Is voluntary intoxication a defense to a crime?

Prior to 1994, it had been long-settled in California that ordinarily voluntary intoxication was not a defense to a crime. However, " 'when insanity is the result of long continued intoxication, it affects responsibility in the same way as insanity which has been produced by any other cause.' " (People v. Kelly (1973) 10 Cal.3d 565, 575.) "In other words, your friendly local lush cannot get sloshed, commit a horrendous crime and slip into a state hospital free from criminal sanctions. If an alcoholic wants to use his problem as an escape hatch, he must drink enough to develop a mental disorder that

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