My Drinking History: Over four decades of mostly problem drinking, five drunken-related arrests in my 20s (the early 80s), of abstinence and binge-drinking, of trying moderation and usually-or-often failing, of being immersed in almost every other recovery group out there, but of being mostly sober.

Wednesday, April 13, 2016

P.S. In The Spirit Of Setting The Record Straight

I drank 6 shots of vodka yesterday between noon and 7 pm.
I put it in tall glasses of Structured Water.
I bought a half-pint of vodka yesterday at noon to celebrate my book. : )
5 hours later I drove to BevMo to get two more single shots of vodka.
I had smoked a bit of cannabis first.
My BAC may have been normal, actually, because I was averaging less than one standard drink per hour.
HOWEVER, I don't know what my BAC was, and I DO know I was impaired and had no right to be behind the wheel!

Believe me, now that I've gone public about sometimes driving after I drank, I know I'll never do it again, and I will tell you if I do.

I just found this online (I'm certainly not a man, but I do weigh 170 lbs.):

GENERAL RULE OF THUMB:  As a general rule, disregarding things like individual weight, sex and personal metabolic rate, 2 standard drinks (see definition below), consumed during the first hour of drinking, will increase a person's level of blood alcohol concentration (BAC) to approximately .05%  Remember that, for now, in Missouri, to be legal is defined as less than .08% for an adult.    If you continue drinking one standard drink per hour after that, then your blood alcohol level should remain very near .05%  The key to using this general rule to estimate your BAC, is to make a mental note of the time you started drinking, and the exact number of drinks consumed.  As an example, to figure out if you are over .05%, count the hours since you started and then add 1 to the number.  If you started drinking at 7:00 PM, and it is now 9:00 PM, 2 hours have passed.  Add 1, and you get 3, which is the number of standard drinks you could have consumed and still be close to .05% BAC.  If 3 hours have passed, then add 1, and you can consume 4 standard drinks, to still be around .05%.  Another way to look at it, if you are trying to pace yourself, is to allow for 2 standard drinks the first hour, and only 1 standard drink for each hour after that.  The General rule works best for a man weighing aprox. 170 pounds.  It will not be accurate for a 120 pound woman.