I've been on the EMS side of this. One that really gets people in trouble (and often the arresting officer) is when a diabetic goes into diabetic ketoacidosis or "DKA". When the person becomes that acidotic their blood is toxic and the begin to lose neurological functionality and display nystagmus, aphasia and ataxia. On top of that their body goes into a kind of fail safe and they start trying to pee out the ketones and breathe them off producing a sign called "acetone breath" which is often described as a "juicy fruit smell". But it always came across to me (and most I know) as smelling like alcohol use...a lot of it. Some breathalyzers have been known to show a hit on alcohol when the subject was in fact in DKA. Unfortunately some officers don't find this out until their prisoner dies in the cruiser or in jail that night.KeithB wrote:The officer called me about 45 minutes later and told me she was actually diabetic and was having an episode due to her blood sugar levels. She also wanted him to thank me for calling in as she knew she was having issues but couldn't even think straight enough to stop driving and call for assistance.
It's REAL EASY for me, a non-drinker, to say don't drink at all when carrying but that is neither the law nor a moral standard. I remember many, many summers in the backwoods of Kentucky out at the family cabin, we'd carry and shoot everything we had including muzzle loaders and 1/4 scale cannons. There was some beer but no one got the least bit "impaired", but at night when the 2-4 beer night caps came out, the weapons were put away. There was discretion, maturity and due diligence. All that said, I still think it "wise" to refrain while carrying...especially away from home. But again, that is REAL EASY for me to say.