A National Directory of Drug Treatment Centers and Alcohol Treatment Centers, Therapists and Specialists. A free, simple directory providing assistance and guidance for those seeking help regarding alcohol addiction, drug addiction, dependency and many other conditions that affect the mind, body and soul.
Call 888-647-0579 to speak with an alcohol or drug abuse counselor.

Who Answers?

Driving After Binge Drinking More Common Than Believed

Nearly one in eight binge drinkers say they get behind the wheel and drive within two hours of drinking, U.S. government researchers report.

The new research adds a timeline and other new information to what’s known about drinking and driving, said study author Dr. Timothy Naimi, a physician with the alcohol team at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The report is scheduled to be published in the October issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

“A lot of studies, including ours, have established a strong connection between binge drinking and impaired driving, which is sort of obvious on some level,” he said. “What hasn’t been looked at is how many people actually do get behind the wheel after a binge drinking episode.”

So Naimi and his colleagues evaluated data from more than 14,000 adults in 13 states in 2003 and 14 states in 2004, who reported binge drinking and then answered additional questions. They were part of the Behavior Risk Factor Surveillance System survey.

Binge drinking was defined as having five or more drinks during an occasion, such as an evening out or at a party.

Overall, 11.9 percent of the binge drinkers drove within two hours of their binge drinking, Naimi found.

“It’s a pretty awesome number when you link it up with the number of binge drinking episodes in the U.S.,” he said. According to the CDC, about 1.5 billion binge drinking episodes occur in the United States each year.

“If you were to spread that out [equally among the population], that would be over seven binge drinking episodes per adult per year,” Naimi said.

Two other statistics shed more light on the binge drinking and driving issue, he said. For starters, 50 percent of the binge drinkers were aged 25 to 44. And the binge drinkers were often coming from bars, clubs and restaurants — 54.3 percent of them, in fact. Just 23 percent had been drinking at someone else’s home.

Laws make it illegal for bars, clubs and restaurants to sell alcohol to intoxicated people, Naimi pointed out. But those laws are not well-enforced. “The key thing about this study is, it’s really illustrating the shared responsibility between individual drinkers and the places that are selling them alcohol.”

Another expert, Nick Ellinger, a spokesman for MADD, said one unique aspect of the study is that “‘they looked at the incidence of binge drinking as it related to drunk driving by location.”

If you look only at bars and clubs, he said, one of five binge drinkers who drink at those locations drive afterwards.

The message? Not binge drinking is best, of course. But if you think you may over-indulge, make plans in advance for safe transport home, Ellinger said. “A lot of people drive to bars and restaurants to drink. It’s wise ahead of time to make your plans for how you are going to get home safely because after you have begun drinking that decision-making process breaks down.”

“The research shows that driving after binge drinking is a preventable problem,” said David Jernigan, an associate professor at the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University, in Baltimore.

“There are things to do” to remedy the problem, he said, including training servers to stop serving people who are intoxicated and strengthening the liability of club and restaurant owners.

For consumers, planning transportation home ahead of time is crucial, he said. But designated drivers have not been shown to work, he added. “It creates a carload of designated drunks,” he said, some of whom may insist on driving. Public transportation is another, and sometimes safer, option.

source: Health Day News

More Treatment & Detox Articles

Reducing blood alcohol limit to 0.02 won’t stop car crashes, say experts

THE Queensland Government’s proposal to see the alcohol limit cut to 0.02 across Australia has been labelled as “nonsense” by alcohol and accident experts. Motoring groups, police, accident research centres and hotelliers all rejected moves to slash the drink-driving limit outlined in a Queensland Government discussion paper released yesterday, arguing it would make little difference….

Continue reading

SOS offers addiction recovery without religion

For atheists who are addicted to alcohol or drugs, recovery programs that urge reliance on a “higher power” can be problematic. What is this higher power? Despite protestations to the contrary, the term is obviously meant as a synonym for God. Substituting “nature,” “or “science” or some such thing doesn’t quite cut it. There is….

Continue reading

Drug rehabilitation center

Number of drug addicts around the globe is increasing day by day. There is no specific age limit, gender difference or even financial discrimination when it comes to drug addiction. The habit of drug addiction is very fatal and also destroying the morale of the society. Therefore, it is very necessary to provide timely help….

Continue reading

Mom. Businesswoman. Alcoholic.

A mother climbs out of the depths of addiction She stood on the sidelines amid the blankets and camp chairs, a petite, brown-haired woman in a monogrammed polo shirt, cheering as her 7-year-old son sprinted down the soccer field. At halftime, she stepped up with a water bottle and pep talk. And after the game….

Continue reading

Overcoming a drink problem

If you think you drink too much, and you are not content with that, then you need to take action. Nobody can force you to reduce your alcohol intake, or make you seek professional help. The only person who can take responsibility for your drinking is YOU. No one else can change your lifestyle, but….

Continue reading

Where do calls go?

Calls to numbers on a specific treatment center listing will be routed to that treatment center. Calls to any general helpline will be answered or returned by one of the treatment providers listed, each of which is a paid advertiser: ARK Behavioral Health, Recovery Helpline, Alli Addiction Services.

By calling the helpline you agree to the terms of use. We do not receive any commission or fee that is dependent upon which treatment provider a caller chooses. There is no obligation to enter treatment.

I NEED TO TALK TO SOMEONE NOWI NEED TO TALK TO SOMEONE NOW 888-647-0579Response time about 1 min | Response rate 100%
Who Answers?