Different Drugs - Alcohol

"An alcoholic beverage is a drink containing ethanol, commonly known as alcohol. Alcoholic beverages are divided into three general classes: beers, wines, and spirits. They are legally consumed in most countries, and over 100 countries have laws regulating their production, sale, and consumption.^[1] In particular, such laws specify the minimum age at which a person may legally buy or drink them. This minimum age varies between 16 and 25 years, depending upon the country and the type of drink. Most nations set it at 18 years of age.^[1]"*


Well, there is a ton of info already out there on drinking, so I won't bore you with the basics. I just wanted to share a little story;


"Robert Shit"

It was a weekend. I had gone to a house party with a ton of people I knew. The party started in the early afternoon. A friend of mine had come along, and he had brought his friend Robert with him. There was only one person at the party who was over 18. Rob asked this person if he would buy him a bottle of Vodka, a big one.
What none of us knew, including the lad who had invited him, was that Rob had never drunk before. He was 16.
The party went really well, I remember being totally hammered. I was drinking Vodka myself, I'd polished off one of those little Smirnoff bottles. I was 15. Rob had been drinking Alcopops, but he then started drinking his Vodka with coke. When the mixers ran out, he started necking it straight from the bottle. The party moved away from the venue, and into a local park. It was a warm summers evening.
I remember the point when we knew something was wrong.
I remember we didn't know what to do about it.
Rob started complaining he felt sick. No surprise really, he'd just drunk almost half a large bottle of Vodka. Straight up.
Rob was sitting on the floor, looking really pale. He started groaning, and then he started screaming. He was in agony. We kept trying to give him water, and get him to shut up. We told him he'd get the Old Bill called on us. (Sympathetic, huh?) We didn't know what else to do. Well he did get the old bill called. A female officer turned up first, she went over to Rob, who was now rolling around on the floor yelling "shiiiit". She asked him his name, he just said shit again. She kept asking him, and eventually he said "Robert". "Robert what?" she asked. "Shiiiiiit..."

"Robert Shit. Well that's going to sound great in a church when you get married isn't it?"

The officer called an ambulance for Rob. And the 18 year old got a caution for buying him the booze.

Rob had to be strapped into a chair in the back of the ambulance. He couldn't stand up, and had become paralytic, he couldn't walk or say anything other than "shit". I was later told that the doctors said he had severe Alcohol Poisoning, and had to have his stomach pumped. He was lucky he didn't end up with Liver Damage.

I never saw Rob again.



* quote from Wikipedia