UCI studies drunk-driving

A UC Irvine professor is conducting a study to determine whether the

state’s zero-tolerance law for underage drinkers who drive is working

to snuff out further substance abuse.

Armed with a $97,000 grant, professor Christopher Carpenter is set

to begin a 16-month study to test his theory that incentives have a

role in substance abuse laws as well as in economics.

In previous research, Carpenter found that having a zero-tolerance

law reduces drinking by 13% among young men between the ages of 16

and 20. Now he wants to find out whether the tough drunk-driving laws

have curbed abuse of other substances, namely tobacco and marijuana.

“What we think is really happening is that when the kids find out

about these laws, they’re changing their incentives,” Carpenter said.

If a relationship exists between drinking alcohol and smoking,

then perhaps the drunk-driving laws will help reduce smoking,

Carpenter said. It’s also possible the drunk-driving laws could have

the opposite effect, pushing young adults to other forms of substance

abuse, Carpenter said.

“Instead of ‘Hey, let’s not drink anymore,’ [the response might

be] ‘Let’s just get high,’” Carpenter said.

According to the California vehicle code, it is illegal for anyone

under 21 to drive with a blood alcohol level of .01% or higher.

“You take one drink as a minor and you’re going to have a .01,”

said Newport Beach Police Sgt. Bill Hartford.

Unless the minor has a blood-alcohol level of .08, however, he or

she may not be arrested, Hartford said.

Depending on the level, the officer can revoke the license and

issue a citation, Hartford said.

Carpenter’s research will be based on data from two surveys of

youth substance abuse in the U.S. in the 1990s, he said. The studies

-- the Centers for Disease Control’s “Behavioral Risk Factor

Surveillance System” and a University of Michigan study called

“Monitoring the Future” -- supply information about health habits,

including smoking and drinking, Carpenter said.

Carpenter’s research is funded by a grant awarded several months

ago by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of

California. Carpenter will conduct the research along with Duke

University Professor Philip Jackson Cook.