Signs of Intoxication and Impairment Recognition
Recognition is a documentation skill. Exam items ask you to name observable, articulable signs, to separate reliable evidence from unreliable clues, and to explain why tolerance and stimulants make appearance a poor test.
What alcohol does
- Alcohol is a central nervous system depressant; it degrades judgment, coordination, and reaction time before obvious physical signs appear.
- A standard drink: 12 oz regular beer (~5%), 5 oz wine (~12%), 1.5 oz 80-proof spirits.
- Blood alcohol concentration depends on drink count, rate, body weight, sex, food, medication, and time. The body clears roughly one standard drink per hour; coffee, food, cold showers, and fresh air do not speed that up.
- Florida anchors: 0.08 DUI per se for drivers 21 and over, 0.02 for drivers under 21, 0.04 for commercial drivers.
Observable signs worth writing down
- Speech: slurred, thick, unusually loud or unusually slow.
- Eyes: bloodshot, glassy, unable to focus; the smell of alcohol supports but never proves impairment.
- Motor: swaying, gripping furniture, stumbling, spilling, fumbling money or a phone, missing the mouth.
- Behavior: repetition, boisterousness, mood swings, sudden aggression, inappropriate comments, nodding off.
- Social: rounds bought for others, drinking other people's drinks, ordering doubles, very fast consumption.
Tolerance, stimulants, and combination effects
- Tolerance changes behavior, not BAC. A seasoned drinker can be legally impaired with few visible cues.
- Energy drinks, cocaine, and amphetamines mask the sedative look; cannabis, sedatives, and fatigue compound it.
- "Habitually addicted" is a separate legal category from intoxicated. Florida's dram shop statute turns on knowingly serving a person habitually addicted to alcohol, so repeated, documented over-service matters.
Worked example
A 130-pound guest orders her third vodka-and-soda in 90 minutes. Roughly one drink per hour is metabolized, so about 1.5 drinks' worth remains - enough at her weight to approach 0.08 - but the decision does not rest on arithmetic. She is talking over the music, has knocked over a glass, and is repeating herself. Those observations, with times noted, justify cutting her off and would support the incident report if ABT or a plaintiff's lawyer later asks.
Traps that cost marks
- Relying on smell alone, or on "she seems fine."
- Serving one for the road because the guest is pleasant or a good tipper.
- Assuming steady walking means unimpaired judgment; judgment goes first.