Dear Dr. Carol:
I know someone who is about to turn 21 and wants to drink 21 shots of some alcoholic drink on the birthday – says it’s a “right of passage”. I said I thought that was dangerous and she’s mad at me now. Would you please give an answer about this and I’ll share with her? She does like your column and might listen to you. Thanks!
Worried Friend
Dear Worried Friend:
You have a right to be worried! I want ALL of my readers to take note of this – 21 drinks are not just at, but OVER the LETHAL DOSE of alcohol! Do you read that? IT IS OVER the lethal dose. For someone who is not heavy – say 110 lbs or under, it could take only 9 or 10 drinks in an hour to kill them, let alone drinking 21 shots! It also takes 30-90 minutes AFTER the person has ingested their “shots” for their body to have processed the alcohol to reach the highest level of intoxication.
A person just can’t process that much alcohol. It is a CNS (Central Nervous System) Depressant. It affects the part of your brain called the Cerebrum first – that is where vision, reasoning, and emotion are at. You probably can identify or have seen cases where a person drinks – not all that much – but they are more emotional, or do things they’d not ordinarily do (and usually sorry afterward), etc. |
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