Problem drinkers could face daily alcohol tests to cut crime

Published: 27 October, 2010

A hard-hitting American project, which forces problem drinkers to undertake twice daily breath tests with the aim of cutting alcohol-related crime, is to be trialled in the UK.

The "24/7 Sobriety" programme used in South Dakota requires people who have been convicted of crimes when drunk to take and pay for twice-daily breath tests to prove they are sober, or face jail.

Deputy Mayor of London Kit Malthouse told BBC's Today programme that South Dakota has seen its prison population drop 14% as a result.

He told the Radio 4 programme that he would like to pilot the scheme in the capital in the New Year, subject to government approval.

He said London has a "desperate problem" with alcohol, adding that 50% of crime is alcohol-related.

"The advantage of this is it is not just punitive but corrective," he said.

Malthouse said the American version of the scheme had a 99% compliance rate and that it was "of no cost to the tax payer", because participants paid one dollar per test.

Don Shenker, who runs Alcohol Concern, told Radio 4 he was not convinced about the long-term benefits of the scheme. "Being compulsorily sober is one thing, but what about when that compulsion ends? Do people then actually change their drinking behaviour?"
Instead he called for more alcohol eductaion programmes.

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