When many people think of alcohol abusers, they picture teenagers sneaking drinks before high school football games or at unsupervised parties. However, alcohol abuse is prevalent within many demographic groups in the United States. People who abuse alcohol can be:

• College students who binge drink at local bars.
• Pregnant women who drink and put their babies at risk for fetal alcohol syndrome.
• Professionals who drink after a long day of work.
• Senior citizens who drink out of loneliness.

In 2007, more than one fifth (23.3 percent) of persons aged 12 or older participated in binge drinking at least once in the 30 days prior to taking SAMHSA's National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH). This translates to about 57.8 million people. The rate in 2007 is similar to the rate in 2006 (23.0 percent).

To recognize the serious problem of alcohol abuse, April is designated “Alcohol Awareness Month.”

If you suspect that you might have a drinking problem, or you know someone who abuses alcohol, please contact SAMHSA’s Health Information Network at 1-877-SAMHSA-7.

Source: SAMHSA: April is Alcohol Awareness Month

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To support Alcohol Awareness Month we have a special running this April; $5 off on any digital breathalyzer. To enjoy this discount simply add a breathalyzer to the cart and enter promo code AP10. This offer will expire the end of this month. We hope this enables more people to afford a personal breathalyzer. Have a safe and happy Alcohol Awareness Month.

Breathalyzer sensors are sensitive, the dictionary defines sensitive as "readily or excessively affected by external agencies or influences." This means that to extend the life of your breathalyzer's sensor you need to be careful what external influences you allow to act on it.

Failure to wait 20 minutes after smoking, eating or drinking will provide you with inaccurate results and can damage your breathalyzer's sensor, requiring service by a qualified technician.

Remember, it takes about 20 minutes for the alcohol in your mouth to be absorbed into your blood stream, and breathalyzers are calibrated to read a deep lung breath sample. If you blow into it shortly after taking a drink, the breathalyzer will get a direct blast of alcohol from your mouth and the BAC reading will be inaccurately high. If the amount of alcohol in your mouth is high enough it can also damage your breathalyzer's sensor, requiring service by a qualified technician.

From a previous blog post, we learned that smoking can delay alcohol absorption, causing inaccurate BAC readings, and smoke particles blown into the breathalyzer can damage sensor also.

In addition, if food particles find their way into your breathalyzer it could also cause damage to the sensor or at least block your breath from reaching the sensor, causing an inaccurate reading.

So next time you think about blowing into your breathalyzer right after drinking, smoking or eating remember that not waiting 20 minutes will give you an inaccurate BAC reading and you could damage the breathalyzer sensor for any future testing until it is serviced or replaced.

This video has been spreading across the Internet like wildfire, a reminder that if you drink and drive you'll become a laughing stock of the internet, millions upon millions of people watching you embarrass yourself.

Drink responsibly and don't ever drink and drive!

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Photo by solamore

As teenagers anxiously await prom celebrations, nervous parents are hoping their children celebrate safely and responsibly. Curfews may be broken, seat belts forgotten, and alcohol consumed. What should be a happy time for students might be remembered for all the wrong reasons.

To help teenagers make it safely to and from a celebration, Allstate Insurance Company recommends the following tips:

Plan an alternate source of transportation—arrange for a cab or a limousine.

Limit the number of passengers in your teenager's car—more passengers create more potential distractions for the driver.

Prohibit driving under the influence—underage drinking and driving is against the law. Make it clear to your teens that if they drink or use drugs, driving privileges will be revoked.

Establish an SOS—teens make mistakes and sometimes get themselves into dangerous situations. Make sure your teens have a responsible adult they can call if they feel they shouldn't be driving or are riding with another young driver who shouldn't be driving.

Reduce distractions—make sure your teen agrees not to eat, drink, or use a cell phone while driving.

Buckle up—teens, more than any group of drivers and passengers, don't use seatbelts.

Check the condition of your teen's car—make certain your teen is driving a car in good condition.

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Source: WAFF Channel 48 News, http://www.waff.com/Global/story.asp?S=12103114

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If you are a parent wishing to test your teen for the precense of alcohol, we recommend the effective and affordable AlcoHAWK Slim.  Got and idea not mentioned? Leave a comment with your tips and suggestions.

In December 2009 the NHTSA released the report "Fatalities and Fatality Rates in Alcohol- Impaired-Driving Crashes by State, 2007-2008."

The report says that in 2008, as compared to 2007, the overall fatality rate declined from 1.36 to 1.25 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles of travel (VMT), a decrease of 8%, and the alcohol-impaired driving fatality rate declined from 0.43 to 0.40 fatalities per 100 million VMT, a decrease of 7%. From 2007 to 2008, the alcohol-impaired-driving fatality rate declined in 40 States, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico and remained the same or increased in the remaining 10 States. An alcohol-impaired-driving crash is defined as a crash involving at least one driver or motorcycle rider (operator) with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08 grams per deciliter (g/dL) or higher.

View the full report here

These results are encouraging, and the overall vehicle fatality rates for the first half (January-June) of 2009 look promising as well.

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Mohegan Sun Works to
Prevent Drunk Driving

The Mohegan Sun casino is taking steps to combat drunken driving and the changes will be evident next time you visit.

Following three DUI related deaths in 2009, both the Connecticut State Police and the Mohegan Tribe have stepped up DUI monitoring campaigns.

All casino employees have taken four-hour training courses for certification on alcohol awareness so that they know the signs of someone who is intoxicated.  An individual who is thought to be intoxicated will be taken to the lounge and offered a free Breathalyzer test.  If the individual is 'tagged' as intoxicated in the casino's computer system they won't be able drive home and can't puchase any alcoholic beverages at the casino for 24 hours.  They will however offer to call a cab for you.

Pretty cool idea of using technology to prevent intoxicated casino goers from driving drunk.

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Source: WFSB Channel 3 News, http://www.wfsb.com/news/21764054/detail.html

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We encourage you to leave expressive comments, let yourself be heard!

Smoking and Drinking

In every AlcoHAWK manual we state that you should wait 20 minutes after smoking, eating or drinking before testing.

We also have a list of precautions in each manual, one of these precautions reads "Do not blow smoke, food or liquid into the unit."  Why do we make such a big deal out of smoking before using your breathalyzer?  Because we want you to get the longest life possible out of your breathalyzer.  Failure to follow the instructions and precautions given in the manual can harm the sensor of your personal breathalyzer.

But, besides causing harm to the sensor itself (and your body) smoking can also affect your breathalyzer results because smoking causes a delay in alcohol absorption in your body.  So if you're drinking and smoking and are using a breathalyzer to monitor your BAC you could end up drinking more than you wanted to. Not good.

So please, in the future if you smoke, wait 20 minutes before using your breathalyzer.

You want a more technical explination? You can find an article¹ about the study in the highly respected British Medical Journal.

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¹ British Medical Journal; Cigarette smoking and rate of gastric emptying: effect on alcohol absorption

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Gerald Gibson

A state trooper in northwest Ohio who was once honored for making the most DUI arrests has been charged with drunken driving.

A patrol spokesman says Gerald Gibson has taken a leave following his arrest last weekend.

He was most recently an investigator at the Allen Correctional Institution.

Gibson was off duty when police in the town of Waynesfield say he drifted left of center and then refused to take a breath test.

He was named 2002 trooper of the year in Lima and Mothers Against Drunk Driving honored him in 1997 for making the most drunken-driving arrests by a Lima trooper.

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Source: The Lima News, http://www.limaohio.com/news/trooper-43518-arrested-charge.html

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A sad and ironic twist in this man's career.  If you're innocent why wouldn't you submit to a breath test?  Getting a DUI is far worse than careless driving charge.

Got comments? Let us hear them!

Daniel Munoz

Daniel munoz, a 56-year-old man, told a judge he drove drunk despite a dozen convictions about the time his father died and his mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.

“I had a lot of stuff on my mind, and I started drinking too much,” Daniel Munoz said Tuesday.

McHenry County Judge Joseph Condon told Munoz that alcoholics always would face triggers or stresses that they might use to justify drinking.

Condon sentenced Munoz to 10 years in prison for what a prosecutor said were his 13th and 14th drunken-driving convictions.

Munoz’ blood-alcohol level was 0.385 percent in the most recent incident.

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Source: Northwest Herald; http://www.nwherald.com/articles/2009/11/17/r_wrthi8bwrlcxur7wwlqodg/index.xml

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This drunk driver needs some real help! Perhaps 10 sober years will rehabilitate the man.

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Drunk driving is a problem we have all been touched by in one way or another, whether it is directly through a victim that was yourself, a friend or family member; or indirectly by reading a magazine article or watching the news.  Are you looking for a way to help eliminate drunk driving?

Here are 4 ways in which you can help:

Educate yourself. Do research on the web, read a book or a blog on the topic of drunk driving. In 2008, an estimated 11,773 people died in drunk driving crashes involving a driver with an illegal BAC (.08 or greater). These deaths make up 31.6% of the total traffic fatalities in 2008. (Source: NHTSA, 2009)

Don't drink and drive. If you consume any alcohol, don't drive. If you are at a gathering, bar or restuarant have a friend, family member or taxi drive you home. If you drink at home, stay home.

Become a designated driver. If your friends like to drink, becoming the designated driver in your group could save their lives and the lives of others on the road.

Get involved. There are local and national activist groups and online communities with the goal of eliminating drunk driving. One of the largest activist groups is Mothers Against Drunk Driving. From there you can sign their pledge to eliminate drunk driving.

Got comments? We'd love to hear from you!