A tougher drunk-driving law, aimed at reducing the number of alcohol-related traffic fatalities, was signed by President Bill Clinton on October 23.  Under the federal legislation, states must implement a legal blood alcohol threshold of .08 percent for drivers before 2004 or begin losing federal highway funding. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, a 120-pound woman will have a blood alcohol level reading of .08 after consuming two glasses of wine over a two-hour period.

But Thomas Neslund, executive director of the International Commission for the Prevention of Alcoholism and Drug Dependency, says that the law does not go far enough. Warning against complacency, he says that the new law should not be mistaken for a solution to the problem of intoxicated drivers.

“Driving skills will still be impaired, even at .08 percent blood alcohol level and lower,” says Nesland.  “Alcohol and driving don’t mix and, ideally, the two activities should be kept isolated from each other.”

Neslund, who is also an associate in the health department of the Seventh-day Adventist Church worldwide, notes that in 1999 some 16,000 fatal traffic accidents in the United States were connected to alcohol. He says that as well contributing to the rising national road toll, alcohol is a social scourge that impacts millions of individuals and families around the world.

“The negative consequences of drinking alcohol, even ‘socially,’ are well-documented,” says Neslund.  “Alcohol contributes to domestic violence, causes fetal alcohol syndrome, and exacerbates a host of health problems.”

Neslund says that the Adventist Church will continue to promote an alcohol-free lifestyle through education, health programs and seminars, and publications.