Do you know how much alcohol you can drink before it begins to affect you?
Many people feel comfortable driving after having one alcoholic drink. Some feel comfortable driving after having way too many drinks. Did you know that gender and body weight affect your blood alcohol content?
What happens
If you are a light or moderate drinker, you may feel some effects of alcohol consumption after having just one drink. If tested, your BAC will likely be around 0.02%. However, gender and body weight matter. Consider this: After having two drinks during the period of an hour, a woman who weighs 100 pounds will have a BAC of about 0.074%, whereas a man who weighs 100 pounds will have a BAC of only 0.06%.
Comparisons
Going on with the comparisons for men, someone who weighs 200 pounds will only have a BAC of 0.02% if he has one standard alcoholic drink over the course of one hour. If he consumes three drinks in that period of time, he will have a BAC of 0.06%, and if he goes as far as to have six drinks within an hour, his BAC will be around 0.12%.
The effects
The consumption of three drinks or more will normally produce adverse effects, more for women than for men. To some extent, however, everyone will lose the ability to make sound decisions. In addition, perception, coordination, level of alertness, memory and self-control will suffer impairment. By the time a 200-pound man puts away seven or eight drinks, he is consuming the equivalent of a half pint of whiskey and will have trouble walking a straight line.
Penalties
Like every other state, Minnesota is serious about taking drunk drivers off the road, and the penalties for driving under the influence of alcohol are harsh. If law enforcement charges you with this offense, explore your legal options promptly.
