When are you drunk?
 

I was wondering about the classification of rape in this thread, and it seems wether you're drunk or not pops up a lot?

NOw i am wondering when you can call yourself drunk? at what stage of drinking alcohol effects you, such that you can no longer make decision for yourself or make any other life choices?

Although the alcohol limit for driving, here in, Australia is 0.05, (i am not sure of the actual unit though :o ) but it's 0.05 something alcohol per blood unit.
Although that's mainly for a co-ordination point of view. I have been over this limit (i ma sure) a few times, and although i may be a little slow tor eact, my consciousness appears to be ok. Although i admit that quickly after (with more drinking) these things change :o

So how and when can you say wether you're drunk or not?
people get effected differently with different amounts, so i can't really see how well these sorta things can hold up too well in court, when you need objective evidence (namely a blood/alcohol reading).

Anyone know anything about this?

There really is no objective way to measure it. That is not to say that above a certain level, one is probably going to be drunk.

But one can become drunk merely from believing that one is drinking alcohol -- a large part of the drunken experience is based on one's expectations of becoming drunk.

This article describes what I'm talking about: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3035442.stm

I personally do the following to see if I've had too much to drink: I close my eyes and swing my head around in figure-eights for about ten seconds. Then I try to focus on a point in the distance. If it takes longer then a few seconds, I stop drinking. It's far from a perfect test but it's easy to do. Note that this is not a test to see if I'm safe to drive but a test to see if I can drink more without getting sick.

Sweden has a great rule when it comes to drinking and driving. If you have ANY alcohol in your blood, you're not allowed to drive. So if you only had one beer or one glass of wine, then you can't drive. It's way simpler than "well, officer, I had one or three beers, but I know I can handle it, I'm used to drinking and bladibla"

The rule with my friends has always been... If you can no longer feel your legs... you can have one more.



Anyway, I drink until I feel good. That's as far as I need to go.

Thats a cool article lordjeebus.
I believe they've done the same thing with decaf and standard coffee before, and people believe they get the same buzz. So yes, physcology impersonating actual chemical substances and reactions is interesting as well....

also, i was trying to get this to a more objective view in measuring whether someone is drunk or not?

If the motion of your thumb to step outside follows pointing at somebody with your finger at an upward angle of 45 or more degrees (with eye level as the plane), you've had too much to drink.

when you dont realize whether your in or out of concisousness, your eyes move uncontrollably, and cant focus on any one thing, its like everything is moving up and down, .. yah.. you've had a few to many. this is labelled drunk

I'm still working on realizing when I had enough. Too many times I black out at the end of the night.

I usually like to drink until Im good and happy, but not really trashed. Occasionally I will get ripped, but I really dont have as much fun like that.

As far as being able to think when I am drunk, I can make myself think clearly if I concentrate on it as long as I am not completely ripped. This is one of the reasons I dont like to getting really drunk--I dont like not being able to think clearly if I need to.

Troit, do you mean black out or pass out? Black out is where you remain awake and apparently concious, but the next day you can't remember what you were doing during the blackout. Pass out is where you become unconcious.
As for me, it depends on my recent drinking habits. When I was in college I could go through a couple of pitchers of beer and still be able to keep up my side of a conversation. Now, I rarely drink and can feel my self getting a buzz on after a couple of glasses of wine.

It really depends on the person and in what way ...

I think I'm too drunk to drive a car after 1 beer. It wouldn't even cross my mind to drink and drive.

But I've never been irresponsible or not clear-headed, no matter how much I drink. But I know many people who doesn't have the same control .. :) It's not like I ever wished for this control, it's more like I'll get sick long before I get to the point where I'm drunk enough to do really stupid things.

As for how I would descripe my state of drunkeness to anyone who'd ask:

3 pints: Semi-sober :)
6 Pints: Should stop drinking about here.
9 pints: Definetly drunk.
12 pints: Shit-faced .. I'll be lucky if I'll keep my dinner.

Usually me and my friends take turns on being the designated drivers. I usually get pretty bad I can get to the point where I don't throw up and that limit is always changing. So I usually stay with the hard liquor. i don't really like the taste or beer. I don't know why. Its kinda wierd.

My rating would go something like.

1 - 3 Sober
4 - 6 got a buzz on for sure
7 - 10 well on my way
11 - 13 pretty much drunk
14+ I'm not going to remember, erm something, what the hell was it? Where am I?


I've pretty much slowed down my drinking now, I used to hit the pub 3 times a week and get drunk off my ass, the point when enough was enough was when I woke up at 7am in the morning in the bar after passing out on the bar. The wife was a little bit pissed.

I thought I was dreaming when I woke up. I had a whole 2 mins of feeling really confused until I worked out I wasn't dreaming, that's when the feeling of doom hit me.

Four or more bottles (12 ounces) usually starts to do the trick, but 6+ and I'm really silly. Or, if I tap my teeth and I can't feel it, then I'm drunk.

I can drink a shit load of beer(Canadian beer not American), maybe 12- 15 and still not be noticeably drunk but I choose not to anymore. To hard on the system. A six pack, a few toots off a joint and good company and I maintain.I like a steady buzz rather than being wasted.Gets one laid more often also.

This made me have a good laugh.

I'm drunk when... the crappy music sounds goooood.

When you're drunk:

When you accidentally rape a goat before you rape your intended victim.

I'm sure your sister thanks you.:D

lol, this has kinda turned into your own little measurements of drunkeness which is good i guess, i wasn't really heading that way. Although i like anleja's one, definitley when you can listen to other music you dislike and also sing along and enjoy it, that's when you're drunk :p
which is quite ofen the case at clubs, parties and pubs :D

I was wondering though, how all these measurements and arguements could be held up in a court of law? I was wondering if there are any sound objective means in measuring such a thing?
i guess the blood alcohol limit is apt though?

once I begin to lose taste in my mouth and laugh alot I consider myself drunk. I can drink quite alot beyond that point but thats when I would consider myself "drunk"

3-4 pints and im good to go (im a lightweight)

when u can't remember the next day what happened the night before then u know u WERE drunk.

well...I'm drunk right now..and I've had 3 screwdrivers

You're not drunk until you have to hold onto the grass to keep from falling off the earth.

Like it or not, one drink will impair your senses, if not make you 'drunk' in the common sense of the word.

Personally, I start admitting to people that I'm "a little drunk" when I start saying things I normally wouldn't say and I get that semidistant feeling. I admit that I'm really drunk when the room is spinning. Somewhere in between that there is also just "yea I'm drunk."

Whenever I get the chance!

Oh, thats not what you meant. Id say after your vision starts to swim a bit, youy know your drunk. ALl the time before then, your mearly intoxicated.

Both are bad for operating motor vehicles.

We got about the same saying. "You are not drunk aslong as you can lie on the ground without holding on to anything." I've seen drunken people in cruise boat a few times. :)

im drunk when i forget how to chew my food

I know I'm drunk when it starts getting hard drinking beer from a plastic cup without spilling on myself. :D