Woman Drinks Hand Sanitizer, Gets Busted For Drunk Driving

Woman drinks hand wash and is arrested for drunk driving

When you’re an alcoholic, it doesn’t always matter what you drink as long as it makes you feel intoxicated. Such was the case of 36-year-old American, Jennifer Amanda Wilcox, who was pulled over by Connecticut police while driving in an erratic manner.

She was found to be several times over the legal limit, and it was then Wilcox told police she had drunk hand wash.

Hand sanitizer, also known as hand wash, has been popular with some US teens as a substitute for alcohol for several years, reports NBC. Unlike alcohol, it can be bought at most supermarkets, with the purchaser not needing an ID to prove they are over the legal age. This is one of the first times an adult has been arrested for drinking it.

When Jennifer Amanda Wilcox was stopped by police she was breathalyzed, as one police officer thought alcohol maybe the cause of her bad driving. When she was discovered to be legally ‘drunk’, she admitted she had drunk more than half a bottle of hand wash before she got in her car.

Wilcox was then charged with driving under the influence and will soon be appearing before a judge.

In an interview with News 8 Wilcox admitted to drinking hand sanitizer.

“That was the first time I have ever done it and that will be the last time,” Wilcox said.

The Daily Mail reports, doctors warn that consuming so much alcohol through hand sanitizer can lead to severe health problems.

“They are not really breathing properly,” said Dr Danyal Ibrahim, St Francis Hospital.

“They are intoxicated and they are unconscious, and they might vomit and some of that vomit ends up in their lungs and they become really sick.”

Dr Ibrahim told News 8 drinking hand sanitizer is on the rise nationally.
He said the anti-bacterial has a higher percentage of alcohol than any liquor you can buy over the counter.

“It’s the same alcohol in beer, in wine and Jack Daniels, however, it is more concentrated,’ Dr Ibrahim said.