DRUG TESTS GET TECHNICAL

Device studies eye movement, reduces urinalysis

The days of drug tests involving a bathroom, a little plastic cup and
a staff person watching every move are over for most people ordered to
undergo testing for substance use at Larimer County Community
Corrections.

Initiated last week, a new computerized machine tests for drug and
alcohol use by measuring involuntary eye movement. It is replacing
traditional urinalysis testing at the facility -- at least for those
clients who remain clean.

Embodied in a machine called PassPoint, the 4-year-old technology
stands to reduce the number of urine samples taken by Community
Corrections clients by 80 percent, said director Joe Ferrando.

Each week, the facility collects about 140 urine samples from clients
who live in the county halfway house and 280 urine samples from others
who were ordered by the courts to undergo drug and alcohol testing.
With PassPoint at their fingertips, employees say they will be able to
reduce costs, take on more clients and test more frequently.

Clients who test positive will still be subject to a urine test to
confirm and identify substance use.

But with PassPoint up and running, clients at the halfway house and
day-reporting facility, 2255 Midpoint Drive, who pass the test are
spared a urinalysis.

"It sure beats going to the bathroom," said Michael Schmitz, general
manager with Drug Impairment Detection Services, which is leasing the
PassPoint machine to Community Corrections for $3,500 a month under a
one-year contract.

The machine, which looks like a cross between an ATM and something you
would find at the eye doctor, uses a series of cameras, computers and
other technology to test for substance use via the eye.

The concept is similar to what law enforcement officers look for when
they shine a flashlight in the face of a person suspected of drinking
and driving.

The three-part test takes 30 seconds. After punching in an
identification code, users look into the machine with their right eye
and watch a series of lights.

During phase one, a light in the middle goes out as a light to the
side goes on. As users follow the light with their eyes, the machine
measures the eye's velocity from side to side.

Phase two is a resting period, followed by phase three, when five
green lights flash brightly all at once. This phase measures the size
of the pupil before and after the flash and tests how long it takes
the pupil to contract.

Results are compared with a baseline measurement. Reactions can be
accelerated or slowed down if a person is using or has used drugs or
alcohol.

"The test involves four different involuntary pupil reflexes," Schmitz
said.

"It measures the current impairment and the hangover," he said, noting
that PassPoint is used in 11 states and by federal probation officers.

Because it relies on a baseline measurement and is still fairly bulky,
the technology is unlikely to replace any time soon roadside
breathalyzer tests that look for drunken drivers.

Results from the new tests are calculated instantly, and a report is
logged in the adjacent computer as the machine prints the results.

If the test comes out positive, a urinalysis follows to confirm the
results and determine what substance is impairing the user's reflexes,
Schmitz said. But if it's negative, the user is saved the hassle of
the little plastic cup.

"I like it a lot better," said Community Corrections resident Ken
Mjelde, 22, as he stepped away from the machine after testing for his
baseline measurements. "It's a lot less embarrassing."

Mjelde is one of 160 halfway-house residents who began using PassPoint
this week. Within the next few months, upward of 1,000 clients
required to be tested at Community Corrections as part of their
probation, parole or other programs are expected to use the PassPoint
machine, which can perform 44 tests per hour, said Art Barker, a
correctional services specialist.

PassPoint's accuracy and efficiency has Community Corrections staff
every bit as excited as the clients who will be saved the indignity of
dropping their pants.

Of 1,354 screenings indicating impairment, follow-up urinalysis
confirmed drug or alcohol use in all but 12 cases, according to data
compiled during multiple PassPoint installations nationwide from July
2000 to July 2002.

In addition to being accurate, PassPoint will screen for all drugs,
not just the five major drugs tested by a standard urinalysis. In
Larimer County, a standard urinalysis tests for methamphetamine,
cocaine, barbiturates, opiates and marijuana.

Barker said the test will screen for inhalants and psychedelic
mushrooms, which people have learned aren't usually picked up by urinalysis.

"This will catch all kinds of things you won't catch in a
(urinalysis)," Schmitz said.

And while urine tests for those drugs are more costly than standard
urinalysis -- about $39 compared with $15, the infrequency of urine
testing will allow Community Corrections to perform specialized tests
and still save money.

Using PassPoint will cost Community Corrections $42,000 this year --
less than half the $102,000 the program estimated it would have spent
on urinalysis.

Eliminating the need for same-sex employees to monitor urine testing
also will reduce cost.

While each urinalysis incurs a cost to Community Corrections, which is
then passed on to clients as a per-test fee or as part of the cost
they pay to stay at the halfway house, the only cost incurred by the
PassPoint system is the monthly rental fee.

"There's no per-test cost for use," Barker said, noting the technology
will result in considerable savings for Community Corrections. Clients
will still be charged for their screenings, but they also stand to
save money with PassPoint, as the $15 fee they pay for urinalysis will
be reduced to less than $10 for the new substance screening. The exact
charge for clients has not yet been determined, Ferrando said.

Immediate results also are a bonus, Ferrando said.

"The behavior can be addressed immediately," Ferrando said. "It keeps
them in compliance with court orders."

In addition to the printout, PassPoint also can be programmed to send
an immediate e-mails to case workers, judges or others involved in
monitoring and responding to a client's behavior.

David Bennett, a criminal justice consultant who has been working with
Larimer County and the 8th Judicial District, said immediate results
are critical to changing behavior. If there is a delay between an
action and consequences, punishment is not as effective because the
person does not make a strong connection between the punishment and
the behavior, Bennett said.

"It ensures safety for the community," Barker said, noting he feels
better knowing the people he lets out into the community are
substance-free.

Ingrid Schroeder, also a correctional services specialist, hopes the
immediacy and thoroughness of PassPoint's testing will serve as a
deterrent for the clients.

"Hopefully our (drug and alcohol use) rates will go down," she
said.

Right now, 3 percent of people living at the halfway house test
positive for drug use and 10 to 15 percent of walk-in clients are
found to be using, according to urinalyses.