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Blood alcohol content (BAC), also called blood alcohol concentration or blood alcohol level, is a measurement of alcohol intoxication used for legal or medical purposes.
Alcohol intoxication, commonly described in higher doses as drunkenness or inebriation, and known in overdose as alcohol poisoning, is the behavior and physical effects caused by recent consumption of alcohol. The technical term intoxication in common speech may suggest that a large amount of alcohol has been consumed, leading to accompanying physical symptoms and deleterious health effects. Mild intoxication is mostly referred to by slang terms such as tipsy or buzzed. In addition to the toxicity of ethanol, the main psychoactive component of alcoholic beverages, other physiological symptoms may arise from the activity of acetaldehyde, a metabolite of alcohol. These effects may not arise until hours after ingestion and may contribute to a condition colloquially known as a hangover.
Drunk driving is the act of operating a motor vehicle with the operator's ability to do so impaired as a result of alcohol consumption, or with a blood alcohol level in excess of the legal limit. For drivers 21 years or older, driving with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08% or higher is illegal. For drivers under 21 years old, the legal limit is lower, with state limits ranging from 0.00 to 0.02. Lower BAC limits apply when operating boats, airplanes, or commercial vehicles. Among other names, the criminal offense of drunk driving may be called driving under the influence (DUI), driving while intoxicated or impaired (DWI), operating [a] vehicle under the influence of alcohol (OVI), or operating while impaired (OWI).
Driving under the influence (DUI) is the offense of driving, operating, or being in control of a vehicle while impaired by alcohol or drugs, to a level that renders the driver incapable of operating a motor vehicle safely. Multiple other terms are used for the offense in various jurisdictions.
A breathalyzer or breathalyser, also called an alcohol meter, is a device for measuring breath alcohol content (BrAC). It is commonly utilized by law enforcement officers whenever they initiate traffic stops. The name is a genericized trademark of the Breathalyzer brand name of instruments developed by inventor Patrick Tegeler in the 1950s.
DWI courts are a form of court that exists in some United States legal jurisdictions, that use substance-abuse interventions and treatment with defendants who plead guilty of driving while intoxicated or impaired. DUI courts may focus on repeat offenders and drivers with very high levels of blood alcohol at the time of the offense. As of December 2011, there were approximately 192 designated DUI courts in the United States, and approximately 406 drug courts that also accept DUI offenders.
A drug-related blackout is a phenomenon caused by the intake of any substance or medication in which short-term and long-term memory creation is impaired, therefore causing a complete inability to recall the past. Blackouts are frequently described as having effects similar to that of anterograde amnesia, in which the subject cannot recall any events after the event that caused amnesia.
11-Nor-9-carboxy-Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol, often referred to as 11-nor-9-carboxy-THC or THC-11-oic acid, is the main secondary metabolite of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) which is formed in the body after cannabis is consumed.
Binge drinking, or heavy episodic drinking, is drinking alcoholic beverages with an intention of becoming intoxicated by heavy consumption of alcohol over a short period of time, but definitions vary considerably.
Alcohol and sex deals with the effects of the consumption of alcohol on sexual behavior. The effects of alcohol are balanced between its suppressive effects on sexual physiology, which will decrease sexual activity, and its suppression of sexual inhibitions. A large portion of sexual assaults involve alcohol consumption by the perpetrator, victim, or both.
In Canada, impaired driving is the criminal offence of operating a motor vehicle while the person's ability to operate the vehicle is impaired by alcohol or a drug. The offence includes having care or control of a motor vehicle while the person's ability to operate the motor vehicle is impaired by alcohol or a drug. Impaired driving is punishable under multiple offences in the Criminal Code, with greater penalties depending on the harm caused by the impaired driving. It can also result in various types of driver's licence suspensions.
The laws of driving under the influence vary between countries. One difference is the acceptable limit of blood alcohol content. For example, the legal BAC for driving in Bahrain is 0, despite drinking alcohol being allowed, in practice meaning that any alcohol level beyond the limit of detection will result in penalties. The highest specific threshold is 0.08% in countries such as Ghana and England, while other countries such as Niger have no limits or laws on blood alcohol content. Penalties vary and may include fines, imprisonment, suspension of one's driver's license, vehicle impoundment or seizure, and mandatory training or education.
Drunk driving is the act of driving under the influence of alcohol. A small increase in the blood alcohol content increases the relative risk of a motor vehicle crash.
Drug-impaired driving, or drug driving, in the context of its legal definition, is the act of driving a motor vehicle while under the influence of an impairing substance. DUID, or Driving Under the Influence of Drugs, is prohibited in many countries.
Alcohol-related crime refers to criminal activities that involve alcohol use as well as violations of regulations covering the sale or use of alcohol; in other words, activities violating the alcohol laws. Some crimes are uniquely tied to alcohol, such as public intoxication or underage drinking, while others are simply more likely to occur together with alcohol consumption. Underage drinking and drunk driving are the most prevalent alcohol-specific offenses in the United States and a major problem in many, if not most, countries worldwide. Similarly, about one-third of arrests in the United States involve alcohol misuse, and arrests for alcohol-related crimes constitute a high proportion of all arrests made by police in the US and elsewhere.
Auto-brewery syndrome (ABS) is a condition characterized by the fermentation of ingested carbohydrates in the gastrointestinal tract of the body caused by bacteria or fungi. ABS is a rare medical condition in which intoxicating quantities of ethanol are produced through endogenous fermentation within the digestive system. The organisms responsible for ABS include various yeasts and bacteria, including Saccharomyces cerevisiae, S. boulardii, Candida albicans, C. tropicalis, C. krusei, C. glabrata, C. parapsilosis, Kluyveromyces marxianus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Enterococcus faecium. These organisms use lactic acid fermentation or mixed acid fermentation pathways to produce an ethanol end product. The ethanol generated from these pathways is absorbed in the small intestine, causing an increase in blood alcohol concentrations that produce the effects of intoxication without the consumption of alcohol.
Alcohol congener analysis of blood and urine is used to provide an indication of the type of alcoholic beverage consumed. The analysis involves investigating compounds called congeners that give the beverage a distinctive appearance, aroma, and flavour, not including water and ethanol. The theory of discovering one's drinking habits has been investigated since the late 1970s, predominantly in Germany, for "hip-flask" defence cases (after-drinking). Alcohol congener analysis can play a crucial role in these cases where the driver is apprehended some time after a motor vehicle incident who, when returning a positive alcohol reading then claim that this is due to drinking an alcoholic beverage only after the incident. This traditional methodology for congener analysis has focused solely on the detection of fermentation by-product congeners that are found in all alcoholic beverages. By comparing the ratios of a set standard of congeners, the ingested alcoholic beverage type is proposed.
Alcohol, sometimes referred to by the chemical name ethanol, is a depressant drug that is the active ingredient in drinks such as beer, wine, and distilled spirits. It is one of the oldest and most commonly consumed recreational drugs, causing the characteristic effects of alcohol intoxication ("drunkenness"). Among other effects, alcohol produces happiness and euphoria, decreased anxiety, increased sociability, sedation, impairment of cognitive, memory, motor, and sensory function, and generalized depression of central nervous system (CNS) function. Ethanol is only one of several types of alcohol, but it is the only type of alcohol that is found in alcoholic beverages or commonly used for recreational purposes; other alcohols such as methanol and isopropyl alcohol are significantly more toxic. A mild, brief exposure to isopropyl alcohol is unlikely to cause any serious harm, but methanol is lethal even in small quantities, as little as 10–15 milliliters.
Two main questions arise in the law surrounding driving after having ingested cannabis: (1) whether cannabis actually impairs driving ability, and (2) whether the common practice of testing for THC is a reliable means to measure impairment. On the first question, studies are mixed. Several recent, extensive studies–including one conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and one conducted by the American Automobile Association (AAA)–show that drivers with detectable THC in their blood are no more likely to cause car crashes than drivers with no amount of THC in their blood. Others show that cannabis can impair certain abilities important to safe driving –but no studies have been able to show that this increases the actual risk of crashing, or that drivers with THC in their blood cause a disproportionate number of crashes. On the second question, the studies that have been conducted so far have consistently found that THC blood levels and degree of impairment are not closely related. No known relationship between blood levels of THC and increased relative crash risk, or THC blood levels and level of driving impairment, has been shown by single-crash or classic-control studies. Thus, even though it is possible that cannabis impairs driving ability to some extent, there are currently no reliable means to test or measure whether a driver was actually impaired.
This page is a list of terms related to the psychoactive drug alcohol.
References
- ↑ Kronstrand, Christoffer; Nilsson, Gunnel; Chermà, Maria D.; Ahlner, Johan; Kugelberg, Fredrik C.; Kronstrand, Robert (January 2019). "Evaluating the hip-flask defence in subjects with alcohol on board: An experimental study". Forensic Science International. 294: 189–195. doi:10.1016/j.forsciint.2018.11.014.
- ↑ Jones, A.W. (1 May 1990). "Status of Alcohol Absorption Among Drinking Drivers". Journal of Analytical Toxicology. 14 (3): 198–200. doi:10.1093/jat/14.3.198. PMID 2374414.
- ↑ Noval, Justin; Imwinkelreid, Edward J (2014). "Retrograde Extrapolation of Blood Alcohol Concentration". Criminal Law Bulletin. 50: 188.
- ↑ Jones, A W (July 1991). "Top Ten Defence Challenges among Drinking Drivers in Sweden". Medicine, Science and the Law. 31 (3): 229–238. doi:10.1177/002580249103100307. PMID 1822585.
- ↑ Iffland, R; Jones, A W (January 2003). "Evaluating Alleged Drinking After Driving – The Hip-Flask Defence: Part 2. Congener Analysis". Medicine, Science and the Law. 43 (1): 39–68. doi:10.1258/rsmmsl.43.1.39. PMID 12627679.
