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Show Police, trea tment personnel agree Alcohol: a (hopeful) solution the judge. After court and sentencing, the individual will be given the choice of imprisonment which would be suspended and the individual would be placed on probation, provided that the offender chooses treatment; or if treatment is not choosen, then the offender will be imprisoned. in the long run," added Pearson. Pearson also said that they make the assumption that anyone can be cured, but it is out of control for the individual because he just won't do it. This type of program is slated to give the individual the control needed to lick his problems. Ninth Circuit Court Judge Christian Ronnow added validity to the problem by giving a few facts about alcohol problems in the area. "Alcohol is a substantially bigger problem in the United States than any other drug. It's a bigger problem than kids experimenting with marijuana. "I can fill the jail any veekend with alcohol related offenses. The problem is the man is just as dead and the women is just as battered," added the Judge. Iron County " Attorney James L. Schumate substantiated Ronnow's claims by stating that nine out of ten offenses committed in Iron County are a alcohol related, and that is increasing all the time. CEDAR CITY -Due to the current lack of continuity in an adequate alcohol treatment program, a team approach, providing a coordinated network of resources, gained support Tuesday night from law enforcement and alcohol treatment personnel. The meeting was called to discuss a possible plan to decrease alcohol-related alcohol-related problems in Iron County and possibly all of southern Utah. Sheldon Prestwich, psychologist for Family Life Services, presented a plan which is to provide 1 repeated alcohol offenders with the "whole spectrum of resources in southern Utah." According to Prestwich the plan basically involves setting up a "treatment team" which will carefully examine the life of an arrested person. This team is to be coordinated by a Family Service alcohol and drug coordinator to ensure that the individual's life is impacted. Prestwich explained how the plan is intended to work: "First the individual is arrested either for public intoxication or driving under the influence. At this point the police have the option to either take him to jail or to take him to the Alcoholism Recover Center where they would spend five days drying out. "The offender then has ten days to appear before "At this point if treatment is opted for, the treatment team will be set up," said Prestwich. The team will work with the individual and refer an appropriate treatment center. If the offender defaults on treatment then he would be " imprisoned for one to two days and referred back to the treatment team to continue with procedure. Some police asked whether this plan would be effective with the repeated alcohol problem cases. "He might con everybody, but at least we've got him in a program that can help him,'' answered Prestwich. Dean Pearson, Family Life Services, stated that this team approach will lower the amount of time now used in social services and will "not be such a burden on the taxpayers. "We don't expect him to stay off the streets the first time around, but, once we've got them in this program, it will lessen everyone's burden |