Drunkenness or inebriation is the state of being intoxicated by consumption of alcoholic beverages to a degree that mental and physical faculties are noticeably impaired and/or skewed. Severe drunkenness may lead to acute alcohol intoxication. Common symptoms may include slurred speech, impaired balance, poor coordination, flushed face, reddened eyes, reduced inhibition and uncharacteristic behavior. Drunkenness can result in temporary experience of a wide range of emotions, ranging from anger, sadness, and depression to euphoria, lightheartedness, joviality, and sexual disinhibition. Consuming excessive amounts of alcohol may lead to a hangover the next day.

Law

Laws on drunkenness vary between countries. In the United States, for example, it is commonly a criminal offense for an individual to be intoxicated while driving a motorized vehicle Fact: date=March 2009. This degree of intoxication is considerably higher than the standard for driving under the influence ("drunk driving") of alcohol or drugs, which commonly requires intoxication to the degree that mental and physical faculties are impaired.

The blood alcohol content (BAC) for legally operating a vehicle may range from a low of 0.5 mg/ml in countries such as Australia, Armenia, Hungary and Romania to 0.02 mg/ml in Sweden to 0.9 mg/ml in France and Portugal to 1.5 mg/ml in Canada, New Zealand, Republic of Ireland, and the United States.

Additionally, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration prohibits crewmembers from performing their duties with a BAC greater than 0.04%, within 8 hours of consuming an alcoholic beverage or while under the influence of alcohol.

Minesites in Australia enforce a 0.0% BAC while on shift, thus regularly conduct alcohol tests across all personnel, colloquially known as "blowing in the bag".

In the UK and US, police can arrest those deemed too intoxicated in a public place for public intoxication, "drunk and disorderly" or even "drunk and incapable". There are often legal restrictions relating to increase sales of alcohol to intoxicated persons.

Religious views

Many religious groups permit the consumption of alcohol but prohibit intoxication. Some prohibit alcohol consumption altogether. In the Qur'an, there is a prohibition on the consumption of grape-based alcoholic beverages, and intoxication is considered as an abomination in the Qur'an and Hadith. Islamic schools of law (Madh'hab) have interpreted this as a strict prohibition of the consumption of all types of alcohol and declared it to be haraam ("forbidden"), although other uses may be permitted.

Many Protestant Christian denominations prohibit drunkenness due to the Biblical passages condemning it (for instance, Proverbs 23:21, Isaiah 28:1, Habakkuk 2:15) but many allow moderate use of alcohol (see Christianity and alcohol). Proverbs 31:4–7 states a prophecy of King Lemuel,