft bill on the ban on alcohol advertising would be submitted to the cabinet before the end of this year. Other draft bills concerning the legal age to purchase alcohol and the licensing of shebeens will also be submitted for consideration.  

Dlamini said substance and alcohol abuse are among the ever-increasing challenges facing the youth globally and in South Africa.

“Alcohol remains the most common primary drug of choice across the country and it results in risks, including accidents, injuries, teenage pregnancies, as well as unprotected sexual behaviour, which leads to HIV transmission,” said Dlamini.“We have spoken to industry and made it clear that our first priority is the health and safety of South Africans.“Our government recognises that alcohol and substance abuse constitute a serious threat to health and development. This undermines our ongoing efforts to build safe and healthy communities,” she said. 

In South Africa, there is a connection between alcohol and substance abuse, gender-based violence, criminal activities such as gangsterism, money laundering, human trafficking, foetal alcohol syndrome, road carnage and family disintegration. 

Alcohol ranks third in the country’s burden of disease and disability, after unsafe sex and interpersonal violence. It’s a factor in 29% of driver injuries and more than 47% of driver deaths. 

Dlamini said she will address concerned parties about the bill before it is presented to Parliament and she will also invite the public to comment. But big stakeholders in the alcohol industry say their concerns have been ignored. 

Public affairs consultant to the Industry Association for Responsible Alcohol Use (ARA) Adrian Botha told The Witness: “We have not been consulted at all, nor asked to make submissions. To my knowledge, nothing has been formally released from the government. 

“We believe that simply raising the drinking age will not have the desired effect without enforcement, and that the government should rather enforce what is internationally acceptable as the preferred drinking age limit, which is what we currently have. 

“If the problem is that 13-, 14-, 15- and 16-year-olds are drinking, how will raising the legal age to 21 achieve anything? It also does not make any logical sense. At 18, a person can be married, have children (or abortions), sign contracts, join the army and kill for the country because they are considered an adult, but they cannot have a glass of wine — it’s ridiculous.” 

Caro Smit of the organisation Sadd (South Africans Against Drunk Driving) was more supportive of the proposal. “I think putting the drinking age up to 21 is excellent in that it will also alert parents to the fact that excessive alcohol is bad for developing brains.

“At 18, the human brain is not fully developed. Teenagers tend to binge drink (when they consume five units within two hours). These shooters and “down downs” make them very drunk quickly and the damage is immense. 

In South Africa we unfortunately have many parents who let their children drink from a young age, not knowing they increase the chances of their children becoming addicted.“Teens drive drunk, girls get raped and lives are lost when alcohol is abused,” said Smit. 

Sadd tries to affirm children who do not drink and encourages them not to bow to negative peer pressure. Smit believes that if the legal age is raised then children may start drinking later, not earlier like they do now. 

Lin Geber, executive director of uMgungundlovu Sanca (South African National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence) agrees but has misgivings about the bill. 

“We have seen research that shows that if you can delay the age when teenagers start drinking it is beneficial and they are less likely to become addicted. 

“But realistically, we doubt that raising the age will have any real benefits because it is the enforcing of the law that is the real issue. We have many young teenagers who are below the existing 18-year age limit who manage to get alcohol. 

“Clearly, the existing laws are not being properly enforced. Our statistics show that 25% of the people we see for alcohol addiction are below the age of 17. We wonder what the government hopes to achieve by raising the age limit ... enforcement of existing laws can do more.” 

In the United States, there have been various studies looking at the legal drinking age of 21. The consensus is that students drink alcohol on the quiet, still managing to buy it and consume it. The law serves only as a deterrent. Most states in the U.S. have introduced alcohol education programmes to coincide with driving education lessons. This is to drive home the gravity of drunk driving. 

When Manto Tshabalala-Msimang instituted her anti-smoking measures, smokers got hot under the collar and perhaps the dry measures Dlamini plans will have drinkers toasting her demise. The question is: will more restrictions have the desired effect?

PARENTS AND DRUGGING. IMPORTANT INFO.

ALCOHOL ALCOHOL IS A DRUG. IT IS THE MAIN DRUG PROBLEM IN SA. DON’T ALLOW DRINKING THEN DRIVING. DON’T ALLOW UNDER AGE DRINKING. ALCOHOLISM IS A HEREDITARY ILLNESS. DRINKING FAST CAN KILL YOU-ALCOHOL POISONING.(STOP BREATHING)*see below DRINKING CLUBS ARE VERY DANGEROUS. Check Alcohol & Sport(below)

CIGARETTES CIGARETTES ARE DRUGS. THEY CAUSE THE MOST DEATHS / WORLD. 5 Million people die every year world wide, from smoking. 44,000 PEOPLE DIE A YEAR IN S.A. FROM SMOKING. Don't let children smoke,and parents should not smoke in the house or car with children present.If possible try and stop smoking - for your and their sake and health! ***** See below. The National Quit Line 011 720 3145 is a free service to help smokers quit the addiction to nicotine and the habit of smoking and tobacco use.

DAGGA DAGGA IS A DRUG. IT IS ILLEGAL AND CAN GIVE A CRIMINAL RECORD. IT CAN DEMOTIVATE, AND AFFECT CONCENTRATION AND MEMORY. IT CAN MAKE STUDENTS FAIL. DAGGA BADLY AFFECTS DRIVING SKILLS AS IT SLOWS DOWN REACTION TIMES, AND AFFECTS PERCEPTIONS OF TIME AND SPACE.

COCAINE COCAINE USE IS FAIRLY COMMON AT UNIVERSITY LEVEL. AFFECTS ATTENDANCE, AND MARKS. EXPENSIVE. IT CAN KILL THRO CARDIAC &/OR RESPIRATORY ARREST. BE VIGILANT. DRUG TEST IF WORRIED. Affects driving skills.

CIGARETTES:

THE MOST VALUABLE GIFT:  PARENTS SET A GOOD EXAMPLE- DONT SMOKE!!

What is the best gift to give for Father’s day? It’s the encouragement to Quit smoking !

The best gift a father can give himself and his family for Father’s Day is to Quit smoking. The National Quit Line 011 720 3145 is a free service to help smokers quit the addiction to nicotine and the habit of smoking and tobacco use.

Often children call the Quit Line for advice to help their parents stop smoking. Children don’t like the stink of smoking on their parents and are fearful that their parents might die. Parents should not ignore this fear. Children are in addition acutely aware that smoking and second hand smoke are also harmful to them.

Give the gift of life. A gift that will protect health, make your family happy and pay for your next holiday on the money you save. Money which you would otherwise have blown into the air in little puffs of poison. Quit Smoking on Father’s Day. And for mothers who smoke and didn’t stop last month on Mother’s Day, you can quit now as well.

It’s never to soon to stop smoking. Give your father the Quit Line number and encourage him to call it and take the first step to quitting.

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