Title: Continuous Transdermal Alcohol Monitoring: A Primer for Criminal Justice Professionals
Abstract: This publication describes how almost all offenders that have been convicted of impaired driving are ordered, as part of their sentencing or probation, to abstain from consuming alcohol. Despite the many alcohol testing methods (e.g., breath, blood, urine) that are available to monitor compliance of this abstinence, compelling offenders to remain sober has been an elusive goal and very difficult to enforce. Existing breath, blood, and urine testing protocols are used infrequently and are not consistently used because of staffing, resource and cost implications. A national survey of 890 probation officers in 41 states has recently found that officers spend less than 10% of their time engaged in random testing. As such, the ability of officers to enforce this condition is limited, and, not surprisingly, offenders are able to engage in undetected drinking behavior. Alcohol testing has evolved over the past decade and this has given rise to a new generation of testing devices. The most promising commercially available technology to date is called Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitoring (SCRAM). This device uses trandermal alcohol monitoring and allows for continuous monitoring of offenders on a 24/7 basis for the duration of the abstinence period. The rapid proliferation of these devices has created a need within the criminal justice profession for information regarding the research on continuous trandermal alcohol testing and monitoring and this publication is trying to fill this need. It provides a comprehensive review of the existing research on transdermal testing, describes current technologies, and it identifies the various ways in which transdermal alcohol testing can enhance the supervision of substance abusing offenders, providing, accurate assessments of alcohol use and compliance with the court-ordered abstinence.
Publication Year: 2006
Publication Date: 2006-10-01
Language: en
Type: article
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Cited By Count: 14
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