Alcohol offers no benefits to the body. It is essentially a slow acting poison. Long-term use of alcohol in excess is capable of damaging nearly every system and organ in the body. It breaks down the body completely. The developing teenage brain is particularly vulnerable to the toxic effects of alcohol. Ethanol, which is the type of alcohol mainly used in beverages, acts as a depressant of the central nervous system and has psychoactive effects in small amounts. Cell membranes are found to be highly permeable to alcohol, so once alcohol gets in the bloodstream it diffuses itself into nearly every biological tissue of the body. Because of its ability to change the human consciousness, ethanol is classified as a psychoactive drug. The harmful effects of alcohol on people have been well researched and documented. Consumption of alcohol in low or moderate doses acts primarily as a modulator of the neurotransmitter GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid). Activation of these...