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Alcohol and You
Alcoholism, also known as "alcohol dependence," is a serious problem that includes four symptoms:
- Craving: A strong need, or compulsion, to drink.
- Loss of control: The inability to limit one's drinking on any given occasion.
- Physical dependence: Withdrawal symptoms, such as nausea, sweating, shakiness, and anxiety, occur when alcohol use is stopped after a period of heavy drinking.
- Tolerance: The need to drink greater amounts of alcohol in order to "get high."
People who are not alcoholic sometimes do not understand why an alcoholic can't just "use a little willpower" to stop drinking. However, alcoholism has little to do with willpower. Alcoholics are in the grip of a powerful "craving," or uncontrollable need, for alcohol that overrides their ability to stop drinking. This need can be as strong as the need for food or water.
Although some people are able to recover from alcoholism without help, the majority of alcoholics need assistance. With treatment and support, many individuals are able to stop drinking and rebuild their lives.
Many people wonder why some individuals can use alcohol without problems but others cannot. One important reason has to do with genetics. Scientists have found that having an alcoholic family member makes it more likely that if you choose to drink you too may develop alcoholism. Genes, however, are not the whole story. In fact, scientists now believe that certain factors in a person's environment influence whether a person with a genetic risk for alcoholism ever develops the disease. A person's risk for developing alcoholism can increase based on the person's environment, including where and how he or she lives; family, friends, and culture; peer pressure; and even how easy it is to get alcohol.
Facts
Recently, the DEA Little Rock District Office seized one-gram of tar heroin coming from the Los Angeles area. It had been shipped to Little Rock, Arkansas through a parcel service. Shipments of LSD to Arkansas are also mailed through the U.S. Postal Service and commercial shipping companies. The black communities of Arkansas are greatly stricken with the crack cocaine problem. The city of Baltimore, Maryland has been noted as a supplier of gram quantities of Colombian heroin encountered in Little Rock, Arkansas. This heroin was also shipped to the recipient through the mail. The use of hydrocodone products such as Vicodin® and oxycodone products such as OxyContin®, as well as morphine and pseudoephedrine, continues to be a problem in Arkansas. These drugs are being obtained in Arkansas through the illegal sale and distribution by healthcare professionals and workers, "doctor shopping" (going to a number of doctors to obtain prescriptions for a controlled pharmaceutical), forged prescriptions, employee theft, pharmacy theft, and the Internet. The LSD in Arkansas is sold in several different forms including blotter paper and small vials of liquid. |
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