DWIs and Alcohol Tolerance Factors

When alcohol tolerance is developed due to regular drinking, two indicators appear:

• A diminishing in the ability of the same amount of alcohol to cause inebriation
• The inability to become intoxicated unless the amount of alcohol is increased

Physically, the operations of both metabolism and the nervous system are altered when an individual repeatedly and regularly consumes alcohol. Alcohol tolerance involves two main physical changes: decreasing the amount of alcohol reaching the area when the effect is produced and lowering the response level of bodily tissue to alcohol.

Behavioral tolerance is developed over time by people who drink frequently. As its name suggests, it is based on what actions the individual performs while intoxicated. If a person who consumes alcohol often is able to practice physical skills when inebriated, he or she is better equipped to obscure the impairing effects of alcohol. People with acute tolerance show impairment based not on BAC but on where they happen to be on the alcohol curve. Even if both cases involve the same BAC level, when in the elimination phase, they are less impaired than they would be when in the absorption phase.

A more straightforward physical form of tolerance is called acquired tolerance. It affects both the cells of the body, which become resistant to the effects of alcohol, and the body’s alcohol absorption, distribution, and elimination abilities, which change with the repetition of exposure to alcohol.

The amount and regularity of alcohol consumption has a significant effect on how impaired a person will be after drinking. A person who drinks once or twice a week will be more greatly impaired by the same amount of alcohol that would cause almost no effect on daily drinker. Weight, metabolism, sex, physical state, mood, and medications are other factors that affect tolerance. An experienced New Jersey DUI attorney will use expertise with all of these to assess all the facts of your DUI case. Call (908) 248-4404 to speak to a New Jersey drunk driving lawyer today.

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