Alcohol and young people

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History and Facts

The word alcohol comes from the Arabic word ‘al Kuhul’, and it is believed that one of the earliest mentions of alcohol, specifically wine making, dates back to 3,500 BC from an Egyptian papyrus.

Alcohol is made from a combination of rotting fruit and vegetables mixed with sugar, which when left for a while will produce carbon dioxide (the bubbles) and alcohol. The different flavours of alcohol are produced from plant ingredients, such as malt and hops (beer), grapes (wine) and apple (cider). You will find that the most pure and potent alcoholic drinks have no colour or flavour.

While alcohol has always been central to social, religious and personal use, many countries have experienced their share of alcohol related problems. For example, the ‘gin epidemic’ in Britain between 1720 and 1750 and the thirteen year prohibition of alcohol in the United States during the early 1900s. Even in Australia, it was reported that the European first settlers drank more alcohol per head of population than any other community in the history of mankind. At present, alcohol is still known to be the most widely used drug throughout the world.

If you found this information interesting and want to know more about the origins of alcohol, then go to the following pages:

Alcohol Fact Sheet
www.health.nsw.gov.au/public-health/dpb/publications/alcohol.html

History of Alcohol
http://www.dao.health.wa.gov.au/Publications/tabid/99/DMXModule/427/Default.aspx?EntryId=80&Command=Core.Download

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