Larger amounts produce depressant effects on the brain. Judgment, reaction time, speech and motor control are increasingly impaired with increasing amounts of alcohol. Drunk drivers kill about 23,000 Americans a year. Very large amounts of alcohol can cause death from overdose by reducing the number of messages the brain sends to the chest muscles that regulate breathing. The drinker stops breathing and dies.
Alcohol can cause many kinds of cancer and can permanently damage the brain.
In severe cases, alcohol destroys the part of the brain where short-term memory occurs, making it impossible to learn anything new. Women should not drink during pregnancy. Fetal alcohol syndrome is the leading, preventable cause of mental retardation in the United States. Common Street Names Juice, cold ones, brewskies, poison, booze, hooch, sauce. Legal Status In the United States, it is legal to produce and sell alcohol to adults and legal for adults to buy it.