Most of the time, it is not a good thing if you are taking a breathalyzer test. Police use breathalyzers to effectively apprehend drunk drivers. The device measures the amount of alcohol in the blood by detecting the remnant alcohol vapor in your lungs from drinking. Law enforcement has employed the services of the breathalyzer for over 30 years, and the use is never going to stop. It has proven itself the number one tool for curbing drunk driving offenses. Now that they are commercially available, people can test to see if they are unsafe to drive before they even start their vehicles.
It is unfortunate that the purpose I see most portable breathalyzers being used for is closer to drinking games than safety purposes. Most people use them to see who can achieve the highest BAC, a potentially lethal endeavor that can quickly end with a bill for having your stomach pumped. Stomach pumping is not cheap. I can assure you of that.
Breathalyzers are here to stop us from hurting ourselves with the poison we’ve been consuming for several thousand years. Sadly, we misuse the ones we are given. I am sure some people have found them to be an aid to their personal responsibility, or if anything, gained a much better understanding for how alcohol affects their body.
We should encourage people to do things other than drinking for entertainment. It seems like the focus of an evening out for many people is drinking as opposed to socializing or meeting new people. That is a trend that seriously worries me.