Sobriety sensor: Is “Scram” the perfect plan for recovery or just a scam?
Monitoring consumption: By strapping this Scram device on someone's leg, officials can monitor the alcohol intake of offenders. Is this a good idea?
Courtesy Alcohol Monitoring SystemsThere’s a new tool for justice officials to use in dealing chronic alcohol abuser: the Scram. Scram stands for Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitor.
It was recently featured in a medical column in the New York Times. Judges hoping to put some more death in the sentence for those involved with alcohol-related crimes order the convicted to wear a Scram on their leg for a prescribed amount of time along with a program of recovery treatment. The Scram senses the body’s intake of any alcohol by measuring air and perspiration emissions from the skin each hour. At least once every 24 hours, the wearer must download data the Scram has collected to a modem that reports the wear’s alcohol levels to a monitoring agency or probation officer. Should Scram show a level of alcohol use, which the sensors can gauge to within a blood-alcohol level of 0.02, authorities will follow up with the offender to see what happened.
In the time that the Scram has been used, authorities report that there’s been a high compliance rate among people not drinking. But occasionally there are misreads or misreports.
Consuming some types of baked goods, such as raisin bread or sourdough English muffins, have triggered Scrams to report alcohol use by an offender. And being an electronics-based device, malfunctions can occur.
On user of the device included in the Times story had two consecutive days of his Scram reporting alcohol use several months into wearing the device. A wary probation officer gave him the benefit of the doubt when he strongly denied any drinking, and further review found that a build up of sweat and grime under the Scram was causing the false alarms.
So what do you think? Is this a good use of technology to help people get over alcohol misuse? Proponents of Scram say that it helps enforce sobriety while the offender has time to learn and work a program of recovery. But is this an infringement of a person’s right to privacy? Does an alcohol offender give up some of his/her rights to privacy? How long should someone sentenced to wear a Scram have to wear the device? Are there better ways for dealing with this? Share your ideas here with other Science Buzz readers.
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Man people just be player hatin. We already got a pee test ain't that enough
SCRAM may be a good device to screen for alcohol use. Unfortunately, the legal system is using this device as the judge and jury to determine IF a person has actually been drinking.
A friend of mine recently had a false positive experience. He tested "positive" for drinking when he was at work. He was not notified of this event until 48 hours had lapsed, thus preventing him from seeking alternative testing such as a urine or blood test. The legal system refused to give him a polygraph, but did lock him in jail for 14 days. He is now out awaiting a hearing, but the system has strongly suggested that if he loses the hearing he will be incarcerated for an extended period of time. The maker of the SCRAM, AMS, will be bringing their top researchers to the hearing. Unfortunately, "experts" on the SCRAM are limited, and would cost my friend upwards of $10,000 for just one expert...a cost he cannot incur.
AMS is not accurately or fully disclosing the appropriate uses of this device. This should not be used as a judge and jury...yet our esteemed legal system has decided that unscientifically proven devices can and will be used to determine a person's future.
I recently had to start wearing the scram device for 8 months. After the 1st week I tested positive for alcohol. I know for a fact I did not drink.I was not notified until two weeks later therefore making an 80 hr piss test no good. No one told me that propylene glycol could register. Now I am facing god knows how long not to mention I stay on egg shells everyday.
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