Excuse: Intoxication

The importance of intoxication as a criminal defense can be easily exaggerated. In many cases the defense is legally barred, where available it is often rejected on factual grounds by the decision maker, and even when successful it normally serves to reduce the level of conviction rather than excuse entirely. Yet intoxication remains of great interest to the student of criminal law, for intoxication arguments raise the full range of responsibility issues, from criminal intent to problems with rationality and self-control.