Tuesday 10-11-2020 - 13:05

Alcohol and Drugs Myths and Facts

The UK Chief Medical Officers (CMOs) advise it is safest for men to drink no more than 14 units a week on a regular basis and 12 units a week for women

MYTH

It is a common myth that women are advised to drink less units than men

Units are a simple way of expressing the quantity of pure alcohol in a drink.

One unit equals 10ml or 8gm of pure alcohol, which is around the amount of alcohol the average adult can process in an hour.

This means that within an hour there should be, in theory, little or no alcohol left in the blood of an adult, although this will vary from person to person.

The number of units in a drink is based on the size of the drink, as well as its alcohol strength.

To keep health risks from alcohol to a low level it is safest not to drink more than 14 units a week on a regular basis. If you regularly drink as much as 14 units per week, it's best to spread your drinking evenly over three or more days. If you have one or two heavy drinking episodes a week, you increase your risk of long-term illness and injury.

Drinking a pint of water before bed will help prevent a hangover

FACT

Alcohol is very dehydrating and even though drinking water before bed won’t cure your hangover, it can reduce the severity of the hangover.

 Dealing with a hangover involves rehydrating your body to help you deal with the painful symptoms of a hangover. The best time to rehydrate is before going to sleep after a drinking session.

Occasional binge drinking is OK

MYTH

Problem drinking isn't about what type of alcohol you drink, nor is it about on which days you drink. If you or someone you love is binge drinking every Friday and Saturday night, it could signal a problem with alcohol. The NHS defines binge drinking as drinking 6-8 units of alcohol on one occasion. Instead, spread your drinking over 3 or more days if you regularly drink as much as 14 units a week and if you want to cut down, try to have several drink-free days each week.

You can stop using drugs anytime

MYTH

It’s true that not everyone who uses drugs becomes addicted. People react to drugs differently. There's no rule about how soon someone becomes addicted and it is a choice to use a drug for the first time. However, the fact is that addiction is not a choice. The first time a person takes a drug, they might like how it makes them feel. They believe they can control how much and how often they take the drug. But drugs can take away their control. If the person continues to use the drug, after a while they might need to take the drug just to feel normal. They might start taking more, just to get the same high. The person might keep using the drug, even though it starts hurting their life.

An addiction is an illness, just like heart disease and cancer are illnesses. An addiction is not a weakness. It can happen to anyone and at any age. But the chances for addiction are higher when a person starts using drugs when they’re young.

Cannabis is the most popular drug

FACT

In June 2022, the Office for National Statistics showed that Cannabis is the most used drug in the UK with 7.4% of adults who take drugs, taking cannabis. This is a lot more than the next most popular drug, Cocaine, sitting at 2.1%. These statistics were taken from the Crime Survey for England and Wales.   

Legal highs are safer

MYTH

This is one of the biggest misconceptions about legal highs. Just because they are technically legal, doesn’t mean they are safe. It just means the powers-that-be haven’t got round to legislating against the concoction of chemicals you’ve got clutched in your hand. New batches of legal highs are mixed up quickly to dodge new laws and haven’t been tested for human consumption. So you’re playing guinea pig. Not safe, sorry.

Sources

https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/alcohol-support/

https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/

https://www.drinkaware.co.uk/facts

https://teens.drugabuse.gov/blog

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity

https://www.themix.org.uk/drink-and-drugs

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/articles/drugmisuseinenglandandwales/yearendingjune2022