Women and Alcohol Women are often more prone to the negative effects of alcohol than men are. So if a woman drinks the same amount as a man, her blood alcohol concentration will be higher and she will likely become more intoxicated. Even at the same weight as a man, a woman metabolizes alcohol slower and therefore is affected more by the same amount of alcohol. This is because men have more of a special stomach acid that breaks down alcohol than women have. Also women's body's contain less water than men's bodies, and this means alcohol is diluted less in a woman's body, so she is affected more by it.
Many women have greater sensitivity to alcohol just before their menstrual periods.
Women who take birth control pills take longer to metabolize alcohol, so they may feel the effects of drinking longer. Women who drink while they are pregnant risk damage to the fetus. In other words, if you are pregnant, drinking any amount can be harmful. During that same period, there were 3,084 people injured and 112 people killed in alcohol-related motor vehicle collisions in Alberta. The legal limit for operating a motor vehicle in Alberta is a blood alcohol concentration of .08.