Effects Alcohol acts on the brain and can produce addiction.
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.