|
|
||||||||||||||||
|
EFFECTS OF Alcohol and Drugs A. Alcohol What is alcohol? Alcohol is a colorless chemical present in fermented or distilled liquors that affects the entire central nervous system and is deadly if too much is consumed. Although it is classified as a depressant, alcohol actually has a dual effect, acting as a stimulant at lower BAC levels. After drinking alcohol, you may initially feel euphoric and stimulated but later feel sleepy and sedated. BAC BAC stands for "blood alcohol concentration" and is expressed in terms of the percentage of alcohol in your blood by weight (i.e., 0.08% BAC). Typical drink contains about three fifths of an ounce of alcohol. Alcohol content of beverages Beer can exceed 5% alcohol, wine is typically 12% alcohol, and distilled spirits are typically at least 40% alcohol. There is typically the same amount of alcohol in:
Alcohol, how it is processed When you take a drink, the alcohol is absorbed into the linings of the stomach and small intestine and is promptly disseminated by the bloodstream to parts of the body, including the brain. About 5% of the alcohol you consume is absorbed in your mouth and throat and 95% is absorbed in the digestive system. Alcohol cannot be retained in your body's tissue without serious health effects. In addition:
Alcohol, effects on brain When consumed, alcohol passes through the three main areas of the brain. These are: the forebrain, the midbrain, and the hindbrain. The forebrain controls judgment and reasoning. It is in this area that the alcohol "high" is created. Caution, common sense, reasoning, and inhibitions are reduced when this area of the brain is exposed to alcohol. The midbrain regulates muscular control. Coordinated movement is affected by alcohol in this part of the brain. The hindbrain controls involuntary bodily functions such as respiration (breathing) and heart rate.
Alcohol, behavioral and physiological effects at different BAC levels
When a person consumes 12 drinks, he or she could reach a BAC level as high as 0.5%. Death can result from this level of intoxication. How alcohol affects your driving ability Alcohol adversely affects your ability to drive by effecting your judgment, awareness, vision and reaction time. Alcohol
Depending on your weight, as little as one drink can make you an unsafe driver. It is unlawful for drivers under the age of 21 to drive with any amount of alcohol in their system. Judgment Distance, depth, and speed perception are all affected by the consumption of alcohol. To steer and brake smoothly, a driver needs to be well coordinated and must know where the cars are around him or her are and how fast they are going. Many alcohol related crashes occur at high speeds because the drivers who were drinking had no sense of how fast they were going. Drivers are more likely to make risky driving maneuvers when influence by alcohol. Awareness Alcohol impaired drivers tend to stare rather than scan. This can significantly impair your awareness of other vehicles and developing traffic situations Alcohol impaired drivers have difficulty performing more than one task at a time, which is a serious driving impairment since you must be able to perform multiple tasks to stay safe behind the wheel. Alcohol impaired drivers often forget to perform important driving tasks such as turning on or dimming their headlights. They may also forget to wear their safety belt, thereby increasing their risk of being fatally injured in an accident. Impaired drivers driver at erratic speeds, make frequent lane changes, miss stop signs and commit other blunders. Vision Even very small amounts of alcohol adversely affect:
Reduced visual function and poor judgment, especially at night, can be a deadly combination. Reaction time Alcohol slows your mental processes, which includes your ability to recognize hazards. This in turn requires you to have quicker reflexes because your time to react has been shortened. With your basic reflexes slowed, your chances of staying out of an accident are reduced. Alcohol impaired drivers' reaction time is much slower than a non-impaired driver. The nerves are affected by alcohol and an impaired driver cannot react quickly unfolding situation and make appropriate decision. Alcohol significantly slows the decision making process. Myths about alcohol Myths about alcohol include the belief that cold showers, black coffee, or exercising will sober up a person when, in reality, the time to sober up is dependent on body weight, what you have had to eat, and other factors outside your immediate control. There is no way to speed up the sobering process. Alcohol and accident
Alcohol and the law DUI stands for "driving under the influence" and includes being under the influence of prescription, non-prescription, or illegal drugs and/or other substances, as well as alcohol. If you are 21 years of age or older, you are legally considered to be under the influence when your BAC is 0.08% or greater. You can also be convicted of DUI at any BAC level if you exhibit symptoms of being under the influence of alcohol, drugs or both. It is illegal at any age and under any circumstances to operate a vehicle with a BAC of 0.08% or greater, and 0.04% or greater when operating a commercial vehicle. Research shows that your driving ability may become impaired even with a BAC level as low as 0.05%. At this BAC level, the driver can be found intoxicated when other factors are taken into account. If you are under age 21, it is unlawful for you to drive with a BAC of 0.01% or higher. The court may convict you of DUI in addition to the penalties imposed under the non-criminal "zero tolerance" law that makes it illegal for a person under 21 to drive with a BAC of 0.01%. Convicted driver will lose license for one year. Implied consent Any person who drives a motor vehicle is considered to have given his or her consent to being tested for alcohol or drugs any time he or she is arrested on suspicion of DUI. Your drivers license may be suspended or revoked if you refuse to take a test of your BAC after being requested to do so by a peace officer. Also, you can still be convicted of DUI even if you refuse to take the test. You do not have the right to be represented by an attorney while you are deciding to take or taking the BAC test. DMV update!Prior to January 1, 2013, persons lawfully arrested for a DUI had the option of a blood, breath, or urine chemical test. Recent legislation no longer permits the urine chemical test except under specific circumstances. California Vehicle Code (CVC) §23612, “implied consent for chemical testing,” requires a blood or breath chemical test when a person is lawfully arrested for DUI involving drugs or a combination of drugs and alcohol. The urine chemical test is only permitted under the following conditions: Both blood and breath tests are unavailable. The individual is a hemophiliac. The individual is taking anticoagulant medication.  Alcohol, in the vehicle You must not: (a) drink any alcoholic beverage while you are behind the wheel or (b) have an opened alcoholic beverage container inside the vehicle which is accessible to you or your passengers (if you or one of your passengers is 21 years of age or older, an opened alcoholic beverage container may be carried in the trunk of your vehicle). If there is no person in the vehicle who is at least 21 years of age, you are not allowed to have any alcoholic beverage container, opened or not, anywhere in the vehicle, including locked in the trunk, unless you are transporting it in the course of your employment. Alcohol, Admin Per Se The term "Administrative Per Se" (Admin Per Se) refers to the law which requires the DMV to suspend or revoke the driving privilege of persons 21 years of age or older who are driving with a BAC of 0.08% or greater, and persons under the age of 21 who are driving with a BAC of 0.01% or greater. If you refuse to take a test for your BAC, Admin Per Se allows the officer to confiscate your driver license and serve you with an order suspending or revoking your license for the refusal. These are administrative, non-criminal procedures which are separate from any criminal charges that may also be brought against you in court. In many cases, the Admin Per Se action can still take effect even without a DUI conviction. The immediate suspension or revocation is served by the officer at the time of the arrest. The suspension for a first offense will be 90 days in length. If you have prior alcohol related offenses on your record, you may be suspended for 1 year. Alcohol, DUI penalties, persons under 21 If you are under age 21 there is a "zero tolerance" policy for drinking and driving. If any measurable level of alcohol (0.01% BAC or greater) is detected in your system, you will lose your license for 1 year if it is your first offense within 7 years. Your license will be revoked for 2 to 3 years if it is your second or subsequent offense in 7 years. You may also be required to go to a DUI program. If you do not have a driver license yet, the court will tell DMV to make you wait a year longer before you can apply for a license. If you are under the age of 21 and refuse to take a breath or blood test for alcohol or drugs when arrested for suspicion of DUI, your license will be suspended for one year. If your BAC is 0.05% or greater, you may also be convicted of DUI. Alcohol, DUI penalties, persons 21 or older DUI penalties include:
A first offender must be jailed for at least 48 hours, can be fined up to $1,000 dollars, be restricted to driving to and from work or to and from an alcohol treatment program, be ordered by the court to attend either a three month or six month alcohol treatment program, be required to file proof of insurance with the Department of Motor Vehicles, and be required to have an ignition interlock device (IID) installed on his or her vehicle. The person must blow into the IID to have his or her BAC checked each time the vehicle is started. Also, maintenance costs for the IID are paid for by the offender. Your first DUI conviction could result in fines, penalties and other costs that can easily exceed $5,000.
B. Drugs Much of what has been said about alcohol also applies to drugs (both legally prescribed medicines and illegal drugs). The DUI laws not only relate to the use of alcohol, they also apply to being under the influence of drugs. Specifically, the DUI law refers to "driving under the influence of alcohol and or drugs." The law does not have to say which drugs are involved. Many medicines can also affect the way that a person drives. The use of any drug while driving (the law does not distinguish between prescription, over-the-counter, and illegal drugs) that impairs your driving is illegal. Almost any drug can affect a person's driving skill. This is true of prescription drugs, drugs you can buy over-the-counter, and illegal drugs. If a law enforcement officer suspects that you are under the influence of drugs, the officer can require that you take a blood or urine test. Persons refusing these tests will be subject to the same license suspensions and revocations as for alcohol test refusal. Anyone convicted of possessing, selling, or manufacturing illegal drugs will be subject to a 6-month suspension of their driving privilege.
Legal drugs You can be found to be driving while impaired when it is shown that your driving was adversely affected by prescription and/or over-the-counter drugs. Do not mix alcohol with your medications. This applies to both prescribed and over-the-counter medications. Remember-- even though you may feel fine, you many not be totally free of the adverse effects that can affect your driving. It is ultimately YOUR responsibility to know the effects of the medication you take. If you must take a medication before driving, find out the effects of the medication from your physician or pharmacist. Read the labels on common medications you take and follow the warnings. Any drug that "may cause drowsiness or dizziness" is one that you should not take before driving. All medications, prescription and over-the-counter, are potentially dangerous. Over-the-counter drugs The fact that a drug is nonprescription does not make its effects any less dangerous or illegal. Other over-the-counter medications that can impair driving ability include:
Using nonprescription over-the-counter drugs while driving, such as those used to treat allergies and drowsiness and many cough syrups (which often contain alcohol), can result in your being arrested for DUI. Energy pills, "uppers," and diet pills can make a driver more alert for a short time. Later, however, they can cause a person to become nervous, dizzy, and not able to concentrate. They can also negatively affect vision. Over-the-counter medicines that you take for colds and allergies can make you drowsy and affect your driving ability. Carefully read and follow the directions about dosage and side effects. Pay close attention to warnings about continued dosage and who should and should not take the medication. Prescription drugs The fact that a doctor prescribed the drug does not make its effects any less dangerous or illegal. Narcotics such as codeine, Demerol, and other pain killers can cause drowsiness, a stupor like condition, a false sense of well being, and poor coordination. All of these effects can seriously impair driving ability. Depressants such as sleeping pills, tranquilizers and barbiturates can cause drowsiness, the inability to stay awake, slowed reactions, and poor coordination. All of these effects are dangerous when you are behind the wheel. Stimulants (amphetamines, and diet pills) cause false sense of well being, lack of concentration, aggressiveness and impatience. Under no circumstances should you mix medications unless directed by your physician. Also, you should never take medications prescribed for someone else. Illegal drugs Marijuana Marijuana causes drowsiness, can distort your sense of time and space, and impairs your ability to adapt to light and dark (slows pupil response to light). If you possess, possess for sale, transport or offer to transport, import into your state, sell, furnish, administer or give away marijuana, the court will order a revocation of your driver license. Also, providing marijuana or inducing its use by a minor, hiring or employing a minor for the purpose of transporting, carrying, selling, giving away, preparing for sale or peddling marijuana will also result in revocation. The court will also order a one-year suspension of your driving privilege if you are under 21 years of age but 13 years of age or older and are convicted of a drug related offense. Marijuana affects people's awareness of how fast they are driving and their ability to judge time and space. It also tends to affect individuals concentration. That is, the impaired driver tends to concentrate on one thing at a time, ignoring all else around them. A good driver must be able to observe his surroundings and make sound decisions when driving a vehicle. This becomes difficult, if not impossible, when under the influence of marijuana. Illegal stimulants Stimulants such as speed, methamphetamine, crack, and cocaine can cause a false sense of well being, difficulty in concentrating, aggressiveness, chronic paranoia, and impatience. As well as being illegal, these types of effects can lead to erratic, aggressive behavior and dangerous driving situations. Illegal stimulants can cause the same problems as prescription stimulants, but with much greater intensity. Stimulants can give users a false sense of well-being and make them think that they are super-alert. These drugs often cause drivers to take foolish and life-threatening risks. When the effect of stimulants wears off, which can be very suddenly, users can become very tired quickly. This could cause drivers to lose concentration and alertness and place them in a dangerous situation. Narcotics Narcotics such as heroin can cause stupor, coma, and death, slow your reaction time, cause visual distortions and impair you motor skills. Narcotics cause an inability to concentrate, apathy, euphoria, stupor, dimness of vision, drowsiness and nausea. A driver's mind will wander and will have lapses in consciousness. Decision making process will become distorted. It is therefore difficult for narcotic-impaired drivers to make quick decisions about developing traffic situations. Hallucinogens Hallucinogens such as LSD (acid), mescaline, PCP (angel dust), and peyote can cause visual, auditory or tactile hallucinations that distort your ability to detect hazards and impair your judgment. These drugs can create a perception of super strength and invulnerability, and cause aggressive behavior. Hallucinogens produce hallucinations that can interfere with vision, perception and hearing. That is, the user experiences images and sounds that do not truly exist These drugs can cause drivers to lose the ability to judge space and the speed at which they are driving. Additionally, the hallucinations can produce erratic and dangerous driving on the part of the impaired driver. Synergistic effects Combining illegal, prescription, or over-the-counter drugs with other drugs or alcohol may impair your vision, judgment, and reaction time far greater than you would expect from taking the same drugs individually. This stronger, combined (synergistic) effect can seriously impair safe driving ability. Combining different drugs, or drugs and alcohol, can enhance some of the dangerous side effects of many drugs, even those that are prescribed by a physician or purchased over-the-counter. This can result in even more driving impairment. Many drugs have unexpected side effects when they are taken with alcohol. Drugs and alcohol should never be used at the same time. Drugs and the law You can be found to be driving while impaired and convicted of DUI with any amount of illegal drugs in your blood. Unlike alcohol, there is no legally acceptable level of use when it comes to drugs. Drivers can be found to be driving while intoxicated when it can be shown that their driving was adversely affected by prescription and/or over-the-counter drugs.
c. Avoiding DRIVING WHILE INTOXICATED Avoiding accidents, not driving while intoxicated You can avoid driving while impaired by:
Use designated driver The goal of the "designated driver" approach to dealing with drinking and driving is to encourage one individual within a group to abstain from consuming alcoholic beverages during an outing so that he or she can be responsible for driving the other members of the group safely. Many licensed eating and drinking establishments participate in the designated driver program by providing complimentary nonalcoholic beverages to the designated driver. To serve as a designated driver you:
D. Avoiding THE intoxicated driver The highest incidence of DUI begins in the late afternoon, continues through the early hours of the morning and is greater on weekends. DUI peak times are from 10:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. This is due to the fact that many persons begin drinking after work and on outings during the weekend, especially in the evening. Typical behavior of intoxicated drivers
It is important to keep a safe distance between your vehicle and that of a suspected intoxicated driver. This may require you to pull over to let them pass by. Remember that it is safer to have an impaired driver in front of you rather than behind you. If possible, you should notify law enforcement of a suspected drunk driver. Many communities have drunk driver hotlines. You should become familiar with the number in your area.
|
Content
Of Online Course
