Section 4
Page 30

If a Guest Becomes Intoxicated at the Party

It’s important to prevent guests from becoming intoxicated once they are at your event or party. People who are intoxicated are more likely to harm themselves or others by driving drunk, fighting and doing other dangerous activities that they would not do sober. It is against the law to serve intoxicated individuals and doing this will raise liability risks.

Preventing intoxication, or handling it properly if it has already happened, will help to keep your guests safe and prevent liability for yourself and your organization. In this section you will learn more about how drinking affects a person's blood alcohol content (BAC), how you as a social host can help prevent intoxication, common signs of intoxication, and steps you need to take when dealing with intoxicated guests. Your awareness and good judgment are critical in preventing and minimizing the potential dangers and legal liabilities of intoxication.

Actions Social Hosts Must Take

In this section you will learn the actions every host should take when dealing with intoxicated guests. Remember, you should never contribute to the intoxication of a guest at your party or event. For example, if a host were to dispense alcohol directly into someone’s mouth, there would be no way for the host or the guest to know how much alcohol they have drunk. This makes it more difficult to avoid intoxication. Hosts who pour shots into guest’s mouths are engaging in dangerous behavior.



Typical College Students

In the past year:
3 out of 4 Missouri college students who drink have avoided drinking games at parties.

Taken from the Missouri College Health Behavior Survey 2009, n=6257, given to a random sample of students at 13 publicly funded Missouri Institutions of Higher Education