Selected Resources on Alcohol & Drug Use

• Serving Alcohol
• Alcohol and/or Drugs and Driving
• Drugs with Addictive Potential
• Summaries of Three Drug Enforcement Laws
• Health Risks Associated with Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse

Serving Alcohol
No person shall receive a license or permit under this chapter who is under 21 years of age. Whoever makes a sale or delivery of any alcohol beverage or alcohol to any person under 21 years of age, either for his own use or for the use of his parent or any other person, or whoever, being a patron of an establishment licensed under section 12 or 15, delivers or procures to be delivered in any public room or area of such establishment if licensed under section 12, 15, 19B, 19C or 19D or any area of such establishment if licensed under said section 15, 19B, 19C or 19D any such beverages or alcohol to or for use by a person who he knows or has reason to believe is under 21 years of age or whoever procures any such beverage or alcohol for a person under 21 years of age in any establishment licensed under section 12 or procures any such beverage or alcohol for a person under 21 years of age who is not his child, ward or spouse in any establishment licensed under said section 15, 19B, 19C or 19D or whoever furnishes any such beverage or alcohol for a person under 21 years of age shall be punished by a fine of not more than $2,000 or by imprisonment for not more than one year or both. For the purpose of this section the word "furnish" shall mean to knowingly or intentionally supply, give, or provide to or allow a person under 21 years of age except for the children and grandchildren of the person being charged to possess alcoholic beverages on premises or property owned or controlled by the person charged. (See M.G.L., Ch. 138, ¶34.)

To intoxicated persons: Any person licensed to serve alcohol may not serve intoxicated persons. To do so may result in civil liability for injuries caused by the intoxicated person. (See M.G.L., Ch. 138, ¶69.)

Alcohol and/or Drugs and Driving
Transporting alcohol:It is unlawful for a person under twenty-one years of age to knowingly drive a car with alcohol in it or carry alcohol on her or his person unless accompanied by a parent. Conviction is punishable by mandatory suspension of driver's license for three months. (See M.G.L., Ch. 138, ¶34C.)

Open Container in a Motor Vehicle: It is unlawful for a person to possess an open container of alcoholic beverage in the passenger area of any motor vehicle. The "passenger area" is defined as the area designed to seat the driver and passengers while the motor vehicle is in operation and any area that is readily available to the driver or a passenger while in a seated position including, but not limited to, the glove compartment. Violation of this section is punishable by a fine of not less than $100 or more than $500. (See M.G.L., Ch. 90, ¶ 241)

Operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol or other drugs: If arrested, the driver will be detained by the police and read her or his rights. The vehicle will be towed and the driver taken in a police cruiser to the police station for a breathalyzer test. Refusal to take this test will result in automatic suspension of license for 120 days. If the breathalyzer test registers over .05 but below .08 the driver will be held, but there will be no presumption of driving under the influence.

If the test registers .08 or over, the driver will be held, and there will be a presumption of driving under the influence. The driver will be kept in the police lockup until bailed out. Upon arraignment, the license of the defendant having a breathalyzer of .08 or above is immediately suspended for ninety days.

For persons under twenty-one years of age, there will be a presumption of driving under the influence if the test registers over .02. The driver will be kept in the police lockup until bailed out. Upon arraignment, the license of the defendant will immediately be suspended for 180 days. Drivers under twenty-one refusing or failing a breathalyzer test must complete an alcohol education program, regardless of the outcome of their criminal case, or suffer a 180-day license loss.

In addition, the law mandates a $100 fine dedicated to the Trust Fund for Head Injury Treatment Services; allows out-of-state convictions to be used to calculate repeat offenses; and allows a court to look back ten years to calculate repeat offenses.

A first offense carries with it either a jail sentence of not more than two and one-half years, a fine of $500 to $5,000, and suspension of license for one year; or probation with mandatory participation in an alcohol education program paid for by defendant and suspension of license for forty-five to ninety days (twenty-one days for drivers under twenty-one).

A second offense carries with it either a jail sentence of a minimum of thirty days to two and one-half years, a fine of $600 to $10,000, and two-year license suspension; or two years probation, a fourteen-day confinement in an alcohol treatment program paid for by the defendant, and suspension of license for two years.

A third offense carries a mandatory minimum 150-day to five-year jail sentence (felony status), that may be served in a correctional facility designed for alcohol treatment programs; a fine of $1,000 to $15,000, and suspension of license for eight years.

A fourth offense carries a mandatory minimum one- to five-year jail sentence (felony status), a fine of $1,500 to $25,000, and suspension of license for ten years.

A fifth offense carries a mandatory minimum two- to five-year jail sentence (felony status), a fine of $2,000 to $50,000, and revocation of license for life.

Homicide by motor vehicle: Anyone who operates a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor and who operates that vehicle recklessly or negligently so as to endanger and who, by any such operation, causes death shall be punished by imprisonment at the state prison for not less than two and one-half or more than ten years and fined not more than $5,000, or jailed for not less than one year or more than two and one-half years and fined not more than $5,000. Suspended sentences and probation are prohibited.

Drugs with Addictive Potential: Stimulants
Withdrawal Symptoms:
Apathy, long periods of sleep, irritability, depression, disorientation.

Short & Long-Term Effects:
Increased alertness, excitation, euphoria, increased pulse rate & blood pressure, insomnia, loss of appetite, psychosis, heart attack or stroke.

Effects of Overdose:
Agitation, increased body temperature, hallucinations, convulsions, possible death.

Effective July 11, 1989, anyone convicted of dealing drugs within 1,000 feet of an elementary, vocational, or secondary school will face a mandatory two-year prison sentence. It will not matter whether the dealer knew she or he was near a school, whether it is a public or private school, or whether the school is in session. The law pertains to drug distributors, manufacturers, or persons possessing a controlled substance with intent to distribute it. A fine of up to $10,000 may also be imposed but not in lieu of the two-year term of imprisonment.

An Act Providing for Suspension of a License to Operate a Motor Vehicle upon Conviction of Violation of the Controlled Substance Act

This law provides that a conviction of any drug offense shall result in the loss of the right to drive for a period of up to five years. A minor who does not yet have a driver's license at the time of his or her conviction can lose the right to obtain a license until reaching age twenty-one.

An Act Further Regulating the Misuse of Driver's Licenses and Identification Cards

This law makes a broad spectrum of activities related to false identification cards or licenses punishable by a fine or imprisonment. These activities include, but are not limited to, making, using, or carrying a false identification card or license; using the cards or license of another; and furnishing false information in obtaining a card or license. In addition, a conviction on any of these charges will result in an automatic one-year suspension of the license to drive.

Health Risks Associated with Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse
The following section describes the effects and potential consequences of alcohol and other drug use.

Key Issues for Women
More women are drinking than ever before, with two-thirds of adult women and about 80 percent of teenage girls now using alcohol regularly.  Binge drinking and heavy drinking are highest among 18 to 25 year olds (from 1997 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse).  This presents challenges and risks for women.

Women feel the effects of alcohol more quickly and stay intoxicated longer than do men, due to physiological differences.  Women are more likely to get drunk faster when they are premenstrual due to hormonal level changes during the menstrual cycle.  Due to the physiological differences, the definition of binge drinking for women is four or more drinks (rather than five or more for men) in one sittng in the past two weeks.

Seventy-five percent of men and at least 55 percent of women involved in a sexual assault had been drinking or taking drugs before the attack.

Women who drink during pregnancy may give birth to babies with fetal alcohol syndrome or fetal alcohol effects, a pattern of irreversible abnormalities that include mental retardation, prenatal and postnatal growth deficiencies and joint defects.  These abnormalities can occur with as little as two drinks per day.

Sixty percent of college women who acquired a sexually transmitted disease, including AIDS, had been drinking at the time of infection.

Two-thirds of all legal drug prescriptions in the United States are written for women.  An estimated two million women have taken drugs daily for a year or more.

Ninety percent of alcoholic women were physically or sexually abused as children.

Among college women, there is a strong link between dieting and eating disorders and problem drinking.

Effects of Alcohol Abuse
The following section describes the effects and potential consequences of alcohol and other drug use.

Alcohol is a depressant drug that slows the nervous system.  Its physical effects include:

• increased heart rate
• loss of muscle control, leading to slurred speech and poor coordination
• hangover, fatigue, nausea, headache
• blackouts (memory loss)
• unconsciousness

 Mental effects include:

• impaired judgment (of space and time)
• poor concentration, impaired thinking and reasoning processes
• loss of inhibitions and exaggerated feelings of anger, fear, anxiety

 Potential consequences of alcohol abuse include:

• alcoholism
• damage to brain cells
• blackouts (memory loss)
• poor concentration
• death (as a result of accidents or alcohol poisoning)

Special problems associated with alcohol abuse include:

• social conflicts
• accidents and injuries
• vandalism
• sexual assault and violence
• increased risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV
• drinking and driving

Drinking and driving kills or seriously injures thousands of drivers and pedestrians each year, most of them young people.  Even small amounts of alcohol can be deadly when mixed with driving.

Trouble with the law – vandalism, violence or serious crime –can result from the impaired judgment of alcohol abuse.  The consequences can include arrest, a police record and possibly a prison sentence for offenders as well as suspension or termination from the College.

Family problems can cause or be compounded by alcohol abuse.  There are 28 million people who have grown up in families with alcohol-related problems, with approximately 12-15 percent of college students with this background.  There is increased vulnerability without intervention that results in a four times greater risk in becoming alcoholic.

 Mixing Alcohol and Other Drugs

The combination of two drugs can have unexpected, dangerous results.  One can intensify the effect of another and a combination can produce totally different effects than either drug taken alone.  Even a simple cold remedy taken with alcohol may be dangerous.

Depressants taken in combination, such as a mixture of alcohol and barbiturates are very dangerous – they can cause coma and death.

Sharing needles with someone who is infected with the HIV virus (human immunodeficiency virus) can result in the transmission of HIV, possibly causing AIDS.

A Guide to Services for Alcohol and Other Drug Problems

The Mount Holyoke College Alcohol and Drug Awareness Project provides the following referrals for information purposes only.  This list is not exhaustive; many other resources may be found through the telephone directory or other referral services.  This list does not constitute an endorsement by Mount Holyoke College of any particular program.  The Alcohol and Drug Awareness Project, x2616, is located in Room 110, College Health Center.

As a consumer, consider the following when evaluating programs and services.

• What is the program’s philosophy?
• What is the program’s range of services – medical evaluation, individual counseling, group therapy, family counseling, educational components, aftercare?
• Are AA/NA and ALANON used in conjunction with treatment?
• Are you assured of confidentiality?
• Where is the program located?
• What are the program’s payment policies –insurance coverage, fees or sliding scale?  (In public programs, payments may be made by the Department of Public Health for eligible uninsured patients.)

A Guide to Services for Chemical Dependency Problems
This listing is intended to be comprehensive but does not indicate an endorsement of services listed herein by the Alcohol and Drug Awareness Project.

The Drug and Alcohol Services Information System (DASIS) is a Web site that provides you with a directory listing of federal, state, local and private facilities that provide alcohol and other drug treatment services.  Go to SAMHSA for more information.

Then click on Substance Abuse Treatment Facility Locator and it will find a facility with the services you select.  It will locate the nearest facility to where you live or work and will display a map that shows the location of the treatment program that meets your specific needs.

Self-Help Groups:

Alcoholic Anonymous (AA) Mass. Intergroup	413-532-2111
Alanon and Alateen	413-782-3406
Narcotics Anonymous (NA)	413-538-7479
Alcohol 24-Hour Help Line	800-252-6465
Smart Recovery	617-891-7574
Women for Sobriety	215-536-8026