Alcohol - The Law

The Law

It is against the law to consume alcohol in the United States until the age of twenty-one, but, according to the TeensHealth Web site, nearly 80 percent of teens have done it. Underage drinking can lead to arrest. In the United Kingdom, it is illegal for anyone under the age of eighteen to buy alcohol, whether in a supermarket or a pub. It is also illegal to supply someone under the age of eighteen with alcohol.

For years, the legal blood alcohol concentration for adult drivers ranged from 0.08 percent to 0.1 percent throughout the United States. A stricter national standard of 0.08 was adopted by most states in the first few years of the twenty-first century. The BAC limit for drivers under twenty-one was set at 0.02 in every state. Penalties for driving while intoxicated vary from state to state and can include fines, jail sentences, probation, driver's license suspension, mandatory community service, or participation in an alcohol education program.

The National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC), a division of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, released a summary of impaired-driving statistics in December of 2004. The latest information available for that report came from the records of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for 2002 and 2003. According to the data, about 1.5 million people were arrested for driving under the influence (DUI) in 2002. More than 100 million other drunk drivers were on the roads but were not caught. Alcohol consumption was a factor in two out of every five traffic-related deaths in 2003. In addition, about 25 percent of all drivers under the age of twenty who were killed in motor vehicle crashes that year had a bloodalcohol level of 0.08 or higher.

Drunk on Mouthwash

Listerine mouthwash is 26.9 percent alcohol. In January of 2005, a Michigan woman was arrested for drunk driving after drinking three glasses of Listerine. Her blood alcohol concentration (BAC) was more than three times Michigan's legal limit of 0.08 percent.

Alcoholic beverage control laws (ABC laws) were developed in the United States to prevent the illegal sale of alcohol. ABC laws are enforced by federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies. Each state regulates where alcohol can be sold and where it can be consumed. Restaurants, convenience stores, grocery stores, and bars selling alcohol must have special licensing. A person must be twenty-one years old to purchase and consume alcohol. Buying alcohol for an underage drinker is illegal, even if the buyer is over twenty-one. Warning labels are required on all alcoholic beverages sold in the United States. These labels alert consumers to the possible dangers of alcohol use when pregnant, driving an automobile, or operating machinery.