Drinking Facts
What's The Big Deal About Underage Drinking In Minnesota?
If you drink and you’re under 21, if you drink while driving, or if you try to buy alcohol with a fake ID you can end up in serious legal and financial trouble.
Penalties for Breaking Minnesota Drinking Laws |
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DWI (Driving While Intoxicated) |
Underage Drinking (under 21) |
Buying Alcohol with a Fake ID |
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Source: Minnesota Department of Public Safety, 2002, What’s the big deal? (PDF) |
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Still Thinking About Drinking and Driving?
If you’re under Minnesota’s legal drinking age (21 and older)
- You should know that zero tolerance laws exist in every state, including Minnesota. This law makes it illegal for persons under the age of 21 to drive with any measurable amount of alcohol in their blood.
- You can receive a ticket and penalties for driving while intoxicated (DWI).
Even if you are over 21, it’s illegal for you to drink and drive.
- In Minnesota, when a person reaches .08 BAC, it is illegal to drive.
- Regardless of your age, you can receive a ticket for DWI. That’s because when drivers reach a .08 BAC level, their driving skills are severely impaired.
- A person is 11 times more likely to be involved in a fatal crash than someone who has had nothing to drink.
What is BAC?
- Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) is a measure of how much alcohol is in someone's blood. It is the most accurate and measurable gauge of alcohol impairment.
- To learn how many drinks it takes to reach the illegal level of .08 BAC, go to the online blood alcohol concentration calculator located on the Friends Drive Sober website.
- Checkout the Alcohol Concentration Worksheet to help you estimate your own personal limit to avoid problems related to a drinking and driving.
- Decide what is low risk drinking before you begin drinking. Research has shown clearly that a person who has started to drink will underestimate his/her alcohol concentration level.
- If you would like to get a hard copy of a booklet about Alcohol: Choices and guidelines for college students, call the Minnesota Institute of Public Health at 800-782-1878 or order from the website at www.emprc.org.
