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Alcohol Education Courses in Salisbury

If you have been charged with driving under the influence in Maryland, an alcohol education course may benefit you. Read on as a Salisbury DUI lawyer discusses alcohol education courses and their role in DUI cases. Call today to learn more about alcohol education courses.

Purpose of Alcohol Courses

These courses are typically for somebody who is classified as a social drinker and perhaps just did not realize how little alcohol can cause someone to be driving under the influence. Typically the course is a six-week or 12-week class and it may meet once or twice a week.

At the complete other end of that spectrum would be something such as an inpatient, alcohol-treatment program that requires an individual to reside in the facility during the course of the program. Some of those are for about a month, and then following the residential portion of the program there is an intensive transition program. Initially they would meet perhaps several times a week, and then become more infrequent, maybe once a month.

A course like that is for an intensive type of treatment program, either inpatient or outpatient, and would last more in the range of about 24 weeks.

Advantages of Taking Alcohol Education Course

The first advantage has absolutely nothing to do with court. It is that the individual can find out on their own if they are simply a social drinker who did not appreciate how little alcohol it takes to be under the influence.

On the other hand they may find out they actually have a problem with alcohol and are abusing it, and that they need assistance in stopping. The individual may in fact need to start living a lifestyle of complete abstinence from alcohol. The first advantage to the client is simply one of education, and maybe realizing that they have to make some very important lifestyle changes not just for court but for their health, safety, and future.

There can be a benefit in court if a client goes ahead and enrolls in some sort of education course, because the judge will accept that the individual had done so. The judge will anticipate the person has taken the initiative to put themselves into a program. It can be beneficial in court because some judges will shorten their typical period of probation if the client has completed the program or is very close to completion.

Some judges will give an unsupervised Probation Before Judgment if the client has already completed an alcohol program. So there are some very good advantages to a client taking the initiative and getting themselves into treatment.

Types of Alcohol Education Courses in Salisbury

The different types of alcohol education courses that are available in Salisbury vary from a six- or eight-week, alcohol-awareness program all the way up to an inpatient-alcohol treatment program. These programs are different because they treat different problems and issues with alcohol. That is why it is important to go to a facility with trained counselors who have received certification in providing this sort of service.

Since some individuals may simply need an alcohol-education program, sometimes this is referred as an alcohol-awareness program. And that is a shorter-term program for individuals classified as social drinkers who may not comprehend how little alcohol it takes to impact one’s judgment or coordination. At the other end of that spectrum is a person struggling with alcohol abuse. It may be recommended that they go into an inpatient program and reside in a facility until they can be out on their own. After that they would be in a fairly intensive program that would meet several times a week until they transition down into something that meets closer to once a week.

There are people and clients who are in complete denial about the severity of their addiction to alcohol, but are contacting an attorney for their third or fourth DUI. If somebody is at that point in their lives, they are going to need either inpatient treatment or very intensive outpatient treatment. There really is not going to be any substitute. It may take an evaluation like that and going into treatment for the client to really understand that they were struggling with an alcohol addiction. It got them in trouble previously and they are again in trouble for the same thing, potentially facing some very serious penalties.

How To Approach An Alcohol Education Course

They should approach it with a very open mind. It is quite possible that a person could walk into an evaluation for an alcohol class and be told that they need intensive outpatient treatment or perhaps even inpatient treatment. They may be in complete denial about the fact that they are addicted to alcohol and how dependent they have become on alcohol.

It is important for a person who is going in to get an evaluation to be very candid with the evaluator. It does not make any sense to go into an evaluation and try to game the system and the evaluator, because that approach is not going to be of any  benefit to the person. They should expect that they are going to be asked a series of questions about their use of alcohol along with other substances, and their family history. The initial evaluation can be a little time-consuming.

Then after that evaluation takes place, the evaluator will determine which particular program may be best suited to that client. Some people may have an evaluation and be told that they need a six- or eight-week education class. Another person may be evaluated and advised that they would benefit from very intensive outpatient or even residential treatment.

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