A SOBERING BLOW

Random Tests Keep Offenders Substance-Free

"The colors for today are aqua, silver, yellow, lavender and sage. The letter
for today is D, like dog," the automated voice told hundreds of callers.

Instead of yelling "Bingo!," the callers either breathed a sigh of relief or
resigned themselves to the fact that the day's designated colors and letter
meant they had to again prove that they were free of alcohol and drugs.

The routine is repeated every day by thousands of Michigan residents convicted
of an alcohol- or drug-related crime. And it's not limited to the young and
misguided: The well-heeled and powerful must submit as well.

"I call every day to see if my letter is up," said Oakland County Executive L.
Brooks Patterson. "I'm just hoping to get through this and put it behind me."

As part of his agreement to plead no contest in July to reckless driving,
Patterson had to undergo daily Breathalyzer tests for 30 days. Through the end
of the year, he is required to submit to random alcohol testing -- blowing into
a machine that registers alcohol traces -- at least once a week.

Patterson has been staying on the straight and narrow since his driving mishap
on June 2, when he was stopped after a motorist reported him driving
erratically. Two Oakland County Sheriff's deputies drove Patterson home rather
than test him for alcohol use. He was later charged with reckless driving.

He's successfully completing his Breathalyzer tests and continues with alcohol
counseling, said Waterford Township Prosecutor Walt Bedell.

He has good reason to abide by the rules. If Patterson completes his sentence
without incident, the charge will be reduced to careless driving, which carries
no jail time and a maximum fine of $135.

Thousands of people in Michigan are hoping that the random drug and alcohol
tests will provide the motivation they need to stay clean.

In Michigan during 2002, 55,273 people were sentenced on some sort of drunken
driving charge, according to Michigan State Police. While judges aren't
required to include drug or alcohol testing in their sentences, many do for
driving and other substance abuse-related offenses, said probation officials.

"This is going to make me a lot more cautious," said Georgia Allen, an
18-year-old from Brandon Township, who was waiting recently to take her first
Breathalyzer test and provide a urine sample for drug testing.

Southern Comfort was the weapon of choice for Allen when police arrived at a
Clarkston party in August to break up a fight. They smelled alcohol on her
breath and ticketed her for being a minor in possession, a misdemeanor that
carries a fine of $100 upon conviction.

Allen is convinced that she could face much more serious consequences if she
doesn't shape up. And the guilt gnaws at her. Since she doesn't have a driver's
license, her mother, Virginia Allen, has to drive her to Waterford for testing.
Because Georgia has no job, her mother also picks up the $11 cost for each
test.

But Virginia Allen has resigned herself to the weekly drives to the testing
center at the Oakland County Community Corrections Center in Waterford. She did
it once before, when her son was ticketed for being a minor in possession two
years ago.

"This is very upsetting because I've already been through it before," she said.

Once Georgia Allen is sentenced, she'll join the roughly 600 people who call
Oakland County's Step Forward program every day to see whether it's their day
to get tested. The letters assigned are for Breathalyzer tests; colors are for
drug tests.

She'll most likely get assigned to one of the program's vast array of therapy
groups, which range from substance abuse counseling to anger management.

"Recidivism rates are really difficult to determine," said Barbara Hankey,
manager of the Community Corrections Department. "But while people are in the
program, we have very little recidivism."

Some programs are more successful than others. In Washtenaw County, an
electronic monitoring system administers daily Breathalyzer tests to 177
people. The Breathalyzer machines are placed on the individuals' phones, and
the results are transmitted over the phone lines to House Arrest, the
Eastpointe company that monitors the machines.

The Jail Alternatives for Michigan Service, based in Farmington Hills, does
random drug and alcohol testing for nearly 2,000 people sentenced by Wayne,
Oakland and Macomb county courts.

"There are those who are truly working at their sobriety," said Michelle
Foster, general manager for JAMS. "But there still are some people who are
determined to beat the system."

New technologies might be just the way to catch cheaters, who sometimes go to
extraordinary measures to pass their drug or alcohol tests.

"We" confiscated "another Whizzinator today," said Karen Peterson, supervisor
of the Step Forward program.

The device consists of a fake, strap-on penis that is loaded with clean urine
and looks authentic. It is sometimes used by people who must be watched while
they provide a urine sample.

Step Forward will be a pilot venue for a saliva test that could nearly do away
with urine samples.

"And there's a transdermal testing patch for alcohol that is incorporated into
some tethers," said Hankey. "It's testing you all day long and transmitting the
information back to the monitors."

But those are expensive for users, who have to pay for the testing and tethers
- -- between $80 and $100 a week.

Even the traditional testing methods are a burden for some people.

"It means $20 a week for me," said Brian Fekete, 26, of Waterford, who has to
be tested twice a week after pleading guilty last month to possession of
marijuana. "I did the crime, so I have to live with it. And I'm looking for
some motivation to grow up."