How old were you the first time you consumed alcohol? In Wisconsin and throughout the United States, the average age is just under age 15. This means, you may have consumed alcoholic beverages before you graduated high school or stepped foot onto your current college campus. The way your body reacts to alcohol may not be exactly the same as another person.
However, chances are that if you drink week after week, your body might begin to build up a higher tolerance for alcohol, meaning you wind up drinking more in order to achieve a desired effect. If you’ve been told that college students are too young to become alcoholics, you’ve been given misguided information. Drinking in college can lead to personal as well as academic or legal problems.
Is it difficult to just have one?
Perhaps, you’ve gone to parties or out on dates and told yourself ahead of time that you were only going to have one drink. Maybe it has happened more than once that you’ve wound up consuming more alcohol than you initially planned to do at a particular gathering. Many college students develop the habit of binge drinking.
Do you drink beer or hard liquor? In recent years, the latter has gained popularity among college-age crowds. Drinking too much can cause you to feel physically ill, perhaps, even black out. If you’ve experienced these types of negative effects, you’re definitely not the only one.
Alcoholism isn’t always immediately apparent
Maybe you’re one of many college students who believes you have your drinking habits under control. It’s possible, however, to have an addiction to alcohol and not realize it. If you’re grades are suffering, you often feel hung over, or your drinking has negatively affected relationships, sports, a job or other aspects of your life, you might want to learn more about symptoms of addiction.
If you’re facing legal problems related to alcohol
Perhaps, you were driving back to your dorm or apartment from an off-campus party and a Wisconsin police officer pulled you over in traffic. If the officer suspected you of driving while intoxicated, he or she may have asked you to take a field sobriety test or preliminary breath test. If the traffic stop ended with the officer taking you into custody, you no doubt have a lot more problems now than studying for your next exam.
The problem with roadside breath tests is that they’re not always accurate. The issue with field sobriety tests is that they are largely dependent on the personal interpretation of events by the officer administering the test. This is why it’s so important to know your rights and how to protect them if you wind up facing OWI charges in court.
