If you have questions or worries about alcohol, you can talk to the young people’s drug and alcohol team.
Drug and alcohol services for young people in Wigan and Leigh are now being run by We Are With You (external link).
They can help you if you are having troubles yourself with alcohol or if you are affected by someone in your family who is having problems with drugs or alcohol.
Talk to FRANK
You can also talk, text or email an advisor at the national drugs and alcohol information service for young people, FRANK.
Web: Talk to Frank (external link)
Text: 82111
Call: 0300 123 6600
How to keep yourself and your mates safer
Before you go out
- Eat
- Plan a safe place to go
- Plan how you are going to get home safely and stick to your plan
- Carry condoms
- Let someone know where you are going and what time you will be home
- Take your mobile phone (with credit)
- Carry emergency money
- Have a taxi number.
While you’re out
- Know your limit/tolerance level
- Pace your self – have one alcoholic drink and one soft drink, when you know you’ve had enough to drink, stick to soft drinks
- Keep hold of your drink to avoid spiking
- Avoid aggressive people
- Don’t use drugs at the same time as alcohol
- Drink water in between drinks
- Keep an eye on your friends, stay together and check you know where everyone is
- Go home in a group
- NEVER let yourself be pressured into doing anything you don’t want to do. If you know you’ve had enough to drink it is always OK to say no, true friends will not pressure you.
How to spot if your mate has overdosed on alcohol
- They may be unconscious or difficult to rouse
- Their skin will be cool and clammy
- Their breathing will be slow and possibly noisy
- They may have been vomiting.
If one of your mates has overdosed on alcohol call 999, make sure your mate’s mouth is clear so that they can breathe and keep them warm.
Who to speak to if you are worried about alcohol use
If you are under 19 years old you can telephone the Young People’s Drug and Alcohol Team on 01942 865591 Monday – Friday, 9am to 5pm.
They can help you or your mate to:
- Stop or reduce your alcohol use
- Help you to use alcohol more safely
- Learn more about the effects and risks of alcohol and drugs
- Put you in touch with a counselling service
- Help you or your mate to address other problems in you might be having.
They will not make judgements, they are there to listen, they are confidential and free.
You can also talk to the team if you are worried about your parents’ drug or alcohol use.
Alcohol: The Facts
The law
It is illegal for under 18’s to buy or be bought alcohol, unless you’re 16 or 17 and having it with a meal in a bar or restaurant. Asking adults to buy alcohol for you can lead to the adult getting a £5,000 fine, so don’t be surprised if some adults you ask say no.
The effects
Alcohol is a depressant drug that slows down your brain, heart rate and breathing rate. The more alcohol you drink the slower your reactions become.
A small amount has an effect on your brain which can make you feel relaxed and more social. It makes your emotions more intense which is OK if you’re in a good mood but not great if you’re feeling down.
Too much alcohol and you can become clumsy and slur your speech. You’ll be more likely to have an accident such as falling over or being involved in a road traffic accident. Some people get aggressive after drinking alcohol and get involved in fights. Half of all violent crimes are alcohol related.
Alcohol overdose
Like most drugs if you drink too much alcohol you can overdose, which could end in you losing consciousness and there’s a risk you could die. This is more likely when you drink a lot of alcohol over a short period of time. The amount of alcohol needed for you to have an overdose varies from person to person and depends on the person’s size, weight, gender and genetic make up, as well as other factors.
The effects on your brain...
Your brain controls your breathing and your heart rate. If you drink too much your breathing and heart rate will slow down. Once your breathing or heart rate slows down you will become unconscious. If it remains untreated, your brain, breathing and heart may continue to slow until you stop breathing or your heart stops beating.
. . . and on your stomach
Your stomachs way of telling you that your body can’t handle any more alcohol is to vomit. If you are unconscious or sleeping at the times you are sick you may be unable to breathe and could choke.
The effects on behaviour
Because of the effects it has on your brain, alcohol sometimes leads to people behaving badly. This can be called anti-social behaviour (such as being very noisy, littering, intimidating behaviour, criminal damage and so on). If you’ve been involved in anti-social behaviour you could receive a criminal record that could affect your future.
Sex and relationships
Alcohol lowers your inhibitions, which means you might do things you wouldn’t normally do. Alcohol can affect the way you make decisions, which means people you wouldn’t usually find attractive can sometimes seem quite attractive after you’ve been drinking, which could be quite embarrassing the next day!
Alcohol can also lead to people taking risks such as having sex with people they wouldn’t normally like (which you could regret and feel unhappy about afterwards) or having sex without using condoms, which could end in pregnancy or Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs).
If you have worries about anything linked to sex and relationships and want to talk to someone, get in touch with Brook. The service is for young people aged 25 and under and they can help you with contraception, emergency contraception (morning after pill), pregnancy testing, screening for STI’s and counselling.
Call Spectrum in Wigan on 01942 483188, pop in to Spectrum Wigan in The Galleries shopping centre, or go to Spectrum (external link) to find your nearest centre.
Useful websites