Jensen LaVende jensen.lavende@trinidadexpress.com

THE next time you are about to indulge in a beastly cold gulp of that alcoholic beverage be mindful that one $9 beer could land you in a $8,000 deficit.

On Friday night Kirk Waithe, head of Arrive Alive, the company that has been clamouring for the now legal breathalyser, showed patrons at several bars how easy it is to go from a good time to broke.

According to the law, which was proclaimed by President George Maxwell Richards on November 16, those who are found guilty of driving under the influence of alcohol face maximum sentences of three years in prison, or alternatively a maximum fine of $8,000, on first offence. For a second offence, the fine goes to a maximum of $15,000 or imprisonment for five years. On a third offence, a convicted person faces disbarment from holding a driver’s permit for life.

At the ’Spotlight Sport Bar’, Curepe patrons were astonished to find out how easily they could have been left with a $8,000 hole in their wallet.

One patron said that he had six beers along with his wife in 20-30 minute intervals and he had a reading of 0.57 microgrammes while the legal limit is 0.35.

One patron said he had ’twenty something beers’ and only got a ’warning’ with his reading.

According to the compilation of those tested by Waithe and his crew, of the 31 recorded, 18 were males with four of them being under the limit while of the 13 females tested, five were under the legal limit.The highest level recorded was 1.12 microgrammes..

According to the website www.howstuffworks.com, the breathalyser, which was invented by Dr Robert Borkenstein of the Indiana State Police, measures the blood alcohol concentration (BAC). When alcohol is consumed it is absorbed from the mouth, throat, stomach and intestines into the bloodstream.

The study conducted by Dr Craig Freudenrich states that as the blood goes through the lungs, some of the alcohol moves across the membranes of the lung’s alveoli (air sacs) into the air. The concentration of the alcohol in the alveolar air is related to the concentration of the alcohol in the blood. As the alcohol in the alveolar air is exhaled, it can be detected by the breathalyser, which measures the microgrammes of alcohol per 100 millimetres of breath. In Trinidad and Tobago the legal limit is 0.35microgrammes.(Trinidad Express)