As an Addictions professional I operate an Intoximeter on a regular basis. For those of you worried about a false positive reading, let me give you some important information.

The machine works on the premise that there is a direct correlation between the amount of alcohol in the blood stream and the air held in the lungs. Alcohol easily passes through the tissue that allows oxygen into the bloodstream.

The operator of the intoximeter should ask you to breath deeply and blow through the tube. The operator should let a few seconds pass before pressing the button for a reading. The object is to get a sample of the air that has been down in the lungs, that representative sample.

If the operator does not wait those few seconds, the sample basically represents the air in the mouth, which has no correlation with the alcohol in the bloodstream. Recent drinks of alcohol-based potions or recent use of other alcohol based substance (cough syrup, mouthwash, etc.) will produce a positive reading that does not represent the amount of alcohol in the bloodstream.

If you receive a reading that you believe is a false positive due to this "mouth alcohol", ask the tester to retest you in fifteen minutes. By that time, there will be no more alcohol floating around in your mouth. Then, if the operator still doesn't wait, you get a false negative. If the operator waits, then the reading should correlate well with your Blood Alcohol Level.

Significant impairment in reflexes and perception begin to occur at 0.05% blood alcohol level. The higher the level, the more impairment. For the average person, what we perceive as drunk is a level 0.12 % or higher.

Since most of us don't carry breath testing equipment with us the following information may provide some guidelines. First, a 12 oz. beer, a 6 oz. glass of wine, and a "shot" of liquor basically provide the same amount of alcohol to the bloodstream when imbibed. Secondly, how high this raises your blood alcohol level is affected by blood volume (roughly body size) and gender (women get higher levels because their systems do not break down the alcohol as fast as men). For most people, two drinks in one hour will put them above the 0.05 % level. It will take two hours for the body to process most of that alcohol. A reasonable guideline then is less than one drink an hour and nothing to drink two hours before driving. You got that class? How about you Doug R.?

The above information does not constitute professional advice and I take no responsibility for results, good or bad. The only guaranteed technique is don't drink alcohol based beverages and don't use alcohol based medications.

In the U. S., roughly 1/3 of adults don't drink at all; another 1/3 drink less than once a month; and a final third are what most people call the "drinkers". Out of these "drinkers", roughly 1/3 of them (15 % of the adult population) drink over 70 % of the alcohol sold (these are the "heavy drinkers"). Those who find themselves in the last category would be wise to adhere to the simple message "Don't Drive After Drinking."

Cheers!

Roger in Baltimore