# how long does alcohol stay in ones' sytem?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-alcohol-stay-in-ones-sytem/240995>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 20, 2004, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-alcohol-stay-in-ones-sytem/240995 "2004-04-20T08:11:05Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![oriegirl44](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f14d63/32.png) [@oriegirl44](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oriegirl44)\
**Post date:** [April 20, 2004, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-alcohol-stay-in-ones-sytem/240995/1 "2004-04-20T08:11:05Z")

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just wondering…

how long does alcohol stay in one’s system?  
how long do the effects of alcohol last?

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**Author:** ![knight\_killer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b487fb/32.png) [@knight\_killer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/knight_killer)\
**Post date:** [April 20, 2004, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-alcohol-stay-in-ones-sytem/240995/2 "2004-04-20T11:28:17Z")

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From [Here](http://www.intox.com/physiology.asp).

For the average person about 1 hour to eliminate 0.5oz(15ml) of pure alcohol. Of course you’ll find some variations from person to person.

If you’re are too intoxicated to use a calculator a nice rule of thumb is 1 beer (or equivalent) per 1.5 hour.

Cheers

Mikael

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**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\
**Post date:** [April 20, 2004, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-alcohol-stay-in-ones-sytem/240995/3 "2004-04-20T13:13:59Z")

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The time it takes to eliminate it from your system grows the longer you drink. For instance, it takes 1.5 hours to metabolize an ounce of alcohol in the beginning of the evening, but as the evening progresses, it takes 2, 3, 4 hours for it to clear from your system. If you go on a gigantic bender and drink for 12-18 hours, you may still have some alcohol in your system a couple days later.

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**Author:** ![fezpp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@fezpp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fezpp)\
**Post date:** [April 20, 2004, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-alcohol-stay-in-ones-sytem/240995/4 "2004-04-20T13:31:00Z")

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The spreadsheet on [this](http://www.curriculumsupport.nsw.edu.au/learningtechnologies/resources/examples/excel/alcohol.htm) page has an example of how drinks affect the amount of alcohol in your blood. Makes quite interesting reading if you put an average Friday/Saturday night in!