Like any other commercial beverage, alcohol is available in countless types and varieties. It’s only fitting that alcohol has just as many street names. Whether it be beer, wine, gin or whiskey, it’s likely that on the street people call it by another, more familiar, name. Some of these street names include: booze, brew, hooch, and hard stuff.

There are some types of alcohol that are more common on the streets than in stores. For example, Jello Shots are gelatin laced with alcohol. Everclear is a drink with very high amounts of alcohol. It’s popular for Everclear to be injected into a whole watermelon and then dished out.

Some of the street names can be a bit confusing. Alcoholic beverages can sometimes be called juice, sauce or cold one. It would be easy to make a mistake with names like that. An awareness of alcohol’s street names is helpful in avoiding awkward situations. When someone offers you a “cold one”, you’ll know they’re offering you alcohol and not a glass of milk. Familiarity with these names will empower you to make informed decisions.

Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors, or MAOI, are antidepressant drugs prescribed to people diagnosed with depression. If you thought prescription drug abuse was dangerous before, MAOIs up the ante. Most MAOI drugs aren’t prescribed to people under the age of 16, so the effects on teens engaging in substance abuse could very well be lethal.

People who take MAOI medications with a prescription have to be careful when taking other medications, even over-the-counter ones, due to the drug interactions that will occur. Many MAOIs also interact with alcohol and the two shouldn’t be mixed. There are even foods that can react with MAOI drugs.

Overdosing on an MAOI medication also has severe consequences, including dramatically high or low blood pressure, seizures, and even falling into a coma.

Here’s a list of some MAOI drugs: Aurorix, Azilect, Dextroamphetamine, Emsam, Manerix, Marsilid, Marplan, Moclodura, Iprozid, Ipronid, Iproclozide, Harmine, Moclobemide, Nardil, Rivivol, Phenelzine, Propilniazida, Tranylcypromine, Selegiline, Rasagiline, Zyvox and Zyvoxid

The bottom line is that these antidepressants should be avoided unless your doctor prescribes them to you.

Alcoholics put their bodies at risk to develop all kinds of life-threatening diseases. Heavy drinking directly damages the key organs and parts of the body – the heart, liver and brain.

The heart regulates blood flow throughout the body. People cannot live without a properly functioning heart. The Women’s Heart Foundation reports that drinking heavily poisons the heart. The diseases related to the heart that can develop as a result of alcoholism mentioned are: “high blood pressure, alcoholic cardiomyopathy (enlarged and weakened heart), congestive heart failure, and stroke.” Women also have to beware of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome – a disease that causes birth defects in children.

Equally important in the human body is the liver. It acts like a filter, straining out all the bad stuff that has entered the body. When someone drinks a lot of alcohol, the liver overloads and cannot function properly. The American Liver Foundation has information about Fatty Liver, Alcoholic Hepatitis, and Alcoholic Cirrhosis. These are several kinds of liver problems and diseases that you can get from being an alcoholic.

Smart choices are harder without brain power. Alcohol is known to cause brain damage, brain shrinkage, and even limited brain functionality. Alcoholics are also susceptible to Korsakoff’s Syndrome. According to the American Medical Association, for teens and young adults (even those of college age), alcohol has an increased negative effect on their bodies, and increased risks of brain damage.

This isn’t even a comprehensive list of all the health risks that come with being an alcoholic. There are several psychological conditions that can be made worse by alcohol. Some types of cancer are linked to alcoholism, as well. We learn more about how alcohol affects people through the latest scientific studies. Bottom Line: Alcoholism truly is hazardous to your health.

In the 1970s and 80s, rocker Steven Tyler was known for his drug abuse, among other things. He even collapsed on stage in the 1980s because of his drug use. Tyler was addicted to heroin and his addiction was tearing Aerosmith apart. He cleaned himself up after that and was sober for twenty or so years. But he reportedly checked himself into rehab this week, along with his girlfriend.

The lesson that we can all learn from this is that even after a decade or two, cravings and triggers still occur and it is when the reformed user is overly confident that he often slips into using again. And twenty years after recovering from an addiction, people often still suffer from the consequences of the actions they made when using drugs. For Tyler, that was dealing with Hepatitis C, which is common among needle users. After intense treatment that he said was, “agony,” he is now Hepatitis-free This is all the more reason to take preventative measures to stay away from drugs and alcohol.

Drugs affect your mind and body – they impair you, so you it’s a lot harder to make good decisions. That’s part of the reason why criminal activities are associated with drug abuse. When a person is tremendously stressed or psychologically unstable, drug abuse only makes matters worse.

Here are a couple examples of recent crimes in which drugs played a crucial part:

The San Francisco Chronicle recently reported about two young men who were murdered by a criminal with a known drug addiction.

As the Walker County Messenger reports, copper theft is on the rise nationwide, and many attribute it to drug addicts looking for a quick way to get cash. The theft is becoming such an important issue, that a law was passed in Oklahoma to raise the jail time and fines for committing the crime.

According to Arizona’s 3TV, a pregnant woman who was abusing drugs stole a car and then recklessly hit two unmarked police cars.

It’s unfortunate, but headlines like these can be found daily. That’s why drug intervention and drug addiction treatment are so important. Those preventive measures can help people make better choices and stop some of these crazy things from happening.

Quite simply, an ototoxic drug is any drug that causes hearing loss. Because these drugs harm the inner ear, they can also cause dizziness or a general sense of imbalance. Many of the medications that cause ototoxity are used for life-threatening diseases or conditions. In some cases, the loss of hearing is only temporary, but in others it can be permanent.

Not all ototoxic drugs are prescription drugs, either. Some are over the counter medications. However, with the rise of prescription drug abuse, it’s important to realize that the unassuming drugs found in the medicine cabinet may actually have mild to severe side-effects. Most teens and young adults wanting to get high will have a rude awakening if they happen to take an ototoxic drug.

Do you think prescription drugs with severe side effects will discourage teens from abusing the drugs they find at home?

William Regal (played by Darren Matthews) of WWE fame was fired in a recent episode of WWE’s Raw. What most people don’t know is that he was written out of the current story, because he was suspended. According to The Baltimore Sun sports blog, he defied the WWE’s drug policy and had to be suspended for drug abuse.

The post also mentions Matthews was open about his past drug addiction and that he even discussed past problems in his autobiography, “Walking a Golden Mile”. He went through drug rehabilitation and his career with WWE seemed to be going very well. Unfortunately, his choice to start using drugs again has caused him to be suspended for 2 months.

With a lot of hard work and a little luck, he’ll wrestle with his drug addiction and conquer it through drug treatment during that time and prepare to get his life back in the ring.

But if Matthews can’t get it together, do you think Regal should return to Raw?

When the people you care about return from drug rehab, they’ve gone through a lot. At the same time, graduating from rehabilitation is an achievement. As they come back home, they’re ready to start a new chapter in their lives. But the situation may cause you to wonder, “How should I act towards them?”

The simple answer: Be yourself. They need to know that you still care about them and that your relationship is still strong. Don’t feel like you can never talk about their past addiction. Being open and honest about what happened will help strengthen what was learned during the rehab process.

They need to know that you’ll be supportive, which, in this case means being sincere with them about their behavior. If they start to gravitate towards their old, destructive habits they need to know you won’t cover up for them or make excuses for them. You’ll be straightforward and help them stay on track.

There are lots of people who go on to live fulfilling lives after rehab. Recently, Josh Hamilton of the Cincinnati Reds was featured in a New York Times article showcasing his progress after recovering from a cocaine addiction. Hamilton says that the media, and maintaining an honest attitude, has helped him stay clean.

“You guys help hold me accountable for what I do,” he said, referring to members of the news media. “If I mess it up by going out and using again, I’d be the biggest hypocrite in the world.”

Everyone is unique and has a different story. Have you experienced welcoming someone after their drug rehab experience?

You hear all the time that drugs and alcohol are self-damaging habits, but sometimes it is sad events that really make those words hit home. Not everyone gets to have a second chance, to get help and recover from the poor choices they’ve made. Barney Moran is one such person. The Monroe County News reports that he passed on in Michigan after popping pills while drinking heavily at an all-night party.

What would you do if someone you knew was having a party like the one Barney Moran went to? Do you think telling the party hosts about this story will discourage other teen parties from serving up alcohol and drugs?

In Washington D.C. today (May 21, 2008), there was a national debate on the issue of Drug Testing. Test kits make it easy for teens and young adults to be tested for drugs at home, school or when they visit the doctor. Many argue that drug testing will help discourage young adults from trying out or regularly using drugs, because there would be an increased chance of getting caught. Others argue that testing kids like this is unethical and will not be effective.

Do you think drug testing is a good thing to have at home, school, or at the doctor? Should we be using test kits to test the ones we love at all? Let us know where you stand on the debate.