re: MADD “chapters”

There are things I love about our culture, and things I really dislike. MADD and the draconian laws they've brought us are great examples of the latter.

Decades ago, we had a real problem with people trivializing drunk driving. It was a crime whose negative impact was totally out-of-proportion with the laxity seen in its enforcement.

How did America react? Did it ask itself, honestly, how are the people who we don't want driving supposed to get around, be they drunk, disabled, or simply lacking the wherewithal to maintain and insure a vehicle? Did that discussion then lead to gentle measures designed to encourage a world where people thrive without getting behind the wheel of a damned car all the time?

Hell no! We got really mad, and passed a bunch of laws! Those drunks? Those improvident, insurance-flouting bums? We declared them criminals, because that's the American way.

Really, it's not the American way, or at least it shouldn't be. But when we cater to America's worst people - the bitter, the menopausal, the spinsters, the wet blankets - that's the kind of societal structures we build.

It would be no big tragedy if everyone involved with MADD were driven into the sea and held therein until the bubbles ceased, IMO.

I don’t think I would be comfortable drinking 4 drinks in an hour and driving.

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I don’t think I would be comfortable drinking 4 drinks in an hour and driving.

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No one is saying you should.

The difference is I feel absolutely zero effects at four drinks and likely would blow under .03 much less .08

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Destroyed Lafayette bar scene for college students

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RIP Shannahans.

We need to reorganize DAMM; Drunks Against Mad Mothers

Carlin perhaps?

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I can tell you in the south, especially in LA, we do not take truly driving drunk nearly serious enough.

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This exactly. My sister was killed in 1997 in Covington by a drunk driver. It was 7:30 in Covington. 19 yr old girl had just left a bar called Dale's after 7 shots of tequila and three beers in about an hour and a half. She was sentenced to 10 years and got out after 5. Our laws for drunk driving suck and it's mostly because of two things: big alcohol lines the pockets of Baton Rouge politicians and these same politicians are consistently drunk drivers and because of who they are, they skate.

The system is broken and does not stop people from driving drunk. All it does is force a square peg into a round hole. You are the MADD count the OP is referring to.

I understand the chart better than you. Even if we weigh the same and drink the same amount, our bodies will process the alcohol differently. The chart doesn't account for that.

Like I said a MADD count. It's not about catering to alcoholics. It's about an ineffective system that just arbitrarily decides someone can't handle their alcohol.

Great Lakes,
What are your thoughts on how different people process foods? Are we all the same?

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I understand the chart better than you. Even if we weigh the same and drink the same amount, our bodies will process the alcohol differently. The chart doesn't account for that.

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I’m not here to simp for MADD, but your original argument was that “treating a 120 lb man and a 300lb man the same when it comes to BAC is not the answer.” In reality (as reflected on the chart you posted) heavier people will generally have a lower BAC after the same number of drinks.

Now you’re arguing that two people who weigh the same will process alcohol differently.. this is true! Everyone processes alcohol differently! But that’s already reflected in the BAC.

A larger person will generally have a lower BAC after the same number of drinks as a lighter person. A person who metabolizes alcohol quickly will generally have a lower BAC after the same number of drinks as a person who metabolizes alcohol slowly. Someone who had a couple of glasses of wine with a high-carb meal will generally have a lower BAC than someone who has a couple of glasses of wine on an empty stomach.

BAC isn’t based on the number of drinks on a chart; it’s based on the actual concentration of ethanol in your blood. The vast majority of physiological/situational differences that people talk about are already factored into that.

The only thing that’s not factored in is the entirely subjective measure of how well somebody can “handle their liquor.” Sure, some people will have better motor function than others at the same BAC. Especially people with a lot of practice. But this idea that one person’s 0.08 can be equivalent to another person’s 0.18 (assuming neither is a raging alcoholic*) is silly.

Personally, I’d much rather the system be based on an objective measurement like BAC than have it be entirely subjective based on the cop’s opinion. To me that’s a way bigger problem.

*ETA: And I don’t mean “alcoholic” as a pejorative here; I mean it in the clinical sense. As in someone who drinks so much that drunk is their normal.