In this topic you will learn about the effects of alcohol and tobacco on the body.

What do alcohol and tobacco ads tell you? They make it seem as though using the products is fun and exciting. The ads don't tell you about the effects alcohol and tobacco have on your body.

Alcohol is found in beer, wine, and liquor. Alcohol is a drug. A drug is a substance other than food that changes the way a person feels, thinks, and acts. Alcohol can affect different people in different ways.

Alcohol passes through the walls of the stomach and small intestine into the blood vessels. Blood carries the alcohol throughout the body. One part of the body that is affected by alcohol is the liver. One of its jobs is to break down alcohol. If a person drinks a lot in a short time, the liver cannot keep up. The person may pass out or even die from alcohol poisoning.

Alcohol may slow down messages to and from the brain. This is because alcohol is a depressant. A depressant is a drug that slows down the activity of the body. Alcohol can cause unclear speech and dizziness. It can also cause loss of memory, muscle control, and balance.

Every year, many people begin using tobacco. The physical act of using tobacco becomes a habit, and people can't stop using it.

The tobacco found in cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco, and smokeless tobacco is made from the dried leaves of the tobacco plant. More than 100 chemicals are found in tobacco. Among them is nicotine. Nicotine is a poisonous, oily substance. Tar, a sticky brown substance, is also found in tobacco. When tobacco burns, it gives off a poisonous gas called carbon monoxide. Passive smoke is smoke that is inhaled by someone other than the smoker. People who inhale passive smoke suffer many of the same symptoms as smokers.

Nicotine is a stimulant. A stimulant is a substance that speeds up the activity of the body. It makes the heart beat faster. It also raises the blood pressure and the amount of fat in the blood.

If you know how alcohol and tobacco affect your body, then you know that you are damaging your body every time you use either of these drugs.