Question #8- How Much is Too Much?
Wednesday, June 27, 2012 at 1:09PM We received this question via Twitter:
"@CapePD How much is too much? I am 105 pounds, had 2 light beers, then drove home. How is alcohol level determined?"
Rather than give a 140 character answer that wouldn't do the question justice, we reached out to one of Cape Coral Police Department's DUI experts. Here is what he had to say:
"This answer is not an easy one. It depends on a number of issues. It depends on the person's tolerance, the percentage of alcohol in the drink, how much the person drank, their gender, what the person ate that day, and the person’s weight.
1 beer (12oz), 1 shot (1 ¼ ounce), and 1 glass of wine (4oz) have the same alcohol content. If you drink two beers and the alcohol level in them is .020 the body will expel most (3/4) of the alcohol in one hour. Once a person starts drinking, the body is trying to get rid itself of the alcohol. The body can not speed up the process of eliminating the alcohol. The easy rule of one drink an hour (depending on the drink) is what most cautious people do. The alcohol has to go through the stomach to the blood, the brain, the lungs, liver, and kidneys. The alcohol in a person’s system is determined by the grams of alcohol in a person’s body. Not to get too technical, but .08 is the legal limit for DUI. What that means is there are .08 grams of alcohol in 100 milliliters of blood. Generally a woman will get impaired quicker due to a higher fat content. Women have this to protect an unborn child during a pregnancy. It can take a woman two hours to eliminate the same amount of alcohol a male can in one hour.
I will caution those reading this!!!!!!!! If you get a mixed drink from a bar or a large beer, the alcohol content will usually be higher. Some drinks will have more than one kind of alcohol in it and some bartenders have a heavy pouring hand.
The best bet is to have a designated driver or call a taxi!!!!!!! The cost of a DUI and the consequences that come with it are high and can be embarrassing."
Reader Comments (1)
Thank you so much for the information.