Current State
By current and supportive research, the definition of moderate drinking for women is a maximum of three to four standard drinks per drinking episode, and no more than nine drinks per week. By this standard, it is important to define what a standard drink is by measurement. A standard drink is any drink that contains approximately fourteen grams or one point two tablespoons of pure alcohol. So for example this would mean that a twelve ounce beer that is five percent alcohol or a five ounce glass of wine that is twelve percent alcohol would be one standard drink (National Institute on Alcohol, n. d.).
Even though this is the standard, the weakness of this method is that it doesn’t take into account the age, height, and weight of the individual nor any underlying medical conditions or medications they may have that could askew this standard number of drinks that can be had. For instance, a thirty year old, two hundred pound female will metabolize alcohol better than an eighty year old woman who is only ninety pounds. It takes roughly one drink per forty pounds of body weight per hour to make a person’s blood alcohol level reach zero point zero eight percent, and it takes about an hour for the body to metabolize one standard drink. So another way to define what moderate drinking means is by vaguely defining it as moderate drinkers do not drink to get drunk (Moderatedrinking.com, n. d.).
In assuming that the individual is a moderate drinker by definition, this
The total cost of alcohol abuse, is around $184.9 billion. Physical changes after two drinks are: Changes in judgment, loosened restraint, slow reaction time, dulled senses. For four drinks it is: Exaggerated feelings of anger, fear, and anxiety. For eight drinks it is: Significant impact on motor functions, significant impairment of judgement, blacking out, and nausea. For twelve drinks it’s: Confusion, blacking or passing out, overdose, impairment of brain’s ability to manage even basic bodily functions. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend no more that one drink per day for adult women and no more that two drinks per day for adult men. Most people retain some alcohol in their blood up to two to three hours after a single drink. The people who should avoid alcoholic beverages completely are: Children and adolescents, recovering alcoholics, people who plan to drive, women who may become pregnant, or are pregnant, and anyone taking prescription or over-the-counter medications that can interact with alcohol. Difference in levels of drink are: Abstinence is 0, Light is less than 1, Moderate is less than 2, and Heavy is 2 or
For healthy people, drinking no more than two standard drinks can reduce the risk of alcohol related harm over a lifetime.
Many times, people do not realize the amount of alcohol they are consuming. Whether an individual drinks a small glass of wine, a bottle of beer or drinks a shot, each of these constitute as one drink; however, how many drinks can an individual have before becoming impaired?
The national drinking age law that lowered the MLDA in 29 different states was spanning from 1970 to 1975(Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming) these limit drinking on private property with Guardian's consent. A. Many states have the law to lower the drinking age to 18, 19, and 20 only 5 states do not let drinking under the age at 21 at any circumstances.Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho,
Depending on age and gender it is acceptable to drink alcohol. Females can have one alcoholic beverage a day and males can have two drinks a day. This information refers to the amount they should drink when they do end up drinking. It is not proposed for one to do it every day (CDC, 2015). The average drink is 12 ounces of regular beer, 8-9 ounces of malt liquor, 5 ounces of unfortified whine, and 1.5 ounces of 80-proof hard liquor (Mayo clinic, 2015). Knowing these guidelines can help one determine if he or she is drinking with in the regulated limit.
Blood alcohol concentration (BAC) is the primary assessment tool in determining how under the influence and defined as the amount of alcohol per volume of blood for example, 0.01 BAC equates to 0.01gram of alcohol per 100mls of blood. Objective studies of the dose-response relationship between BAC with clinical symptoms of impairment have helped advance drink driving policies (Babor, 2003). However, the effects of alcohol on individuals are not uniform for all. The symptoms of a chronic alcohol drinker compared to the clinical signs of an acute alcohol drinker will vary significantly, even with the same BAC (Dubowski, 1980).
Binge drinking is defined as "the consumption of five or more drinks, in a row, on at least one occasion" (NCADI). Several surveys
Drinking while driving is a very dangerous thing to do especially when the person who is driving can harm someone else without intending to do so. However, I consider it to be a very irresponsible thing to do because a person has a choice to do good or bad and understands the consequences for committing such an act. The document talks about that the way they determine their data is based on a couple of different factors such as, time of day, day of week, type of crash, vehicle type, age, sex, previous driving violations and more. The reason for this is because not every driver that gets pulled over by law enforcement or gets into a car accident gets tested on their blood alcohol level making it a bit difficult as to why that happened in the
So how much alcohol is safe? No amount of alcohol in your body is as safe as having none. But certain amounts of alcohol are safer than others. There is no set limit of how much is too much, because there are too many factors in drinking. Body weight, amount of drinks, and how fast you drink are all factors in how alcohol affects you. Even the amount of food in your stomach can be a factor in how fast the alcohol gets into your blood stream. You cannot always tell by looking at someone if they've had too much to drink. Some people can conceal their alcohol very well, others cannot. The only real way to measure the amount of alcohol in your body is with a Breathalyzer. A Breathalyzer measures your BAC; blood alcohol concentration. Your BAC is how much of your blood is alcohol. You must be 21 in the U.S. to drink, but the BAC limit is .10%. If you are over .10% you are considered legally drunk, and will be charged with DUI if you are caught. At slightly above .05% your risk of causing an accident is double what it would be at 0%. Considering that most people are not
We all know the power and influence alcohol can have over our minds and for many it has become so deep-rooted in our life’s that a gathering is almost always associated with drinking. Many of us don’t think about the negative side effects that drinking too much alcohol at once or long-term, has on our bodies. So how much alcohol, is too much alcohol? According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) "moderate drinking, is no more than one drink per day for women and two drinks per day for men, Translating to seven or fewer drinks per week for women and 14 or fewer drinks per week for men." A standard drink is a 12-ounce beer, 8-ounce of malt liquor, a 5-ounce glass of wine or a 1.5-ounce shot of liquor. For anyone that falls into this category or under, the effects of alcohol over time might not concern you, as you are within the moderate drinking levels. However someone(myself) who drinks more than the moderate drinker or binge drinks(four drinks in one hour for women and five drinks for men) on a semi-annual basis should take an interest in the knowledge presented. I, myself, use to drink throughout the day, bars, clubs, gatherings as soon as i got home, granite most of these were scocial events but I also drank alot by myself. From $400 liqour bill to replacing a bottle of liqour at home every 2 days. Got to a point where i was always a little tipsy, would drink on lunch break during work hours just to
Undoubtedly, the legal limit for drinking while driving desperately must be reconsidered. Driving after consuming any amount of alcohol is negligent and hazardous. The concern of drinking and driving is a state law; therefore, the rules and laws may vary among the states. Regardless, drinking while driving is an enormous concern in all 50 states and getting behind the wheel of a vehicle after consuming any amount of alcohol should not be tolerated under any circumstances. “The amount of alcohol in the bloodstream is called Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC). It is measured in milligrams percent. In most states, drinkers are presumed to be legally impaired if they have a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08% or higher. This is the same as one drop of alcohol in 1,200 drops of blood. While this may seem a small amount to worry about, a blood alcohol concentration of 0.30 can cause a person to go into a coma, while a blood alcohol concentration level of 0.40 could easily kill you” (Chaves County DWI Program). A surprising statistic to most people is, on average about three drinks will put an individual over the legal limit. One drink is considered 12oz beer, 3oz of wine, and 1oz of hard liquor (Arizona Department of Public Safety). Many people get behind the wheel, after having just a few drinks, believing that they have
First and foremost, the legal blood alcohol content while driving in the U.S. is currently at .08%. This is relatively high compared to many countries. A research article on Science Daily reports that “More than 100 countries around the world have limits set at BAC 0.05 percent or below”. Some may argue that this limit of .08% needs to be reduced, while some see it the other way around and they agree with this amount. In reality, blood alcohol content is very sensitive in the fact that just being a small margin above or below .08% can really make a difference regarding the level of impairment for the drinker. Studies at the University of California conclude that they “find no safe combination of drinking and driving -- no point at which it is harmless to consume alcohol and get behind the wheel of a car”. Their data from experimentation with intoxicated drivers also suggests and supports the idea of reducing the legal BAC in
Another interesting perspective on the industry's claim that it only advertises to encourage moderate drinking to those of age, is that if this were true, and only the 105 million drinkers of legal age in the US consumed the official maximum "moderate" amount of alcohol, .99 ounces or roughly two drinks, a day the industry would suffer a 40 percent decrease in the sale of beer, wine, and distilled spirits. Meaning that if alcohol companies truly only targeted who they claim they do, they would only be nearly cutting their profits in half.
It is important to note from the onset that the term alcohol abuse does not have an assigned definition. While the same can loosely be translated as the excess consumption of any kind of alcoholic beverage, different jurisdictions tend to differ over what amount of alcohol should be regarded excess for different people. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - CDC (2012) defines moderate drinking "as having up to 1 drink per day for women and up to 2 drinks per day for men." Anything above this limit can hence be considered heavy or excessive drinking. On the other hand, alcohol abuse in the opinion of Steinglass (1987) "refers to a chronic pattern of excessive alcohol consumption in the face of recurrent adverse physical or behavioral-social consequences." This is the definition of alcohol abuse adopted in this text.
is generally defined as no more than two drinks a day for men and one