Most individuals are familiar with health issues arising from alcohol and drug use, but impairment problems are much more common. These include arrests for DUI, as well as other offenses, injuries, fights, damaged relationships, and other family problems.
Impairment problems are not on the minds of most people who drink alcohol. Those with high tolerance, in fact, may believe they are immune to such problems because they do not feel or appear as impaired as those around them. This is a dangerous illusion, however. In truth, those with high tolerance are much more at risk for impairment problems that those with lower tolerance levels. How do we know this? The average blood alcohol concentration for impaired drivers is 0.15. If an individual with a low tolerance had as much alcohol in his bloodstream, he would be unconscious. When drinking alcohol, the higher brain functions are the first to be affected. These are skills like peripheral vision and reaction time. These can be affected at blood alcohol levels much lower than the legal limit of 0.08. Some studies suggest these begin to shut down at levels approximately 0.03. This equates to about one half of a 12 ounce beer in an hour for most people. Probably the most dangerous aspect of this is that the individual does not realize she is impaired. It is doubtful she will be slurring her speech or stumbling. Because of this, and the fact that she uses those skills to judge whether or not she is impaired, she will believe she is perfectly able to perform actions such as driving a car. Without her higher brain functions operating effectively, however, she is placing herself and others in grave danger.
0 Comments
|
Archives |