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Blood Alcohol Content (BAC)

Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) is the amount of alcohol in a person's blood, expressed as a percentage.

Example: A BAC of 0.01 percent means that one-hundredth of 1 percent of the fluid in the blood is alcohol. The higher a person's blood alcohol content is, the more severe are the physical and behavioral effects.

Most teens want to know:

“How much alcohol does it take to reach a BAC of 0.01?”

“How much alcohol will it take to get me buzzed?”

“Will I pass out if I have just a couple of beers?”

“Is alcohol addictive?”

“Can alcohol really kill me?”

The answer is it all depends on the following factors:

  1. How much and how fast the alcohol is consumed;
  2. One's weight, size, and age;
  3. One's mood, general health and other substances already in the body, such as food or other drugs; and
  4. Whether the person is male or female.

Here's a quick fact to help you put things in perspective: It only takes 1 teaspoon of cough syrup to reach a BAC of 0.01.

Check out the male and female intoxication charts and try to calculate where you would be on the charts.

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