Once in awhile there is a breakthrough – an invention that makes a big difference in the lives of people. Pacemakers were one. Dialysis is another. Going back further into history, good eyeglasses made an amazing impact on peoples’ lives. Before that, people were just referred to as having “weak eyes.” It was a real handicap. There wasn’t much that people could do about it.
And now there’s an invention that can actually help a person to stop drinking alcohol. It’s not quite like “the patch” which helps some people to stop smoking and doesn’t work for others. It’s an anklet which has a device inside of it that tests a person’s sweat every 30 minutes to see if there is any alcoholic content present. Knowing that “someone is going to see me” gives the alcoholic the outer discipline to stay sober rather than risk it. The hope is that this will help him to get used to being sober, keeping a job, and not hanging out in bars all the time.
Joshua Hagins of Twin Falls is one of the success stories. After being arrested for reckless driving at 90 mph with three times the legal limit of alcohol in him, this 33-year-old decided that he was ready to straighten up. He now lives at Victory House recover center and he wears the alcohol-monitoring anklet known as SCRAMx.
While on the program, they are not allowed to go to bars or liquor stores either, although they can eat in restaurants that serve liquor.
This wasn’t the first offense for Hagins. He comments, "If they would have put me on this after my first (DUI in 2009), this would have helped me quit drinking and I wouldn't have gotten my other one."
Officials say that it doesn’t work for everyone. But for some people, it really does make a difference in helping them to learn to exercise self-control.
Victory House also helps them to prepare for and get jobs. In Hagins’ case, he is learning the tools to go into a faith-based ministry so that he can help other people who had similar problems. "I'm going to help other people with the problems I've had with alcohol," he said. "I have experience in it, and I know what it does and what it causes. It causes hurt and pain to people, your family and loved ones."
