|
|
Article: Drain on the brain: abusing alcohol during the teen years can lead to dire consequences, including damage to your growing brain.(substance abuse)
- Article from:
- Scholastic Choices
- Article date:
- February 1, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 Scholastic, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
Four years ago, the daily alcohol-fueled party finally ended for Toren Volkmann when he entered a rehabilitation program. He was 23 and lucky to be alive. For the previous eight years, Toren had binged on alcohol. His abuse got him arrested on several occasions and resulted in many blackouts--periods in which the memory is erased.
"I was blacking out, getting kicked off school teams, and I didn't care that those things were happening," Toren, who grew up in Olympia, Washington, tells Choices.
Toren's story isn't new. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) reports that nearly 18 million Americans abuse alcohol or are ...