#040424

Alcohol Absorption and Metabolism in the Context of Bar Closings

Comments submitted by:

Paul L. Doering, M.S.
Distinguished Service Professor of Pharmacy Practice
College of Pharmacy
University of Florida
Gainesville, Florida

Before the Public Safety Committee of the Gainesville City Commission
April 21, 2005



In the continuing debate as to whether bars in the City of Gainesville should be allowed to remain open after 2 A.M., one sometimes hears the following reasoning for allowing bars to stay open one more hour:

“Why not allow the bars to remain open until 3 A.M., but stop selling alcohol at 2 A.M.?  In this manner, patrons would have an additional hour to sober up before being sent out into the streets.”

While this logic may appear sound on its surface, some facts about alcohol’s absorption and metabolism are being overlooked.  To understand this fully, one must first review the way in which alcohol enters the body, is distributed throughout, and finally is eliminated.

Absorption of alcohol begins in the stomach within 5 to 10 minutes of oral ingestion. The onset of clinical effects follows fairly rapidly and is proportional to the amount of alcohol finding its way into the bloodstream. While alcohol is absorbed primarily from the upper regions of the small intestines, it is also absorbed in smaller amounts from the stomach, esophagus, and mucous membranes. Peak serum concentrations of alcohol usually are achieved 30 to 90 minutes after finishing the last drink, although it is variable depending on the type of alcoholic beverage consumed, what and when the person last ate, and other factors.  In the typical person drinking beer, wine, or mixed drinks in a bar setting, the average time for the alcohol to reach a peak in the blood is 1 hour.

Alcohol is “burned off” by the liver at a constant rate corresponding to approximately one alcoholic drink per hour (defined as one 12 ounce beer, one glass of wine or 1.5 ounce of 80 proof distilled beverage). On average, the blood alcohol concentration is lowered from 0.015–0.022 percent per hour in the nontolerant individual after the peak has occurred.  

Assume for the moment that a person is drinking at a steady rate over the course of an evening.  Under the current scenario with 2 A.M. closings, the person would leave the bar and would return home (hopefully safely) and would not be driving from that point forward.  With the bars allowed to remain open until 3 A.M., the person would essentially be discharged from the establishment at or about the time the alcohol is reaching a peak level in the bloodstream.  While there is no guarantee that blood levels of alcohol in would be in the safe range even at closing, the logic is distorted if one is to think that the ensuing hour would allow the alcohol to decrease.  In fact, the alcohol must first reach a peak (about 1 hour after the last drink) before it came begin to come down.

In summary, the argument that people should be allowed to remain in the bar for an hour to “sober up” is based on flawed information and it ignores the facts about how alcohol is handled by the body.

5/6/05



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