Safe Party Tips for Adults

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The Addiction Resource Council, Inc. wants to help you be sure that your social events live up to your expectations. Take care of your friends, your family and yourself by following these simple guidelines.

FOR HOSTS:

• Do not let someone who has been drinking drive. Arrange for him or her to sleep in your home or to ride with a sober driver.
• Encourage your guest ahead of time to designate a driver.
• Have a key basket and collect each guest’s keys upon arrival. Know the condition of your guests before returning their keys at the end of the party.
• Plan activities so that the focus isn’t just on drinking.
• Provide your guests with an attractive selection of non-alcoholic beverages. Remember that about one-third of all adults in the U.S. abstain from drinking alcohol completely for a variety of reasons. Remember, too, that informed, health-conscious adults whom you know to drink on occasion will prefer non-alcoholic beverages in the following situations:
  • if they are pregnant or trying to conceive
  • if they are using medicine of any kind
  • if they have had difficulty keeping their drinking moderate in the past
  • if they plan to drive after your party
  • if they wish for some other reason to avoid any of alcohol's many short-and long-term effects.
• Never serve alcohol to anyone under the age of 21, for whom it is an illegal drug. Remember that your responsibility for drinking by underage guests lasts beyond the time they are in your home. Remember, too, that alcohol-related car crashes are the leading cause of death for 15-to 24-year-olds.
• Provide your guests with nutritious food. Eating will slow alcohol's effects.
• Appoint a bartender to monitor guests' drinking and serve measured, standard drinks rather than doubles or "holiday specials." Guests can better control their drinking when they are drinking amounts with which they are familiar.
• Do not serve alcohol to an intoxicated guest. Offer him or her a non-alcoholic drink, but remember that nothing can "sober up" a person immediately. It takes the human body approximately two hours to metabolize each ounce of alcohol; coffee or a cold shower can only create a wide-awake drunk instead of a sleeping one.
• Choose fruit juices instead of carbonated mixers. Carbonation speeds up the alcohol absorption into the bloodstream.
• Be sure that drinking does not become the primary focus or activity of your party.
• Stop serving alcohol at least one hour before the party ends.

FOR GUESTS:

Do not drink if any of the following is true:

• you are pregnant or trying to conceive
• you are using medicine of any kind
• you have had difficulty keeping your drinking moderate in the past
• Feel free to refuse alcohol for any other reason, regardless of pressure or encouragement to drink.
• Do not drink if you are a child or adolescent. For anyone under 21, alcohol poses a number of serious health risks. In addition, it is for this age group an illegal drug.
• Designate a driver ahead of time – a designated driver is a non-drinking driver.
• Take a cab or public transportation.
• Make a reservation and spend the night.
• Consume food before and during occasions when you are drinking, sip your drinks, and alternate with non-alcoholic beverages.
• If you drive, do not drink; if you drink, do not drive. There is no safe level of alcohol for drivers because everyone reacts differently to alcohol on different occasions. If you are going out with others, decide beforehand who will drive on the return trip. Do not ride with drivers who have been drinking.
• If you are a woman, remember that alcohol will have a greater effect on you than it will on a man of your weight.

If you would like information about where to get help for alcohol or other drug-related problems, contact the Addiction Resource Council, Inc. at 262-524-7921 or www.arcouncil.net.