Alcoholic beverages are a common part of meals and social gatherings.
You may choose to drink alcohol because you enjoy the taste, or because you feel it helps you relax or celebrate. Alcohol is a drug. When it enters the blood stream and reaches the brain, it impairs your judgement, reaction time, physical coordination, mental alertness, and memory. The more alcohol you drink and the more quickly you drink it, the more intoxicated you become. It takes the body about one hour to burn the alcohol in one drink.