Alcohol Enters the Body    

Obviously, the most common method for alcohol to be introduced into the body and cause problems with DUI DWI arrests is by drinking an alcoholic beverage.  However, alcohol can also be inhaled, injected and inserted.  Ethyl alcohol fumes, when taken into the lungs, will be readily absorbed by lung tissue and pass into the bloodstream.  Ethanol could also be injected into the body, after which it would be absorbed into the bloodstream and travel to the brain.  Lastly, alcohol could be inserted in to the body as an enema and pass very quickly through the large intestine into the blood.  Insertion of alcohol in this manner is extremely dangerous and should never be attempted, because absorption occurs very quickly causing rapid increases in blood alcohol concentrations without the ability to monitor alcohol intake.  Essentially, you can absorb a lethal dose before you realize what you have done. 

 
Alcohol Enters the Blood Stream

When alcoholic beverages are consumed, the alcohol (ethanol) flows through the esophagus and into the stomach.  A small percentage of alcohol will be absorbed into the bloodstream through the stomach walls, but most absorption of alcohol into the bloodstream occurs once the alcohol has passed through the stomach and into the small intestine.  Once the alcohol has made it to the small intestine, it is quickly absorbed into the bloodstream and distributed throughout the body.  Alcohol reaches the brain via the bloodstream, where it causes the impairment wihch is the basis of DUI DWI laws.  Impairment increases as the amount of alcohol in the blood - and the brain - increases.