Is this you?

If whiskey makes you frisky, brandy makes you randy, vodka makes you wanna and gin makes you sin

What would a cocktail of all four make you?? Puh-lease…obviously over the limit.

In Ireland the legal limit for alcohol in the blood system is 80mg per 100ml of blood. This translates into everyday lingo as 1.5 pints/ 2 glasses wine/ 1 shot on any given day for an adult over 20 (no recommendations for under 20).

Wait! Stall the ball. You're on your run-of-the-mill night out, the barman approaches you and says: “Excuse me madam, but the gentleman in the corner would like to buy you a drink.” You look over to see Seamus Bond purring in your direction (remember that you are a walking hormone and find him rather fine), so you smile with your best smouldering eyes and say “oooh Shamey but I am point-oh-two over my alcohol limit and one more glass of martini would just ooooh push me over the top!” Somehow I don't think so……

This law was enacted for a reason: to prevent drink driving. Nevertheless, the legal limit really is the limit for safe consumption. After the prescribed amount, we become “relaxed”, lose our inhibitions, come out of our “shells”, and develop Beer-Goggle Syndrome (def: the loss of our sense of judgement which covers everything from finding everybody attractive, to driving ability to just plain walking in a straight line)…These are only the immediate effects of the ould devil's buttermilk. We generally don't realise that through its regular over-consumption, Alcohol being the amazing depressant that it is, can have much more serious and damaging consequences on our physical and mental health.

But if (and we all do) scoff at the idea of just the one/ two drinks when we hit the town of an evening, when is it that we call the shots? Is it that we honestly think more of our pockets than of our precious health- only drinking as much as we can afford to spend? That €50 limit can potentially buy one bottle of wine before heading out, maybe 4 drinks once you get there (not including Shamey's martini) plus your taxi home and the obligatory curry in a hurry.

By spending the money in this way, it may translate into:

• A great night full of crazy half-cut stories
• A mediocre one: just one more of many, not worth committing to memory
• A terrible one where you just drank to pass the time

Or it could translate into:

• A cheap flight to various European destinations.
• A week's food shopping in a cheap supermarket.

Alternatively we may not put a limit on how much we spend on a night out (tripping to the nearest ATM as soon as we need to pay for “the next and last one”) ending up handing over our hard earned cash until last call, then spewing up our purchases (hopefully in the nearest creation by Armitage Shanks) until we are fit to stumble home and in the best case scenario, crash onto our own bed solo.

SO question! Tell me, what is your limit?

By: Lisa Guilfoyle

See the alcohol & drugs section for lots of supportive information.