<Tr> <Td> <Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> </Td> </Tr> <Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> <P> In criminal law, the intoxication defense is a defense by which a defendant may claim diminished responsibility on the basis of substance intoxication . Where a crime requires a certain mental state (mens rea) to break the law, those under the influence of an intoxicating substance may be considered to have reduced liability for their actions . With regard to punishment, intoxication may be a mitigating factor that decreases a prison or jail sentence . Numerous factors affect the applicability of the defense . </P> <P> Societies have varied in their attitudes and cultural standards regarding public intoxication, historically based on the relationship between religion and drugs in general, and religion and alcohol in particular . In some instances, consumption of a mind - altering substance has formed the basis of religious or other socially approved ceremonies and festivals . In others, intoxication has been stigmatized as a sign of human weakness, of immorality, or as a sin . Secular approaches may also vary, having less inherent opposition to drugs but acknowledging that these may affect the inhibitions that help to keep socialized individuals from breaking prevailing social taboos which may or may not have been expressly criminalized . The attitude of a legal system to intoxicating substances can affect the applicability of intoxication as a defense under its laws: a system strongly opposed to a substance may even view intoxication as an aggravating factor rather than a mitigating one . </P>

When can voluntary intoxication be used as a defense