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Alcohol
Alcohol is one of the oldest and most widely used psychoactive substances. Alcohol differs from most other psychoactive substances because its use is generally accepted and it is considered a legal recreational substance in most parts of the world. Despite its current acceptance, alcohol is not without its problems. Historically, societal responses to alcohol have ranged from prohibition to unrestricted drinking. Millions of Americans currently suffer from drinking problems, including abuse and dependence. In addition, alcohol use is correlated with a variety of social and health problems, including polysubstance use, fetal alcohol syndrome, aggression and violence, and driving-related accidents.
Alcohol is the popular name for beverages containing the psychoactive ingredient ethanol or ethyl alcohol. For purposes of human consumption, alcohol is produced either through the process of fermentation or through the additional process of distillation. In the presence of yeast, fruits ferment into wine and grains ferment into beer. Wines, excluding fortified wines, typically contain 12% to 14% alcohol by volume. Beers can contain anywhere from 1.5% alcohol by volume in the case of low-alcohol beers to over 10% alcohol by volume for high-gravity beers. To attain concentrations of alcohol above 15%, fermented alcohol must be distilled. Distillation involves the removal of water from a fermented alcohol in order to increase the concentration of alcohol. Distilled alcohol concentrations in the United States are measured in two ways: first, as alcohol by volume (ABV) and, second, as "proof," which corresponds to twice the ABV (e.g., 80 proof = 40% ABV). Common distillation process cannot produce ethanol above 191 proof (approximately 95.5% ABV). Concentrations of ethanol at this level are referred to as grain alcohol and are not intended for human consumption.
Because alcohol concentrations vary by the type of beverage, a standard drink of alcohol in the United States contains 14 grams or one-half ounce of pure alcohol (other countries measure a standard drink as containing 10 grams of pure alcohol). The following beverages contain the same amount of pure alcohol (14 grams) and are equal to a standard drink:
- 12 ounces beer
- 10 ounces microbrew
- 8 ounces malt liquor
- 4 ounces of wine
- 1.25 ounces of 80-proof liquor
- 1 ounce of 100-proof liquor
Pharmacology
Alcohol is a central nervous system depressant, meaning that it depresses, or slows down, the functions of the central nervous system. Although the exact mechanism of neurological action is not clear, the current understanding is that alcohol interacts with a number of neurotrans-mitters in the central nervous system. Alcohol is believed to have its primary effect on gamma-aminobutyric acid (GAB A). GAB A is the major inhibitory neuro-transmitter in the central nervous system and increases in the presence of alcohol. An increase in GABA is thought to underlie the sedative-hypnotic or depressant qualities of alcohol. Additionally, alcohol inhibits the function of glutamate, which is the brain's major excitatory neurotransmitter. Interference with glutamate appears to affect multiple brain functions, including memory. Alcohol stimulates the release of endorphins, a neurotransmitter similar in structure to opioids, which accounts for the "high" that is attributed to alcohol intoxication, and increases the concentration of dopamine in the reward/pleasure center of the brain. Finally, alcohol is thought to alter serotonin transmission, which is heavily involved with food and water intake, sexual response, and aggression.
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- Behavioral Addictions
- Classifications of Drugs of Abuse
- Alcohol
- Amphetamines
- Amyl Nitrite
- Anabolic Steroids
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- Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
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- Multidimensional Family Therapy
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- Models of Addiction
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- Alcohol Marketing
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- Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System
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- Environmental Approaches
- Evidence-Based Prevention
- Evidence-Based Prevention and Treatment, Dissemination and Adoption of
- Expectancies
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- Gateway Drugs Theory
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- Racial and Ethnic Minorities, Issues in Prevention
- Refusal Skills
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- Addiction Technology Transfer Centers
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- Certification and Licensing
- Clinical Supervision of Addiction Counselors
- College on Problems of Drug Dependence
- Confidentiality
- Dual Relationships
- Electronic Health Records
- Ethical Standards for Addiction Professionals
- Ethics
- Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act
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- Informed Consent
- International Coalition for Addiction Studies Education
- NAADAC, the Association for Addiction Professionals
- Network for the Improvement of Addiction Treatment
- Qualified Services Organization Agreements
- Single State Authorities
- State Provider Associations
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- Center for Substance Abuse Treatment
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- Join Together
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- Public Policy, Drugs
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- pulse Check
- Single State Authorities
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- Supply Reduction
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- Bill W.
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- Sobriety
- Social Drinking
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- Twelve Steps
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- Research and Evaluation Issues in Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment
- Cannabis Youth Treatment Study
- College on Problems of Drug Dependence
- COMBINE Study
- Drug Abuse Treatment Outcome Studies
- Evidence-Based Prevention
- Evidence-Based Prevention and Treatment, Dissemination and Adoption of
- Evidence-Based Treatment
- Fidelity of Prevention Programs
- National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
- National Institute on Drug Abuse
- National Institute on Drug Abuse Clinical Trials Network
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- Prevention Evaluation
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- Research Issues in Prevention
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- Addiction Severity Index
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- Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
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- Substance Abuse
- Substance Abuse Subtle Screening Inventory-3
- Substance Dependence
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- Tolerance
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- Antisocial Personality Disorder
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- Anxiolytic Drugs
- Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
- Blood Alcohol Concentration
- Drug Abuse Warning Network
- Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
- Fetal Effects of Alcohol and Other Drugs
- Grief, Loss, and Substance Abuse
- Health Care System and Substance Abuse
- Hepatitis C
- HIV/AIDS
- Injection Drug Use
- Insurance Parity
- Maternal Drug Use
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- Medical Use of Marijuana
- Methods of Drug Administration
- Pain Management
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- Suicide
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- Abstinence Violation Effect
- Acamprosate
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
- Antabuse (Disulfiram)
- Antisocial Personality Disorder
- Anxiety Disorders
- Aversive Therapy
- Behavioral Couples Therapy
- Borderline Personality Disorder
- Brief Interventions
- Brief Strategic Family Therapy
- Buprenorphine
- Cannabis Youth Treatment Study
- CENAPS Model
- Client Engagement
- Client/Treatment Matching
- Co-Occurring Disorders
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
- Cognitive-Social Learning Model
- COMBINE Study
- Community Reinforcement and Family Training
- Community Reinforcement Approach
- Contingency Management
- Continuum of Care
- Counseling Approaches
- Court-Mandated Treatment
- Covert Sensitization
- Craving
- Depression
- Detoxification
- Drug Abuse Treatment Outcome Studies
- Evidence-Based Prevention and Treatment, Dissemination and Adoption of
- Evidence-Based Treatment
- Family Behavior Therapy
- Family Therapy
- Gender Issues
- Grief, Loss, and Substance Abuse
- Group Therapy and Counseling
- Harm Reduction Psychotherapy
- Inventory of Drinking Situations
- Levo-Alpha Acetyl Methadol
- Matrix Model
- Methadone Maintenance Treatment
- Minnesota Model
- Moderation Approaches to Alcohol Problems
- Moderation in Use
- Motivational Enhancement Therapy
- Motivational Interviewing
- Multidimensional Family Therapy
- Naloxone
- Naltrexone
- National Outcome Measures
- National Treatment Improvement Evaluation Study
- Nicotine Replacement Therapy
- Outpatient Treatment
- Patient Placement Criteria
- Pharmacological Approaches to Treatment
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
- Project MATCH
- Public Policy, Treatment
- Qualified Services Organization Agreements
- Racial and Ethnic Minorities, Issues in Treatment
- Rapid Opioid Detoxification
- Relapse
- Relapse Prevention
- Residential Treatment
- Resistance in Treatment
- Solution-Focused Therapy
- Stages of Change Model
- Substitute Addictions
- Support Groups
- Synanon
- Therapeutic Communities
- Tobacco Cessation Programs and Treatments
- Treatment Access and Retention
- Treatment Approaches and Strategies
- Treatment Effectiveness
- Treatment Facilities
- Treatment in Jails and Prisons
- Treatment of Alcohol and Drug Use Disorders
- Treatment Plans and Treatment Planning
- Treatment Programs for Alcohol or Drug Abuse
- Treatment Settings
- Treatment, Nontraditional Approaches
- Twelve-Step Facilitation
- Veterans, Substance Abuse and Treatment
- Violence, Intimate Partner and Substance Abuse Treatment
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