Publisher Comments:

FACT: Alcohol is the number-one drug-abuse problem for American youth.

FACT: Nearly a thousand high schooland college students die of acute alcoholpoisoning each year in the United Statesalone.

Alcohol kills, yet social drinking is such an accepted part of modern life that many young people feet pressured to down a few brews — and more. This thought-provoking book gives them the facts about alcohol and drinking so that they can make an educated decision about one of the most important health choices of their lives.

Award-winning author Laurence Pringle examines the serious physical, mental, and emotional effects of alcoholism, as well as the devastating impact this addiction has on society. He reveals how the alcohol industry uses advertising to downplay the risks of drinking and to lure new customers, many of them underage. And he takes a close look at the reasons the U.S. government's attempts to control alcohol abuse fail — and may continue to do so.

This book also includes practical tips on drinking sensibly or not at all, strategies for saying no, guidelines for detecting a drinking problem, and sources of help.

What to do about alcohol is one of the toughest questions facing young people today. And with adolescent alcoholism and binge drinking on the rise, Drinking: A Risky Business is must reading for youngsters and their parents.

Description:

Includes bibliographical references (p. 107-108) and index.

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-10?Seasoned social-issues writer Pringle writes again about risky business. Like his Smoking (Morrow, 1996), this book opens with a history of the issue. It identifies alcohol's earliest known use and traces its development and continued used to present day. A discussion follows on alcohol's harmful physical, mental, and emotional effects, including the devastating toll of alcoholism on individuals, families, and society. To this point, the volume is not much different from other titles on the subject, such as Judy Monroe's Alcohol (Enslow, 1994); however, Pringle's chapters on the history of the U.S. temperance movement and the economic side of the alcohol industry set his book apart. He stresses that, in addition to being risky business, alcohol is also "big business" in terms of taxation, legislation, employment, and advertising. The book concludes with a discussion of the risks of alcohol use for young people and offers practical advice on getting help with drinking problems. A variety of back-and-white photos, charts, drawings, and reproductions support the text, although some are repetitive of those found in other titles on this subject. Readable and well organized, Drinking should be useful to those seeking personal information as well as those writing reports.?

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Sheila G. Shellabarger, Fordham Health Sciences Library, Wright State University, Dayton, OH

Book Dimension

Height (mm) 237 　　　　　　　　　　Width (mm) 193