When you take a drink of alcohol, it is
absorbed into the blood through the mucous lining of the gastrointestinal tract: the mouth, the
esophagus, the stomach, and the small intestine. The rate of absorption increases as the alcohol
moves through the tract.
Absorption from the stomach into the
bloodstream (by way of blood-carrying capillaries in the stomach lining) is
faster than from the esophagus or mouth. Common wisdom - that drinking on an empty
stomach will get you more intoxicated, faster - is true because there is
nothing else in your stomach to compete with the alcohol in terms of getting
absorbed.
Ranitidine - the key ingredient in
Zantac and similar products - blocks the so-called first pass metabolism of
alcohol. When alcohol is ingested, the further it passes through the
digestive tract, the more ethanol is absorbed into the blood stream. The
organs of digestion involved are the stomach, the small intestine, the large
intestine, and the colon. More ethanol is absorbed as it
travels further through that tract.
Over-the-counter anti-acid and anti-heartburn
medicines like Zantac (containing Ranitidine) reduce the amount of acid that the body
produces. The more of the drug you take, the more the body reduces acid
production, thus there being less acid in the stomach to break down the ethanol
then absorbed into the blood. This is how Zantac works. Heartburn and upset stomach occur due to the
body producing acid in the stomach to the point where the person becomes
uncomfortable. The more Ranitidine that
is consumed, the less stomach acid is produced.
Ranitidine decreases the body’s ability
to produce the acid that is used in the stomach to start metabolizing
alcohol. This allows more ethanol to pass from the stomach into the small
intestine, where the body more readily absorbs ethanol into the blood than if
the stomach had digested the ethanol. The result is that more ethanol is
absorbed into the blood through the small intestine. This is the key
component to why Ranitidine causes an elevated blood alcohol content,
or BAC.
Generally speaking, in Colorado for
example driving with a BAC of .05 or greater is against the law (including if
.08 or greater "driving under the influence" or DUI). People who consume Zantac (or similar product
containing an equal amount of Ranitidine) and then consume alcohol - even
minimal amounts - may unknowingly and
involuntarily have their BACs elevated to where driving a vehicle is
against the law. What would be
considered a small amount of alcohol consumption becomes amplified when the
stomach did not break down the ethanol and the small intestine allowed the
ethanol to pass into the blood. And the
higher BAC level persists for a longer time when Ranitidine is a factor.
Because criminal offenses must be based
on a voluntary act, a defense amounting to involuntary
intoxication can be a defense to DUI.
Call Sanderson Law, P.C., if you need
help. 303-444-8846.
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