INFLUENCE OF ULTIMATE SEARCH ON THE CONSUMPTION OF ALCOHOLIC DRINKS AMONG UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS, A RESEARCH PROJECT TOPIC ON MASS COMMUNICATION
CHAPTER ONE
INRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
The use of alcohol and its misuse by students on campus is no more news. Findings proved that about eighty of every hundred tertiary institution students consume alcohol and fifty percent of these consumers do so heavily. This heavy drinking among tertiary institution students is not without consequences. Among the consequences include: alcohol toxification, academic regression, fatal injuries, violence, STDs, loss of lives, damage to properties, and jeopardy to future prospects. These negative effects are not only suffered by the students who engage in such heavy drinking, fellow students, especially the innocent ones also suffer the consequences incurred by heavy drinking. These may include: sexual harassment and diverse kinds of physical assaults. More so, the institution is not left out among the sufferers of the resulting consequences. Often times, too many resources are expended in order to address the damages such addiction may have incurred on the facilities and infrastructures of the institution.
Alcohol is a liquid that is being consumed by drinking and can be of different types or forms such as wine, beer, and liquor which after being drunk gets absorbed by the stomach and then goes into all body tissues through the blood stream (partnership for Drug free kids, 2014).
Alcohol in its purest form is colorless, odorless, and inflammable and contains no nutrients for the body (drugs. i.e.). The different type of alcohol in its purest form includes methanol, ethanol, propane and other component made up of hydrocarbon and hydroxyl group, but the alcohol that is contained in drinks such as wine, beer and other alcoholic drinks is known as ethanol. (Palo Alto medical foundation, 2013).
In many part of the world, drinking alcohol is a behavior that is socially acceptable and that light drinking may be good for the health, especially for the heart. But such health benefits of alcohol cannot be compared to the numerous health risks associated with its consumption. This means that the, the health detriment of alcohol outweighs its benefits. The National Health Service (2014) asserts that, although drinking less lowers the risks of harm caused to the health, drinking has no guaranteed safe level.
Alcohol has been discovered to have direct effect on the health. This effect includes diseases such as cancer, diabetes and cirrhosis of the liver. It also aggravates the intensity of diseases such as HIV because its weakens the immune system and effects positive response to antiretroviral drug (health promotion agency, n, d). The Australian drug foundation, (2010) have linked alcohol to both short and long term health effects. The short term effect include confusion, blurred vision, poor muscle control, nausea and sleep while the long term effects includes damage to many part of the body such as permanent impairment of the brain and liver function emotional difficulties such as depression and problems with relationships. Many other long term effects identified by the foundation include but not limited to cancer, brain and liver injury, memory loss, changes in red blood cells, flushing and blushing of the skin, stomach ulcer, hepatitis, impotence and death may result in severe cases.
The World Health Organization say the use of alcohol is the world’s third leading problem after childhood malnourishments and unsafe sex (Kelly, 2013). Alcohol negative effect is not only limited to the health of its consumers, it has adverse effects on the society at large. Alcohol does not only a personal problem but a society one. Relationship problems like break ups, work problems like poor performance, and legal problem like drinking and driving have been linked to alcohol (Australian Drug Foundation, 2010). All these destructive behaviors in today’s society cannot be overemphasized and alcohol stands to be one of the causes of these behaviors (Drug Abuse.com, 2014).
While it is true that alcohol consumption which often in the form of alcohol beverages, is connected with a lot of health and societal problem, there are conditions responsible. Most if not all of the scholarly literatures consulted did not only linked the detrimental effect of alcohol to alcohol consumption but to abnormal alcohol consumption. Several adjectives were used in different scholarly literature to indicate the extent and manner of consumption that result in such effects. The center for Disease control and prevention (2014) put if that, excessive alcohol use has immediate effects that increase the risk of many harmful health conditions. Drinking too much, either on a single occasion or over time is very harmful directly to the health and indirectly to the society. Wendy(2013) state that alcohol has a positive effect in the case of moderate use and negative effect in the case of excessive use.
