Drinking alcohol - when is it enough

[JacktheCatholic]

Whenever someone starts saying that they know all the answers and post as though they are an authority and their word is final… I have to question them or you. I did and found a credible source on BAC and it’s effects and when one is drunk.

Source: What Is BAC? | Office of Alcohol Policy and Education

Note: it does not agree with you except marginally.

PARTIAL QUOTE

BAC	Physical and Mental Effects
.01-.03	No apparent effects. Slight mood elevation. In California, you will test as legally impaired at .01% BAC if you are under 21. It is illegal to drive or bike at this level.
.04-.06	Feeling of relaxation. Sensation of warmth. Minor impairment of reasoning and memory.
.07-.09	Mild impairment of balance, speech, vision and control. In California, you will test as legally impaired at .08% BAC if you are over 21. It is illegal to drive or bike at this level.
.10-.12	Significant impairment of motor coordination and loss of judgment. Speech may be slurred.
.13-.15	Gross impairment of motor control. Blurred vision and major loss of balance. Onset of dysphoria (anxiety, restlessness).
.16-.20	Dysphoria predominates. Nausea may appear. Drinker has the appearance of “sloppy drunk.”
.25-.30	Severe intoxication. Needs assistance walking. Mental confusion. Dysphoria with nausea and some vomiting.

 

[neophyte]

Personally, if you reach a point before the States BAC for being drunk where you have diminished reason, you are drunk and committing sin already. Do you agree or disagree?

I disagree. The BAC driving laws are based primarily on reduced physical coordination and response times. At 0.08%, most people I know don’t display a significant diminishment in reasoning capacity and are not inclined to conduct that would be considered disorderly.

In the bad old days if you tested me at 0.08% it was only because the rest of the guzzled Long Islands hadn’t hit my bloodstream yet. Disorderly was the entire point, so…

 

[Dolphin]

For me I only drink something rarely, probably twice a month or less though it’s been a few months. Never had beer and no interest. I do enjoy Mike’s Hard Lemonade and Angry Orchard so thats want I have when I do. But I always limit myself to one bottle/can and usually don’t finish the entire one.

I also only have one at a restaurant with friends or during a game night, never by myself as I see no positives coming from drinking alone.

 

[JacktheCatholic]

Alcoholism creates a “tolerance” that makes the person drinking believe their motor skills and reaction times and ability to reason are less affected. However, there is no evidence to that. Only the claims by heavy drinkers that they have built up a tolerance.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

WIth all due respect, I said it before and I’ll say it again. Most people who do not have alcoholism or an alcohol problem (and most of us know by a certain age if we are prone to an alcohol problem or not) do not need a chart or a BAC level or advice from the AMA to know when we have had enough to drink. It’s like asking someone if they have had enough to eat. A normal person who does not have an overeating problem or an eating disorder knows when they have eaten enough, and also when they have eaten too much.

I have no idea why this needs to be analyzed in such detail. If someone is really that unfamiliar with drinking that it’s their first time having a drink, and there’s no one like a responsible parent to tell them how much they should consume and that they should eat a meal or substantial snacks before or with the alcohol, then maybe it helps them, but it just seems unnecessary to me.

For the record, I drink usually a couple times a month. Wiht the quarantine on I’m up to about 4 -5 times a month because me and my friends have Zoom parties and I usually have 1 or 2 drinks at the parties which generally last several hours. I don’t need an AMA chart to tell me I should only have 2 at a time.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

Alcoholism creates a “tolerance”

Yes, alcoholism creates a lot of things.

Most people who drink are not alcoholic. If they were, or were even headed in that direction, they should not be drinking. If I were alcoholic or my parents, grands etc were, I would not even consume one drink.

If someone thinks they may be alcoholic, or their family suspects it, then it’s time to get medical/ substance abuse help. Not be looking at a chart.

 

[Gab123]

Drunkenness becomes a grave sin because it robs you of your reason, and you end up doing things, saying things, and thinking things that you normally would never do. You were made in the image and likeness of God, this means that you have an intellect and a will. Drunkenness suspends your ability to be in control, and thus wicked spirits who roam the air can easily take control of someone’s intellect and will, so much so that wicked spirits can act upon and influence you through the alcohol, and end up destroying families, relationships, marriages, and lives.

When drunk, people often act and become like entirely different entities, so much so that when they become sober again, they can’t believe they did what they did while under the influence. What’s worse, is that the spirits can become attached to you through enslaving you to the addiction which ends up affecting your entire life. Thus the abuse of alcohol becomes toxic to one’s reason and ultimately toxic to one’s own soul.

Some people call it funny, but in the end it lowers the dignity of a human being. . . .

 

[neophyte]

Alcoholism creates a “tolerance” that makes the person drinking believe their motor skills and reaction times and ability to reason are less affected. However, there is no evidence to that. Only the claims by heavy drinkers that they have built up a tolerance.

I have no clue why you thought it necessary to tell me that.

Some people call it funny, but in the end it lowers the dignity of a human being…

Smart money says all of the people in that video were well over 0.08%

 

[dochawk]

I remember someone writing a few years ago about how all the safety features in modern cars were isolating us from the dangers.

I’ve heard the same about bicycle helmets.

However, having broken two while being a cautions rider . . . the first was when a car didn’t want to wait for a light in a construction zone and blew by me, tossing me thirty feet with the buckle landing on top of me, while the second was in Iowa’s bizarre variant of black ice/freezing rain. “Cautious”, as in the other time I was hit by a car, I recognized it ws about to happen and jumped off in time (a minor bruise to my thigh, but the bicycle did more damage to the SUV than it took . . )

safety equipment certainly changes behavior (speaking as an economist), but I’d be stunned (again as an economist) if the behavioral changes outweighed the protective effects.

Moderate drinking is up to 4 drinks for a man spread out with one drink and hour and 3 drinks for a woman.

the problem is that the man/woman difference is primarily about differences in weight, and this doesn’t take into account the weight of a man in question.

At my 6’2", 200+ pounds, a beer (or whatever) is less than the same beer would be for a 5’7", 160 lb man, and less than for a 6’4", 240 lb athlete . . .

As a generalization, the simple counting by gender misses out.

Whenever someone starts saying that they know all the answers and post as though they are an authority and their word is final…

For which I have no response but, “Huh?”

Note: it does not agree with you except marginally.

Note: that it’s pretty much the same thing as I said.

What is measurable scientifically, and what is generally casually observable and goes into common words, are not the same. They differ by a couple of notches on this scale.

What we would generally call “drunk” in the vernacular, and what is “drunk” for other crimes that don’t measure alcohol (such as “drunk and disorderly”) start at around the .10-.12 level on this list, and generally apply to .13 and higher.

Whereas someone will be automatically guilty partway through the .07-.09 range in every US star at. the moment (although some of the laws have automatic repeal when the unconstitutional federal mandate ends), and will be prosecuted down into the .04-.06. In most states, .03 or .04 and down is automatic not guilty. “Typically”, the next notch to .06, and maybe .07, frequently results in a plea bargain to reckless driving or some such.

And that’s without even getting to your bizarre and baseless claim that state law on BAC has anything to do with “drunk.” In the real world, these laws were enacted because the BAC at which impairment begins is lower than “drunk” . . .

 

[Flor]

Alcohol is a depressant. “Alcohol also destroys brain cells and contracts brain tissue.” (Medical News Today July 3 2019). None is enough

 

[Eric_Hyom]

My dad started to drink when he was about fifty, I am sure he never intended to die an alcoholic; but he did. He started to drink when mum lost the use of her legs through multiple sclerosis.

I now look on my dad’s use of alcohol as a form of self harm. He knew how powerful alcohol was; because he always used to lecture us about not drinking as we grew up.

 

[Gab123]

The problem is that many people can’t handle alcohol, and when they reach the 0.08% it simply means they have lost their ability to know when to stop. Thus people who drive drunk stop using reason, while alcoholics are usually in denial despite the fact that their relationships, their responsibilities and even families are crashing down around them because of the stupid addiction to alcohol, a vice that has turned them into slaves, and worshippers of alcohol.
Drunkenness is evil even when there is no drinking and driving involved.

When St. Paul spoke about how drunkards will not inherit the kingdom of God, he wasn’t talking about drinking and driving.

 

[neophyte]

The problem is that many people can’t handle alcohol, and when they reach the 0.08% it simply means they have lost their ability to know when to stop.

I’m quite aware of that, I’m one of those people and the problem starts with the first sip. Actually, the problem started before the first one, otherwise I wouldn’t have it.

But the fact that I have a problem doesn’t mean that everyone else has a problem.

 

[neophyte]

Alcohol is a depressant. “Alcohol also destroys brain cells and contracts brain tissue.” (Medical News Today July 3 2019).

“The dose makes the poison” is a fundamental principle of toxicology.

 

[Shasta-Rose]

I have no idea why this needs to be analyzed in such detail.

Exactly. Best rule: When driving, don’t drink. There–that takes all of the boring arithmetic out of it.

 

[Genesis315]

The way I understand it, it is a sin when your reason or conscience becomes impaired. As St. Thomas says in the Summa, “The evil of drunkenness and excessive drink, consists in a falling away from the order of reason.”

Obviously for it to be a sin it must be voluntary. If the wine, for example, was stronger than you thought, it wouldn’t be a sin to accidentally get drunk.

 

[stacie]

Is there a moral obligation to obey the secular authorities’ legal drinking age?

For instance, in Quebec the drinking age is 18, and in the USA it is 21 everywhere. Does that mean that its ok to drink at 18 while in Quebec, but not anywhere in the USA?

How about places where the law regarding drinking age exists but is not enforced (e.g. China)?

 

[Katie777]

If someone is doing jello shots with 151 rum or fireballs well I would think that’s a sin as thier goal is to get drunk.when you are stumbling and saying weird things it’s not good.

I drink a nice processo or red wine and look at label for alcohol content. Relaxed at home good…
Being at a bar messed up eek.

My boss is an alcoholic drinks straight titos. And then texts me. How much she loves me and then what’s wrong with her that she cant find a man etc. Ugh

 

[Eric_Hyom]

Actually, the problem started before the first one, otherwise I wouldn’t have it.

Which demon do you fight first?

I watched my dad die an alcoholic, he started drinking when mum lost the use of her legs due to multiple sclerosis. My dad seemed to loose his battle with both of his demons, the problems in his life and drink.

I have come to understand that drink is stronger than I am, and it will beat be every time, I have a fear of drinking. I compare drinking to putting my hand in a fire and picking up a burning coal.

I can stand next to a fire and it does not bother me, but the thought of picking up a burning coal terrifies me. You can’t avoid standing near drink in your life, it seems to be all over the place. I can be near a bottle but I just know I am going to get burned if I reach out my hand towards it.

There is hope that we can come overcome our demons, we pray to a God of great power and might.

Blessings
Eric

 

[Freddy]

… when is drinking alcohol too much?

Last night. Definitely last night…