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DrugScreening.org


 
SCRAM Bracelets Monitor Alcohol Use
November 2, 2006

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News Summary

DuPage County, Ill., is the latest community to use alcohol-detecting ankle bracelets to monitor offenders prohibited from drinking, the Chicago Tribune reported Oct. 31.

The Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitoring (SCRAM) bracelet works by sampling the wearer's perspiration for ethanol vapor. Data from the device is transmitted 24 hours a day to law-enforcement officials via the Internet.

If DuPage adopts the device, Illinois will become the 39th state where SCRAM bracelets are in use. DuPage County State's Attorney Joe Birkett said the cost of the bracelet would be comparable to the county's home-monitoring program and would keep low-level alcohol offenders out of jail.

"If we can curb behavior without locking people up, we should explore that," Birkett said. 

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