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Dear Dr. Bill,
Now that congress has
passed a law which will likely force states to use
.08% instead of 0.1% as a DUI level, I have a question.
I'm over 21, so I can go to a bar and drink legally
with friends. I usually stop in the bar after work
at 5:30, have 5 or 6 beers and get home for supper
around 6 o'clock. According to the papers, I would
be legally drunk. Except for feeling good and having
a few laughs, I'm fine. I feel fine. I don't look
drunk. I don't feel drunk. Why pick on me?
M.T.--Bergenfield
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Dear M.T.,
I answered a similar question some
years ago. The answer is so important, it bears repeating.
So, here goes: Assuming that you are an average 150
pound male, you have been driving home while legally
drunk, a level well over 0.1%. The fact that you are
not "feeling" the effects of six beers in
so short a time indicates that you probably have been
a pretty heavy hitter for quite some time and have
developed a "tolerance" to alcohol. Although
you don't "feel" it, your judgment, your
reaction time, your depth perception as well as most
of the faculties you need to react to an emergency
are grossly impaired.
"Tolerance" means that
after continued drinking, consumption of a constant
amount of alcohol (or other drug) produces a lesser
effect so increasing amounts of alcohol (or other
drugs) is necessary to produce the same effect. Tolerance
may encourages increased alcohol consumption, contributing
to dependence and organ damage; it may affect performance
tasks, such as driving while under the influence of
alcohol, as in you case; it also may cause other drugs
or medications to be toxic or ineffective.
Humans develop tolerance when their
brain functions adapt to compensate for the disruption
caused by alcohol in both behavior and bodily functions.
This is called "functional tolerance." Chronic
heavy drinkers display functional tolerance when they
show few obvious signs of intoxication even at high
blood concentrations (BAC's), which in others would
be incapacitating or even fatal. Because the drinker
does not perceive significant behavioral impairment
because of his drinking, tolerance may facilitate
consumption of increasing amounts of alcohol which,
too often, leads to organ damage and physical dependence.
Several studies show that development
of tolerance to alcohol is accelerated if it is consumed
over several drinking sessions in the same environment
("environmental tolerance")... as, in your
case, a local bar. Humans also develop tolerance more
rapidly if they practice a task while under the influence
of alcohol ("learned tolerance"). When being
tested on a task requiring eye-hand coordination while
under the influence, subjects who practiced after
ingesting alcohol performed better than people who
practiced before drinking. Further, when human subjects
knew that they would receive money or another reward
for successful task performance while under the influence,
they developed tolerance more quickly than if they
did not expect a reward.
Tolerance has important consequences
for situations such as your drinking and driving.
Repeated practice of a task while under the influence
of even low levels of alcohol, such as driving a particular
route to your home, probably has reduced your alcohol-induced
impairment (so you "feel fine" and "don't
feel drunk"). However, your tolerance to the
specific task of driving home in a specific environment
is not transferable to new conditions such as a little
kid suddenly crossing the road in front of you. A
driver encountering such an unexpected emergency can
instantly lose any previously acquired tolerance to
the impairing effects on driving ability.
Frankly, I hope a traffic cop catches
up with you soon....the life he saves may be your
own!!
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