Alcoholic not over the limit?

[FlowersAndShit]

Family member who has a bit of a drink problem was breathalyzed and was well under the limit, despite drinking 4 pints. How the fuck can this be?!

Over what time period did they consume the alcohol ?

At what point were they breathalysed ?

It is a bummer when science smashes expectations isn't it ?

How much had the person eaten? food slows the absorption of alcohol.

There was a TV programme once where two men shared a bottle of wine over the same time period.

One drank it with a meal, the other on an empty stomach.

The one who was eating was under the limit, the other over. I can't remember the numbers but the measured level on one was about 3 times the other.

I watched one of those real life police programmes recently. A guy had had a minor crash and was breathalysed. He measured over 80, the legal limit is 35 and he was amazed he was so far over after only having drunk 2 pints and a whiskey

He was taken to the police station to be officially measured on the proper machine and he blew 34! Even though he was clearly tipsy and talking alcohol induced shite the police very bitterly had to let him off.

The human body is a funny thing and these tests are in no way infallible.

he is about 2 stone overweight, but had only had one small meal that day. The beer he was drinking was pretty high in volume and he drank it over about 4-6 hours. He was breathalyzed literally 10 mins after the last pint. He also drank a LOT of alcohol the night before (jager bombs).

Could be anything from a faulty machine, to the period it was drunk over, how much the person weighs, how tall they are etc.

Not sure what being an alcoholic has to do with it though, it wouldn't have any influence on the test. Many alcohol dependant people don't drink until they are drunk, but they need a drink every day.

Sorry posted to soon. Alcoholics can pass breath tests.

The limit is too high IMO

I'm thinking is it because his tolerance to alcohol is so high?

Wouldn't anyone be under over that period? I have a feeling I read it takes an hour for each unit to wear off. So 4 x 2 units less 6 hours would be 2 units left which I think would be under? I'm only guessing though obviously!

I can't link as I'm on my phone but I looked at a website called "drink fox " and I input 8 units over a 6 hour period for a 14 stone man and it comes out that he would be well under the limit on the UK (but just over in Scotland). I'm quite shocked actually because my husband is that weight and no way would he drive on 4 pints!

I'm thinking is it because his tolerance to alcohol is so high?

Not really. The breathalyser reads that actual alcohol/blood ratio, which is an absolute measure.

How people behave under the influence is highly variable.

Unfortunately, the logical conclusion of this is there will be cases where someone is over the limit, but behaving normally and cases where somebody has a sip of white wine and goes berserk.

Probably as very has explained although I thought that they had to wait for 30 minutes after the last drink for full absorbtion (sp?). I could easily be making that up.

Many factors come into play - weight, hydration, how much food has been eaten, how tired you are etc.

I have previously breathalised someone after 10 pints and they were under. he was a regular heavy drinker, over weight but had eaten. I also tested a petite woman who had one glass of wine, no food, and she was over by quite a bit.

I think how you metabolise alcohol varies from person to person. We live in Scotland and i bought a breathalyser to use at home just to be absolutely certain, especially the morning after we have had a night out.

On Monday we went out for a meal and drinks for a special occasion. DH and i had the same number of drinks, although what we had differed a bit (G&T for him Prosecco for me etc).

The next morning we used the breathalyser at the same time. DH blew 0.6 which is over the limit here. I blew zero. No idea why. I am not exactly skinny and probably weigh a little more than DH. We both had a 3 course dinner when out. The only thing i can think of is that i must process alcohol faster than him. Strange but true.

I have often thought that the alcohol limit is really rather arbitary. Some people will be dangerous at less than the limit, whilst others could be quite safe above it due to tolerance.

But, I have no argument with it being what it is if it saves lives.

People have been told that nonsense about counting time from the last drink. Of course it makes sense if you have had a couple of shandies, then drink shots. But people think this means your body waits patiently to process alcohol until you stop drinking. If your friend drank the first two/three pints quickly and nursed the last, he would be well under the limit.

There are probably people who can drink a lot of alcohol with little effect on their abilities and may take longer to show up on a lood or breath reading.
There are others who could drink one drink and be incapable physically and also show up on a breathalyser or blood test.

The limit should be no alcohol at all.

OrangePeels
I have previously breathalised someone after 10 pints and they were under. he was a regular heavy drinker, over weight but had eaten. I also tested a petite woman who had one glass of wine, no food, and she was over by quite a bit.

But how do you know for sure that's what they've had to eat/drink rather than that's what they say or remember or think they've had to drink? Surely no-one being breathalysed would volunteer that they'd had 10 pints? And presumably someone with a positive reading would be inclined to play down what they've had to drink? Are there other methods of verification used?

Not disagreeing by the way - just interested.

I think it depends on person to person and what you drink can effect how you act.

I could drink 6 vodkas, be over the limit but appear sober and have good reaction times. I could drink 1 glass of wine, be under the limit but staggering slightly and have poor reaction times. For some reason wine makes me feel drunk a lot quicker.

This is still on sale....

www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/alcopal-pill-to-beat-the-breath-test-1282922

Never heard anything about alcoholics passing breath tests, think that's false.

DownWithThis - The person after 10 pints had been watched leave the pub and had been reported by the barmaid. Once he blew under he admitted he had drunk 10 pints and thought he was going to be arrested. It was downright frustrating as the next time he could have easily been massively over and killed someone in his car. Thankfully, I believe being stopped did make him think about it!

The woman with one glass of wine was backed up by lots of witnesses that she had only had one. The reason she was tested was because she drove into a tree leaving the pub.

Oooh i did read an article about how generally speaking the more you frink, the higher the number, but there were crazy exceptions to the rule, like the one in your op. Someone elses reactions sped up the more she drank.

I went to a rugby match with a friend who was a policeman who had his breathalyser in the bag for the drive home next day. We finished drinking after about 8 hours, took us about an hour to get chips and a taxi home and for fun we breathalyzed each other. I passed. I’d been drinking at a slow rate, couple of pints an hour and maybe not even that because if we changed pubs and I hadn’t finished I’d leave it. He failed but only just and a female friend blew zero alcohol.

Your relative who drinks a lot probably consumed 8 units of alcohol over 4-6 hours. You metabolize alcohol at about a unit an hour. There was a good chance he only had 2 units of alcohol affecting his breath test and that’s a pint. I wouldn’t rely on this of course but it could explain why he passed.

I knew a raging alcoholic who regularly passed breath tests through circular breathing techniques as used by trumpet players. His ex wife was constantly grassing him off and it caused her no end of grief as she wanted him to get done.

Were you there OP? I wonder if this is bluster on his part to minimise his problem. For a start, they will not breath test if there is any risk alcohol (including mouthwash) has been consumed in the last 20mins.