Alcohol and Other Drugs Prevention Resources

On this page you will find lots of helpful facts for you to better understand how alcohol affects your body and your relationships. From the basic facts of what alcohol is to more specific information on how alcohol affects parts of the body, your social activities, and how alcohol culture is created, you鈥檒l find plenty of information here. If you need more information, don鈥檛 hesitate to contact us.

Standard drink

A standard drink is defined as:

  • 12 oz beer at roughly 5% alcohol (i.e. Miller Lite, Budweiser, Coors Light)
  • 8鈥�9 oz of malt liquor at roughly 7% alcohol (i.e. generally come in 40 oz鈥檚)
  • 5 oz of wine at 12% alcohol
  • 1.5 oz of hard alcohol at roughly 40% alcohol (i.e. whiskey, vodka)

Source: 

Binge drinking

鈥淏inge drinking鈥� is defined as a pattern of drinking alcohol that brings BAC to .08 or above. For a typical adult, this pattern corresponds to consuming 5 or more drinks (male), or 4 or more drinking (female), in about 2 hours. Further, it is understood that binge drinking elevates one's risk to experience negative consequences.

Alcohol overdose

Alcohol overdose has replaced the term 鈥淎lcohol Poisoning鈥� because the reality is that one has overdosed on alcohol. Alcohol is a drug and like any other drug, taking too much is considered an overdose. When this happens, medical attention is necessary.

Should any of the following symptoms be displayed by a friend or acquaintance, call for help:

  • Person is passed out or semi-conscious and cannot be awakened
  • Person vomits while sleeping or passed out and does not wake up
  • Rate of breathing seems slow or irregular
  • Person has cold, clammy, pale or bluish color skin

These are all symptom of alcohol overdose and the person鈥檚 life could be in danger. You should always seek medical/professional help as soon as possible:

  • Call Marquette at (414) 288-1911
  • Provide accurate information such as location, condition of the student, names, etc.
  • Stay with the person/friend until help arrives
  • Gather, if possible, information about the amount of alcohol consumed by the victim to share with the emergency services personnel

Secondhand effects of alcohol

  • Has your roommate ever woken you up in the middle of the night because they were loud?
  • Have you been at a party and someone just won鈥檛 stop hitting on you?
  • Have you ever had to stay up looking after your roommate or making sure they walked home safely after a party?
  • Have you ever had to walk around a biohazard in the bathroom?
  • Have you ever seen maintenance staff on the weekend cleaning up after someone else?
  • Have you ever had to pay a fine because someone on your floor damaged property?

If you answered yes to any of these, then you are experiencing secondhand effects of alcohol.

Secondhand effects are not something to take lightly. They should be addressed with the person, when they are sober, and if that doesn鈥檛 work, ask for help addressing the behavior (i.e. call your RA).

To speak with someone about their behavior, here are some helpful approaches.

  1. Seek advice and support from other friends. You don鈥檛 have to be the only person to address the issue with them.
  2. Be prepared for any type of reaction. The person may realize they have a problem and be grateful to you for speaking to them. On the other hand, the person may become very angry with you. However, after they get over their anger, the person might realize you are coming from a place of care and concern.
  3. If the person is responsive and wants to seek help, be prepared to walk with them on this journey.
  4. If the person is not responsive, realize that they have to come to terms with their own issues and that you are not to blame for the stress on the relationship.

Alcohol and sports performance

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