People will sometimes say that they have to avoid certain types of alcohol. Maybe they believe they can drink a beer, but whiskey will just get them too drunk. Or perhaps they like to have a gin and tonic, but they won’t do a shot of tequila.
But is there any truth to this perspective? Does one type of alcohol get you more drunk than another, and could this impact your odds of getting pulled over for impaired driving?
Alcohol is alcohol
No, it’s a myth that different types of alcohol can get you any more or less drunk. The reality is that it’s just ethanol. You can find ethanol in beer, spirits or wine. No matter which one you drink, you’ll become intoxicated based on the amount of ethanol you consume.
In fact, this may be why there is some confusion over this issue. After all, different drinks contain different amounts of alcohol.
For example, a normal beer will contain around 5% alcohol. A glass of wine, on the other hand, may contain 13%, which is nearly three times as much. But a shot of gin may contain around 40%, or eight times as much as a beer.
In other words, if you just drink the same amount of liquid, you would become far more intoxicated on spirits or wine then you would on beer. But that has nothing to do with the type of alcohol; it’s just because you’ve consumed more of it.
Drunk driving charges
If you do get pulled over on allegations of driving under the influence, regardless of the type of alcohol you consumed, be sure you know about all the legal options at your disposal.