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Lifestyle

Drinking Awareness: Know Your Limits

By ResidenceLifeAssistant 28 Feb 2024

Have you ever been on a night out and found yourself with a headache the next day? Or have you ever been in a situation where you have felt unwell after having too much to drink? Whilst alcohol can make a situation more fun and enjoyable, it is always important to make sure that you keep yourself safe and well.

Why should you know your limits with alcohol?

Brain Development

In the UK, you are legally entitled to purchase alcohol from the age of 18, however, your brain will continue to develop into the mid-20s, and the consumption of alcohol can interfere with its structure and function. This can lead to issues such as mental health -problems in the future.

Risk of Addiction

Young adults are at a heightened risk of developing issues with addiction to alcohol, due to behavioural and psychological factors from yourself and others around you. Making sure you limit your intake can be a great way to prevent this.

Financial Costs

As you may already know, alcohol can be expensive! Frequent purchases of drinks, especially when you’re out at a restaurant or nightclub, can be very costly. If you’re a student on a budget, it’s important to prioritize other things such as food and rent beforehand.

Legal Consequences

It’s important to keep yourself safe when drinking, but it can also have impacts on those around you. Try and work out if the following laws are true or false:

If you are caught driving above the drink/drive limit, you could find yourself with six months in prison.

This is true - you can also find yourself a 12 month ban from driving.

Challenge 25 means you could be asked for ID when purchasing alcohol until you turn 25 years old.

This is false - Challenge 25 takes place if you look under the age of 25, not if you are under 25.

The limit for drink driving in the entire UK is 35 micrograms per 100 millilitres of breath.

This is false - whilst the limit is 35 micrograms per 100 millilitres in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the limit is only 22 micrograms per 100 millilitres in Scotland.

If you plan to drink, you should always plan an alternative method home, such as via public transport.