Frequent Monitoring May Keep Alcohol Offenders Sober
A South Dakotaprogram that requires people involved in alcohol-linked crimes
to stay away from booze and be closely monitored for
drinking appears to reduce deaths, a new study finds.
Offenders in the program must undergo breathalyzer tests
twice a day or wear bracelets that continuously check for
alcohol. Those who skip or fail the tests are immediately jailed
for a short time, typically a day or two, the study authors
said.
The 24/7 Sobriety Program was launched as a pilot program
in 2005 and was associated with a 4 percent drop in
deaths at the county level. The largest reductions occurred
among causes of death linked with excessive drinking, such as
circulatory conditions, according to RAND Corp. researchers.
"Our findings suggest that criminal justice interventions that
reduce heavy alcohol consumption may, in turn, influence
mortality," lead author and senior economist Nancy Nicosia
said in a news release from the nonprofit research
organization.
"Further work is needed to better understand how programs
like 24/7 Sobriety affect not only participants, but also those
who are not direct participants, such as their spouses,
partners or peers," she added.
The findings were published online Feb. 9 in The Lancet
Psychiatry.
Nearly 17,000 people -- about 3 percent of South Dakota's
adult population -- took part in the program between 2005
and 2011. Nearly half entered the program after a repeat
drunk driving offense, while others had first-time drunk
driving, assault or domestic violence offenses, the
researchers said.
In a previous RAND study, investigators found that the 24/7
programs reduced county-level repeat drunk driving arrests by
12 percent and domestic violence arrests by 9 percent. The
program is now being implemented in other parts of the
United States.
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