This is because women have less muscle tissue which contains the body fluid that dilutes alcohol and because women's bodies more quickly process alcohol through the stomach and into the bloodstream. Research has shown that women lack a stomach enzyme, alcohol dehydrogenase, which usually acts as a protective barrier and acts to break down the alcohol before it is absorbed. Without this enzyme, alcohol enters women's bloodstreams in a higher concentration. Alcoholic women have virtually none of this enzyme.
Women are less able to predict the effects of consuming a given amount of alcohol.
Greater susceptibility to alcohol's influence occurs just before menstruation. The less a woman weighs, the longer it takes her body to be clear of alcohol. The presence of birth control pills has also been shown to slow metabolism of alcohol. Serious health problems can occur in women after a shorter history of heavy drinking with lower levels of alcohol intake than men. The police just have to register alcohol.