Drunken Driving and Problem Drinkers - Punishing the Offense and Treating the Affliction

• NCJ Number: 101358
• Author(s): F Lowery
• Date Published: 1985
• Length: 7 pages
• Corporate Author: Minnesota Dept of Public Safety
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Legislation/Policy Description
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

With the growth in awareness between 1950 and the present of the nature and extent of the drunk driving problem, many States have focused on combining law enforcement and treatment approaches.

Abstract

Minnesota has been an innovator in this respect. In 1976, the State enacted legislation requiring courts to conduct alcohol-problem assessments in driving-while-intoxicated (DWI) cases. Additional legislative initiatives have focused on combining an effective body of drunk driving control law with a public policy of treatment for chemical dependency. This combined punishment-rehabilitation approach resulted in 40,000 DWI arrests in 1984 and made DWI arrest the single biggest entry point into alcoholism treatment in the State. To make continued progress in controlling drunk driving, future efforts must focus on improving alcohol-problem assessment, continued monitoring of the effectiveness of both the DWI-control and the treatment programs, improving control over driver licensing and revocation and suspension, and increasing understanding about the characteristics of drunk drivers.