millerboycott.com

Most drunk driving arrests take place at night, often after midnight. One reason for this is that many police officers engage in the illegal practice of staking out bars and restaurants from about midnight to "closing time", pulling cars over on some pretext as patrons leave and drive away.

It is during this period of time that the individual’s circadian rhythm is taking effect. The circadian rhythm is that 24-hour biological alarm clock in each of our bodies, most noticeable when we experience "jet lag".

Researchers have found that individuals will perform more poorly in tests during the low point of the circadian rhythm — that is, during the hours after midnight and into the early morning. It is just such tests — called "field sobriety tests" — that officers use to determine whether a driver is intoxicated or not.

Specifically, British physicians and psychiatrists reported that "the same blood alcohol level is associated with a significantly greater impairment of different aspects of psychological funtioning when achieved in the very early morning hours." "Circadian Variation in Effects of Ethanol in Man", 18 (Supp. 1) Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior 555. The researchers concluded that "the differences we have found…must be attributable to circadian change and susceptibility of the body to its effect."
 

DUI BLOG

A recent article published in Psychology of Addictive Behaviors (discussed here by The Vancouver Sun) has drawn attention to the important topic of college binge drinking. The research presented in the article highlights college students’ perceptions that the positive effects associated with drinking outweigh the negative consequences in terms of influence on future drinking. Unfortunately, there are negative consequences associated with dangerous alcohol overconsumption including death and injury as well as legal and academic problems for many college students each year.

Students overwhelmingly believe that a majority of the time their alcohol consumption levels are safe and generally acceptable. On occasions when college students do feel they have over-consumed, less than a quarter say they result in an experience they would never like to repeat. While a variety of experiences occur when they drink too much, the most frequently cited are short-term and related to the next day’s embarrassment and regret – being physically sick and humiliating oneself – not the serious and/or long-term negative consequences that parents and administrators worry about.

Our Stop College Binge Drinking initiative is a comprehensive, multi-faceted research effort designed to promote new ways of tackling the problem of dangerous alcohol overconsumption on campus among various members of the campus community. Our own research among college students and that from the student led campaigns on campuses corroborates the research findings presented in this article.

Century Council Blog