5. Alcohol

Alcohol is certainly the most abundant and common recreational drug we discuss in this course. So common, it is, I often  hear it not even being considered a drug. "Alcohol is not a drug." This always amuses me, because its not only a drug but a considerably dangerous one. A drug that is in my opinion overly prevalent, and seriously un-admirable. Alcohol is yet another subject I tend to take a strong stance on.

This is perhaps because of its extreme over-usage by the vast majority of my friends and of my peer group. If there is a significant percentage of my generation that aren't regular drinkers, I'd like to meet them, because as a person who never drinks I regularly feel isolated. My issues with drinking aren't really based off of the dangers and side-affects of the drug (which I'm aware there's plenty of) but rather how the drug affects people itself.

Let me first point out that I'm not talking about moderate drinkers. This, I see no issues with whatsoever. And I commend anyone who can regulate their drinking to a moderate level. Of my family there are several people who drink like this, and their drinking does not affect them in any way negatively. However, of my peer group I know not one person who drinks moderately and without intent of getting wasted. "Wasted" is the goal of my friends behavior, and the intention of their popular 'drinking games' and it is the state of 'being wasted' that I dislike so much, having experienced it fully in my past.

Its not simply the physical dangers, or the literal sickness this drug causes in heavy consumption that annoys me, but the actual mental changes and behaviors it provokes. Its known for being a 'social lubricant' but as far as I know, it only works this way in that people suddenly lose their ability for caring, respect, and cleanliness. It makes people sloppy enough to provoke fights, act disgusting and be openly fiendish. It is what I consider a transition from being one that monitors and contains his or her ego, to one that totally lets it take over and resides in the 'comfort' of being completely ignorant and selfish. This is what I see the drunk as. Hardly ever do I see a drunk person care about anything but themselves, though I recognize there are rare exceptions. And I recognize I do have a grudge to say the least.

This self-centeredness that is caused by alcohol consumption is the reason for the common emotional outbursts which often seem to 'fountain' from people when they're drunk. Its responsible for countless dramas and exaggerations that only happen when people suddenly feel the need to become relentlessly self-concerned. Now, I myself am a person who meditates daily in a practice to do entirely the opposite of what alcohol does. Meditation is trying to escape the ego, the self-concern, the emotions and dramas of life, and I've learned that if I ever even have the slightest thing to drink meditation becomes downright impossible. Suddenly it makes sense to me why drinking is banned by most religions. Its not that its evil, its totally counter-productive.

Looking back at the class discussion I think the class did a good job bringing up some of the more technical and physical aspects of alcohol, but I think there could have been more mentioned on the side of behavioral affects mentioned in our textbook such as increased sexual desire, and violent behavior. I'm no prohibitionist, but it certainly helps to bring awareness to a popular drug that causes a lot of problems.

As far as the course goes I feel like I've put in decent time and effort, above average, and I'm satisfied with my grade. It feels like I've earned it. I certainly think the toughest parts of the course are the strict due dates, reason for my retake of this course, but I think I'm keeping up with it. (Though I'm sure my paper won't be finished until its due tomorrow :P )

Four words I learned in this module:

• Diuretic - A drug that increases urine production.
• Hepatotoxic Effect - A situation where level cells produce fat, becoming enlarged.
• Cirrhosis - Irreversible scarring of liver tissues and formation of fibrous tissues.
• Polydrug Use - Concurrent usage of multiple drugs.