Dep't Of Glug-Glug-Glug!

For many yrs. we had an item we'd clipped from the L.A. Times recounting the alcohol poisoning death of a 13- or 14-yr. old human male who had consumed a fifth of something followed by a fifth of something else, both (we'll assume) in a short time frame. No recollection of the teen-ager's BAC (if it was given) but we just discovered a state title-holder & possibly the national title-holder. Do bear in mind that these are drivers, not sensible people tippling at home. The real champ is probably yet to be found.

South Dakota authorities say a woman found passed out in a stolen vehicle may have set a state record with a blood alcohol content of .708, or almost nine times the legal limit.

[...]

The authorities say troopers found the woman, Marguerite Engle, 45, passed out beside a highway Dec. 1 in a van that had been reported stolen.

She missed her court appearance Dec. 15 but was found Monday sitting in another stolen vehicle in a ditch beside another highway near Fort Meade after another apparent round of drinks.

Should we be keeping women in their forties off the roads, at least in rural areas?

[T]hen-42-year-old Terri Comer [...] was arrested in 2007 in Klamath County in Oregon with a blood alcohol content of .720. Click here for more on that case. The documents show that Comer was found unconscious in her car by sheriff's deputies who said the vehicle was in a snow bank and still running. They had to break a car window to free her.

Context:

Meade County State's Attorney Jesse Sondreal says his research indicates that a level of .40 is considered lethal for about half the population, the Rapid City Journal reports.

Sondreal says the state's legal limit is .08 and that state chemists cannot recall registering a blood alcohol content above .56, WKOW-TV of Rapid City reports.