CHAPTER X. EFFECTS OF ALCOHOL, COFFEE, TOBACCO AND DRUGS
A. GENERAL
The habitual use of alcohol, coffee, tobacco and various drugs is harmful to the average person and in no way promotes better body function. We can be easily fooled by misleading advertisements into believing that such things are helpful. For example, an advertisement may tell us that cigarettes are an aid to digestion. Cigarette smoking after meals does cause the saliva to flow more freely and the heart to beat faster, aiding digestion. But, this may also result in overwork for the salivary glands and the heart. In like manner, many people may believe that a highball or cocktail at the beginning of a meal promotes digestion because of the greater flow of the digestive juices that alcohol causes. And what about that change of pace drink, tea? It is no different in caffeine content than coffee but possesses increased amounts of tannic acid.
1. Inform yourself. Any drug which causes the body organs to perform their work at a greater rate than normal, fatigues them sooner and causes them to age more rapidly. Stimulants and depressants overwork many vital organs, often when their best performance is needed for normal body activity. The effects of the use of such substances depend upon how much is used and whether or not the body is strong enough to repair the damage done.
2. In order to understand the discussion that follows there are certain terms whose specific meaning you should know. A stimulant is a chemical which, when taken into the body, excites the organs to greater effort. Depressants are chemicals which slow down body action but may also speed up body functions by reducing the influence of the nerve centers which slow down body action. For example, nicotine increases heart action by depressing the nerves that slow the heart beat, thus causing a faster pulse. Depressants deaden pain and lessen discomfort and thus make us feel better without removing the cause.
3. Much has been written and said both pro and con concerning the habitual use of alcohol, coffee, tobacco, and drugs, their temporary and permanent effects on the human body, both mental and physical. Material covering these subjects is available at any well stocked library. Part of the information that follows was derived from this source but much of the evidence against alcohol, coffee, tobacco and drugs that we are concerned with has been contributed by the shooters themselves.
a. Although all shooters are not in agreement that complete abstinence by habitual users is the solution, all will agree that these agents will in no way help to improve shooting performance or scores.
b. To learn the fundamentals of pistol shooting is no great achievement in itself. Anyone interested in becoming a pistol shooter can with persistency and training learn to shoot with some degree of proficiency. What then, is necessary to become a skilled shooter? The top shooters in the nation today unanimously agree that control is the most important factor in becoming a top competitor. Control can best be explained as the coordination of mental and physical effort, born in thought and culminating in a concentrated, precise action. This effort must be natural, unstrained and smooth flowing. Any habit or action that results in departure from perfect coordination will lesson the degree of control and reduce the effectiveness of the action. In shooting, lessening of control shows itself in lower scores and poor performance.
c. What can you the shooter do about sustaining control? The same thing you would do when training for a match. When you find yourself having difficulty in maintaining your shot groups in the center of the target, you analyze and make corrections, be it position, grip or sight adjustment, etc.. Sometimes when control is declining, analysis may pinpoint some cause other than faulty technique in employment of the fundamentals. What did you have at breakfast? Coffee, two cups and two cigarettes. Enough to ruin anyone’s control. Perhaps a few too many last night and a loss of several hours of sleep. Whatever the reasons, they should be noted in your score book just as you would enter unusual conditions at a match. In a short period of time, if you are honest with yourself you will be able to piece together enough information upon which to take remedial action. The most difficult person to convince is yourself. No one who habitually smokes or drinks coffee wants to admit that such habits have the effect of destroying control. So they remain slaves to habits which, in affect, they attempt to overpower by mental and physical exertion, often ending in frustration and exhaustion.
The following paragraphs cover the effects that alcohol, coffee, tobacco and drugs have on control of pistol shooting. If you have been plagued with a built-in error, it may be that the answer to your problems lies herein.
B. ALCOHOL (ETHER)
1. Effects of alcohol on the human body:
The name alcohol is used for a number of organic substances some of which, like glycerin, are necessary to good health. The scientific name for the alcohol sold for drinking purposes is ethyl alcohol. Ethyl alcohol is generally considered to be a habit forming narcotic. However, in the strictest scientific sense it is an anesthetic or pain killer like ether, which is made from it.
a. Alcohol taken into the body passes through the walls of the stomach and the small intestine and thence into the blood stream. It is rapidly distributed through the body and promptly affects the brain by decreasing its ability to take up oxygen. Even a small percentage of alcohol in the blood may sometimes cause remarkable effects. Inhibitions and the corresponding cautions are removed, reactions are slowed, coordination is impaired. The senses become less acute, particularly that of sight. The field of vision is reduced — ordinary objects become darker and indistinct — poorly lighted objects are lost entirely. Reactions are slowed down and concentration becomes difficult.
b. A peculiar property of ethyl alcohol is its ability to take up water. It is a valuable dehydrating and preserving agent. When used as a drink, alcohol produces a burning sensation as it takes up water from the delicate mucous membranes of the throat, stomach, and intestines, thus causing the drinker to become thirsty. Once alcohol becomes a part of the blood, its dehydrating properties are much reduced.
c. Although alcohol is a source of heat energy, its depressing effect upon the nerve centers that control the size of blood vessels causes the blood vessels of the skin to enlarge. So long as alcohol remains in the blood to affect the brain, extra heat loss by radiation will take place through the skin and prevent any benefit that might be derived from its oxidation and the resulting warmth. For this reason, in severely cold weather, the man who drinks whisky to keep warm is in much greater danger of freezing than the person who does not.
2. Effects of Alcohol on Shooting:
a. Contrary to popular belief, alcohol acts as a depressant rather than a stimulant. It dulls the senses, lessens the desire to win, destroys coordination and lessens the shooter’s ability to concentrate. Alcohol taken at the proper time in the proper amount might possibly lessen the shooter’s anxiety but by doing so other effects are released that are far more harmful to the body and detrimental to the shooter’s score. No one can say what the right amount is or when it should be taken. Some shooters may shoot a good score with a hangover. But, the second day is when the after affects become acutely noticeable and the shooter’s control may disintegrate on the firing line.
b. Experimental research scientists using delicate tests and sensitive instruments, have been able to demonstrate the adverse effect of even small amounts of alcohol on various isolated bodily functions such as sensory perception and discrimination, reaction time, fine coordination, judgment, alertness and efficiency of dexterity. The changes observed have no apparent difference in quality, magnitude or expression from those due to fatigue, hunger, distraction and a host of other environmental factors. These facts establish that one small drink of intoxicating beverage places the shooter under an enormous handicap. The false feeling of well-being is deceptive. Alcohol, and gun powder do not mix.
