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Drinking & Driving Laws
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DUI Laws in Alaska

How Many Drinks ?

How Many Drinks Does it Take to Be Legally Drunk?

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The Question of Drinking and Driving

One question we have heard over and over is "How many drinks does it take to become legally drunk?" The question is often asked because people want to know how many drinks they can have before they drive without risking a DUI conviction. Our suggestion is to have zero drinks before you drive, but if you want to calculate how many drinks you can have before you could be arrested for drunk driving, you can use our drink calculator or, use the table below to see a listing based on body weight and number of drinks.

What Amount of Alcohol is Equal to One Drink?

One drink can usually be thought of as:

1 Beer
1 Three Ounce Glass of Wine
1 Shot or 1 Ounce of Hard Liquor

Remember this table is only a reference, there are a number of variables that determine if a person is legally drunk that are not addressed in this table. A 0.080 percent Blood Alcohol Concentration is considered legally drunk in all states.

Drink and Weight Table

BLUE = Impaired Driver           RED = Legally Drunk Driver

Weight Number of Drinks
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
100 0.032 0.065 0.097 .0129 .0162 0.194 0.226 0.258 0.291
120 0.027 0.054 0.081 0.108 0.135 0.161 0.188 0.215 0.242
140 0.023 0.046 0.069 0.092 0.115 0.138 0.161 0.184 0.207
160 0.020 0.040 0.060 0.080 0.101 0.121 0.141 0.161 0.181
180 0.018 0.036 0.054 0.072 0.090 0.108 0.126 0.144 0.162
200 0.016 0.032 0.048 0.064 0.080 0.097 0.113 0.129 0.145
220 0.015 0.029 0.044 0.058 0.073 0.088 0.102 0.117 0.131
240 0.014 0.027 0.040 0.053 0.067 0.081 0.095 0.108 0.121

If you are taking medication, one drink could put you into the "drunk driver" category. It often takes very little alcohol to become legally drunk and your physical characteristics such as weight, gender and body fat percentage can all be factors in the equation. Eating is another variable, if you are going to drink and drive you are more likely to fail a Blood Alcohol Test if you do not eat. The best answer is to the question of drinking and driving is to have zero drinks before you drive.