I see from the news that the county is on alert for drinking drivers. I applaud that, but there is a piece missing. After the arrest and court appearance, the offender is usually required to get an evaluation to determine what type of education or treatment is needed.
Here’s the problem: Often, the offender is steered to a treatment center that will give the least restrictive, and not necessarily the most accurate, evaluation. At several treatment centers, the whole evaluation is based on the offender’s opinion of his or her alcohol or drug problem. There is no urinalysis done to see if their self-report is accurate. No background history is required as to past legal problems other than the offender’s driving record.
There is a lot of evaluation shopping going on until the offender gets the results they want. I was in the chemical dependency field for 22 years and have seen this happen time and again. I have had pressure from attorneys to diagnose the offender with insufficient evidence of substance abuse or dependence, which would require the offender to attend an 8-hour Alcohol and Other Drug Information School. Several years ago, when I started to give urine tests at the time of the assessment, my referrals dropped by half.
For the last three years, there has been a bill presented in the Legislature that would require more thorough assessments to include testing and collecting background information. The bill has been defeated every time. These practices have been proposed to the Department of Alcohol and Substance Abuse (the regulatory office for treatment centers) but no changes have been made.
So keep arresting the DUI drivers and the powers that be will get them back on the streets …
Am I missing something?
NELS KJELLIN
Mountlake Terrace
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