How To Drink Responsibly

There’s something you need to know about counting your drinks to keep on top of your alcohol consumption: Not all drinks are created equal. The Domino Strategy takes the guesswork out of safe alcohol consumption, and recommends no more than one drink per day for women and no more than two drinks per day for men. Although you may be counting your drinks, you may not be counting the real amount of alcohol in each of your drinks.

You may have only finished one glass of wine, but you may have consumed two or three times the standard recommended amount of alcohol. Wine glasses, beer mugs, drink glasses and shot glasses are super sized these days, so pay attention to how big your glass is and how much was in it. The standard serving of wine is five ounces, the standard beer size is 12 ounces, and the standard shot size of an 80-proof liquor is 1 ½ ounces.

Remember that different drinks have different alcohol contents. A typical light beer may contain 5% alcohol, but a dark microbrew may contain up to 10% alcohol. That glass of wine you have with dinner might have as much as 13% alcohol; your standard white wine has less alcohol than your standard red wine. You may have ordered one Long Island Iced Tea, but that one drink could contain as much as 5 shots of alcohol that’s over the safe and healthy recommendation of the US Department of Health and Human Services.

Pay attention to the alcohol content of your drinks, and you are on your way to responsible alcohol consumption. We can all enjoy alcohol safely and for our health and the safety of others.

The Richland/McCone County DUI Task Force members represent a diverse cross-section of our community, including concerned citizens, government officials, law enforcement, health professional, prevention and treatment specialist, business professionals and others. The DUI Task Force is dedicated to promoting a healthier and safer environment for the residents of Richland & McCone Counties by reducing injuries and fatalities related to over consumption of alcohol and impaired driving. Please contact Mary Friesz, DUI Task Force Coordinator at the Richland County Health Department to make a difference and for resources or information.