In a conversation with a friend the other day, he mentioned that North Dakota had begun a new policy whereby those who are convicted of drunken crimes can, instead of sentencing, be ordered to stay clean, and get regular urine tests (paid for by themselves) instead, for a period of about a year.
I tried googling, but I can’t find anything on the programme (probably because I don’t know what it is called).
Can any Dopers find me a link or two about the initiative?
Anything that spares people jail time for small crimes is great IMO.
I don’t know about the specifics of the North Dakota law but courts in other states often require convicted offenders to abstain from alcohol as part of a diversion program or as part of probation conditions.
The relatively new ETG alcohol test can detect metabolites of alcohol for up to 5 days after use. So even if a person no longer has alcohol in their system at a breathalyzer detectable level, use can still be detected.
The ETG alcohol test:
http://www.drugtestingnetwork.com/alcohol-testing.htm
Thanks for that 
I wish it said how much it cost.