Once in the blood, the alcohol is free to intoxicate every cell and every organ of the body. It’s first port of call is the Liver, whose job it is to detoxify the blood. The liver recognises that alcohol is not a nutrient and therefore undesirable and begins to process it from the blood, but it can only do this at a certain rate of one standard unit of alcohol per hour. That is equivalent to 8gm or 10ml of alcohol per hour. Any more than this and the alcohol bypasses the liver to circulate freely around the body until it once again returns to the liver for another attempt at detoxification.
The amount of alcohol absorbed which is greater than the amount the liver can detoxify at that time and which is therefore free to intoxicate the rest of the body is known as the BLOOD ALCOHOL CONTENT (BAC)
Behavioural Changes For Increasing BAC Levels
BAC (mg/100ml) STAGE EFFECTS AND SYMPTOMS
0-30
ANIMATION
More talkative, feeling of wellbeing, slightly slowed reaction times.
25- 75
EUPHORIA
Increased self-confidence and lowered inhibitions. Loss of attention, train of thought.
Impaired judgment and control. Decrease in co-ordination and sensory perception.
60- 140
EXCITEMENT
Emotional instability, loss of judgement.
Decreased perception. Starting to lose co-ordination. Seriously impaired reaction time.
Nausea or need to lie down.
100- 175
CONFUSION
Disorientation, mental confusion and dizziness.
Exaggerated emotions. Paranoia, fear, anger.
Extreme difficulty with balance, very slurred speech. Sleep.
160- 225
STUPOR
Total apathy toward surroundings. Unable to mentally process. Finding standing and walking almost impossible. Vomiting, incontinence, sleep or stupor.
220- 300
COMA
Coma and anaesthesia. Depressed reflexes.
Hypothermia. Impaired circulation and respiration.
Factors Which Affect the BAC
Amount Consumed The amount consumed and the pace at which it was consumed are
And the strongest factors affecting the BAC.
Pace of Consumption If the amount and rate of consumption can be processed by the liver, there will be no resulting BAC in circulation, and therefore, no intoxication.
Drugs Other drugs or medications may also be intoxicating to the body and require detoxification by the liver, as discussed in the section on
“different effects on different people”.
Tolerance See discussion under “different effects on different people”. The body of an experienced drinker will develop a tolerance to alcohol to a certain extent. It has learned how to deal with it as a familiar substance and so the liver will work harder to maintain a lower BAC.
The body will not be able to keep this up for ever though.
Level of Fitness/Health A fit, healthy body and liver will be able to process alcohol more efficiently than an unfit or unhealthy one.
Gender See discussion under “different effects on different people”. Thus, a woman must drink less than a man of the same weight over the same time, to maintain the same BAC as him.
Drink Driving Legal Limits
The legal BAC limit for a driver over 20 years of age is 80. That is: 80mg alcohol per 100ml blood. For a driver under twenty it is 30mg/100ml. These equate to breath alcohol readings of 500mcg and 150mcg alcohol per Litre of breath.
Someone with a BAC of 120 would be starting to show signs of intoxication to the level where they might be called “merry”. So, you would not be able to identify if a customer was just over the legal driving limit unless you had noted how much they had had to drink and over what timeframe. An 18 – 20 year old can only consume 40% of what an over 20 year old driver can drink to stay within the legal limit.
INTOXICATION
Ok, so now we understand just what intoxication in the human body is and how, as Bar Managers, you can do something about preventing it. But when is a person under the influence of alcohol actually intoxicated?
Intoxication is not defined in the SOLA, so your definition of intoxication could be different to the person sitting next to you. Many a Bar Manager has ended up with a prosecution relating to intoxicated customers because he or she has a different definition of what is intoxication to the Police or Licensing Inspector – yet another reason to operate in partnership with them so everyone is working with the same guidelines.
“A person should be considered to be intoxicated if at the time the person is observably affected by alcohol and/or other drugs to the extent that their speech, balance, co-ordination or behaviour is clearly affected”.
“…some degree less than absolute incapacity from drunkenness”.
“…displaying obviously impaired behaviour”.
To be able to determine if their behaviour is impaired by alcohol, you need to know what they are like before they have the alcohol. So, you need to observe the behaviour of each customer from the moment they enter your premise, watching for any signs of changes in their behaviour which could indicate intoxication.
Some of the signs to look out for are:
Lowered inhibitions (getting extra friendly, becoming louder or quieter than before, challenging people to fights or contests etc.)
Impaired judgement (saying the drinks are watered down, shouting strangers drinks, becoming argumentative, irrational, belligerent, annoying, altered self-image)
Impaired reactions (having more than one cigarette lit at once, loss of train of thought, slurred speech, eyes glassy and un-focused)
Impaired co-ordination (misses mouth with drink, stumbles and sways, drowsy, fumbling and messy)
On the following page is a poster used as an example of signs to look out for when deciding if a patron might be defined as intoxicated. Remember though that people could be showing any of these characteristics and still be quite sober. It is a change to or from these behaviours that might indicate intoxication, not simply their presence. But the poster does give an idea of what to look out for and something to remember when noting your patrons’ behavioural changes as their alcohol consumption continues.