This is a story that parents should make sure their teens read. It's a reminder that alcohol can be as deadly as drugs.
The Peoria County Coroner has determined that a 17-year-old girl found dead in a friend's home earlier this month died of alcohol intoxication.
Coroner Johnna Ingersoll said Jordan Frase, a junior at Peoria High School, had a blood alcohol content of 0.40. In Illinois, you are legally drunk at 0.08.
Jordan was found dead in the basement of a friend's house on November 8.
Ingersoll said the autopsy does not show what type of alcohol the teen was drinking. I suspect it wasn't beer or wine, but a harder liquor, like vodka, that inexperienced drinkers will chug down quickly.
I asked Ingersoll her advice on what teens need to look for to determine if a friend who is drinking has consumed lethal amounts of alcohol. Ingersoll said the signs are lethargy, disorientation and the real danger sign, shallow breathing.
Obviously, the best advice for teens and other young people is don't drink. But, young people need to be aware that if they do drink, the type and amount of alcohol consumed will determine whether they just get drunk, or in the case of Jordan, they die.
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