PHOTO: The American Beverage Institute warns that casual drinking at a ski resort, like Park City, could end your vacation with an arrest. (photo via Flickr/Travis Wise)The American Beverage Institute (ABI), a Washington D.C.-based lobby group is taking aim at Utah’s billion-dollar tourism industry in order to pressure state officials into rethinking new restrictions on alcohol consumption.The Utah legislature recently lowered the legal blood alcohol concentration (BAC) limit for drivers to .05 percent. The ABI has responded with a series of newspaper ads warning Idaho travelers to rethink their vacation plans to Utah. The ads, headlined: “Utah: Come for vacation, leave on probation” note that the lowered arrest threshold could mean jail time for sober people. The ads’ tagline: “Time for Idahoans to rethink their vacation plans!”American Beverage Institute ramps up pressure on @GovHerbert to veto .05 DUI bill. This ad is running in newspapers tomorrow... #utpolpic.twitter.com/1GeWmblErB— Ben Winslow (@BenWinslow) March 22, 2017In late March, Utah lowered the legal limit blood alcohol concentration (BAC) limit for drivers to .05 percent, becoming the state with the lowest limit in the country. The new law follows a controversial 2013 National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) study, which found more than 1.4 million Americans are arrested every year for driving while impaired. That report recommended legal BAC limits be lowered to .05 percent.MORE Destination & TourismNumerous groups, including the ABI and Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD), criticized the study, arguing that lowering the limit would take aim at “responsible” drinkers and not focus on the “real” problem: hardcore and repeat drivers.The ABI hopes the new ad campaign will stimulate enough of a hit to tourism so that Utah Governor Gary Herbert and the Utah legislature will be forced to repeal the new law. The ABI also ran similar ads in Salt Lake City to try to pressure lawmakers before they signed the measure into law.“While the law is no doubt well-intentioned, it is a mistake to lower the legal limit to .05,” said Sarah Longwell, ABI’s Managing Director. “At this level, a 120-pound woman could be subjected to arrest, $10,000 in fines, hiked insurance rates, and the stigma of being labeled a drunk driver after having little more than a single drink. It’s no wonder vacationers from neighboring states—such as Idaho—would think twice about staying at a ski resort in Utah with such a law in place. One drink after hitting the slopes and you could be looking at jail time.”READ MORE: Utah's 'Mighty Five' Road Trip AdventureThe ABI also cites data that indicates only one percent of traffic fatalities involve a driver with a BAC between .05 and .08 as well as a study that says drivers are more impaired by talking on a hands-free cellphone than they are at the .08 threshold.“What’s most disappointing is the Utah legislature is missing an important opportunity to target the hardcore drunk drivers who cause the vast majority of traffic fatalities,” said Longwell. “Most fatalities related to alcohol occur at levels more than 3 times Utah’s new arrest level. While focusing on attacking responsible consumers—not to mention vacationers—they ignore the dangerous alcohol-abusing fringe.”In a separate article, Longwell calls the new law an “assault on women,” who will be disproportionately affected because they will hit the limit more quickly than men.In an interview with Fox 13 Salt Lake City, a spokesman for Governor Herbert’s office suggests the ABI campaign was developed by “interests” who are envious over Utah’s successful tourism marketing efforts.READ MORE: One-of-a-Kind Burgers You Can Only Find in Salt Lake City"It is not surprising that on a day when Utah is front and center in national media for having the recipe for economic success that interests in local states, envious of our record for economic development and quality of life, would try to misrepresent our evidence-based efforts to improve public safety," said Paul Edwards, the communications director for Governor Herbert.Last week several media outlets reported that tourism to Utah’s National Parks had generated $1.6 billion in revenue for the state.Follow @MonicaPoling