ALCOHOL, NARCOTICS, AND THE HUMAN MACHINE 397 



conditions of the nose and throat, and sleeplessness are 

 some of the afflictions brought on by excessive smoking. 

 Here are certainly enough reasons to show young people 

 that the game isn't worth the candle. 



What about the Harm Done by Alcohol? Anyone 

 living in the world today knows the value of being alert and 

 wide awake. No one who is interested in science would try 

 to handicap himself at the start of life by dulling his mind 

 and causing his muscles to lose their control. But that 

 is exactly what the drinker does when he gets the alcohol 

 habit. But you say : "If I drink, I'll know when to stop, 

 and besides a little drinking never hurts any one." Sci- 

 ence cannot agree with this statement. Alcohol is a nar- 

 cotic drug and as such it is a habit-forming drug. In small 

 quantities it may be used in the body much as an energy 

 food is used, but unfortunately it has a narcotic effect 

 as well. It seems to be able to deceive us by making us 

 think we are stronger, more sensitive, and more efficient 

 than we really are. It does this because of its narcotic 

 or deadening effect. It is this fact about drinking alcohol 

 that makes it so dangerous, for one soon becomes incapable 

 of forming accurate judgment. He throws caution aside, 

 takes chances, and makes errors. In an age when restraint 

 and caution are needed in driving a car or crossing a 

 crowded street, or doing the hundred and one things one 

 has to do in a crowded city, it is evident that the drinker 

 is at a decided disadvantage. 



Alcohol Acts on the Nervous System. There is plenty 

 of evidence that alcohol acting on the nervous system slows 

 up the action of muscles, makes us react slower, and causes 

 the loss of muscular control. You have doubtless noticed 

 this effect in anyone under the influence of liquor. More 

 than this, it blunts the ability to judge one's own actions, 

 thus relaxing self-restraint and allowing one's emotions 

 to rule his will or intellect. 



