{"id":6249,"date":"2004-10-03T23:31:41","date_gmt":"2004-10-04T06:31:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/2004\/10\/03\/bottoms-up-5.html"},"modified":"2004-10-03T23:31:41","modified_gmt":"2004-10-04T06:31:41","slug":"bottoms_up_5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2004\/10\/03\/bottoms_up_5.html","title":{"rendered":"Bottoms up"},"content":{"rendered":"

I do not want to encourage binge drinking, let alone the dangers of drunken driving. Nor do I have particular sympathy for those who are so eager to get blotto that they bypass actually drinking booze and go for snorting alcohol vapors<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But, frankly, the freak-out occuring over the prospect of these Demonic Machines showing up at Denver-area bars is not worth the effort. And moves to try to make the devices illegal seem to be misplaced. <\/p>\n

A controversial new alcohol vapor machine could arrive in Colorado bars and clubs before politicians and law enforcement officials sort out who has authority to outlaw the “alcohol without liquid,” or AWOL, device.<\/p>\n

AWOL’s manufacturer touts it as a low-carb, low-calorie way to indulge without hard liquor’s usual nasty side effects, like vomiting or hangovers. Critics say the device can deceive police Breathalyzers.<\/p>\n

And doctors say AWOL, which turns a shot of liquor into an inhaled mist, is dangerous because alcohol bypasses the liver, the body’s toxin filter. Inhaling vaporized liquor, like breathing in medicine, also makes a tiny amount go a very long way, said experts at National Jewish Medical and Research Center in Denver.<\/p>\n

Is it somewhat more difficult for police to catch drunken drivers (because there’s no “booze on the breath,” and possibly because Breathlyzers aren’t as effective when folks get alcohol via the lungs)? Maybe. Doesn’t justify making it illegal, esp. given the availability of field sobriety tests and urinalysis once someone’s taken down to the station. Law enforcement managed to identify and jail drunken drivers before Breathlyzers came along, and someone will find a way to do so after the AWOL machines become available.<\/p>\n

Will some people abuse these things? Almost certainly — but almost certainly the same people who’d binge drink anyway, so outlawing the machines is hardly going to solve that public health problem.<\/p>\n

No, it’s just that Prohibitionist impulse coming to the fore again. If alcohol as a drug were to suddenly be invented, you can be sure that some people would do their darnedest to make it illegal. That a new delivery system is now available gives them an opportunity to exercise that impulse. And that’s hardly what we need our legislatures spending time legislating about.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I do not want to encourage binge drinking, let alone the dangers of drunken driving. Nor do I have particular sympathy for those who are so eager to get blotto…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-zt-pc"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7656,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2005\/01\/21\/id_rather_have.html","url_meta":{"origin":6249,"position":0},"title":"I’d rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 21-Jan-05 6:52am","format":false,"excerpt":"A good week to have a drink: Moderate drinking can protect your memory and cognitive abilities in old age. It can also reduce mini-strokes. \"Low levels of alcohol appear to...","rel":"","context":"In "Food & Drink"","block_context":{"text":"Food & Drink","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/food-drink"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8203,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2005\/04\/27\/well_we_cant_ha.html","url_meta":{"origin":6249,"position":1},"title":"Well, we can’t have that now, can we?","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 27-Apr-05 9:50am","format":false,"excerpt":"There's a new technology out there that vaporizes booze and lets folks inhale it. It is said to create a \"zero-carb\" and zero-hangover buzz. The devices are sold on the...","rel":"","context":"In "Food & Drink"","block_context":{"text":"Food & Drink","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/food-drink"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3031,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2002\/08\/21\/ill_have_anudde.html","url_meta":{"origin":6249,"position":2},"title":"I’ll have anudder","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 21-Aug-02 6:33am","format":false,"excerpt":"Scientists have confirmed the \"beer goggle\" effect. The study of 120 male and female students found drinking up to four units of alcohol \u2014 about two pints (one litre) of...","rel":"","context":"In "Science & Nature"","block_context":{"text":"Science & Nature","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/science"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":42254,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/05\/28\/useful-info-for-all-you-urban-fantasy-novelists-out-there.html","url_meta":{"origin":6249,"position":3},"title":"Useful info for all you urban\u00a0fantasy\u00a0novelists out there","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 28-May-14 3:16pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Vampires and werewolves won't get drunk from drinking the blood of someone who's drunk. \u00a0Unless they are already extreme lightweights.And now you know.\ufeff Blood Alcohol Prev \u00b7 Blood Alcohol. Could you get drunk from drinking a drunk person's blood? Fiona Byrne. No. A person contains about 5 liters of blood,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":38438,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2013\/08\/09\/if-you-text-while-you-walk-youre-gonna-die.html","url_meta":{"origin":6249,"position":4},"title":"If you text while you walk, you're gonna DIE!","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 9-Aug-13 5:24pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Well, I exaggerate some, but that's sort of the message of this story. \u00a0Pedestrian deaths from motor vehicle accidents are on the rise, and pedestrians texting while walking may be the reason.Or may not be. Because, aside from DOT Secretary Anthony Foxx saying that \"distracted walking\" is responsible (and, actually,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7611,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2005\/01\/26\/imbibing_whilst.html","url_meta":{"origin":6249,"position":5},"title":"Imbibing Whilst Birthing Babies","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 26-Jan-05 11:45am","format":false,"excerpt":"Interesting article about alcohol use and pregnancy, and the volatility of the issues that have come about since Fetal Alcohol Syndrome was identified. When Janet Golden was kicking around in...","rel":"","context":"In "Health"","block_context":{"text":"Health","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/health"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6249","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6249"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6249\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}