Alcohol ankle monitor didn't stop Lohan relapse

Dana Ford, Reuters
Published: Wednesday, July 25, 2007

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The electronic monitoring device Lindsay Lohan was wearing on her ankle when she was arrested for drunken driving this week failed to save the actress from a relapse of alcohol abuse.

But the company that makes and markets the ankle bracelet stands behind its product, saying the device is not meant to be a magic cure for addiction.

"A lot of people just don't understand how the device works," Don White, an executive at Alcohol Monitoring Systems Inc., told Reuters on Wednesday.

The Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitor, or SCRAM, has become an increasingly popular sobriety-maintenance tool in court-ordered rehabilitation programs of 43 states. About 40,000 people nationwide have used the device, some of them voluntarily, as in Lohan's case, White said.

Worn around the lower leg or ankle, the monitor detects whether a person has been drinking by measuring the evaporation of alcohol from perspiration on the surface of the individual's skin, using essentially the same technology as a Breathalyzer.

Data from the device is then transmitted electronically to the company's field operations personnel, who in turn furnish the information to a probation officer, counselor or other person assigned to oversee the patient's recovery.

While the device is meant to act in part as a deterrent, it cannot by itself prevent people from drinking.

Moreover, data from the bracelet can only be collected when the wearer is within 30 to 50 feet of a special wireless transmitter, usually placed in the person's home, which means the individual's behavior cannot be constantly monitored.

In Lohan's case, her lawyer Blair Berk was designated to receive SCRAM updates and was reported to have tried in vain to locate Lohan on Monday night on learning of a possible relapse in the hours before her arrest.

White, who declined to comment specifically on Lohan, said negative publicity surrounding her case overshadowed the problems faced by the estimated 18 million Americans who suffer alcohol abuse.

"We're trying to help the courts with this serious social problem and we ask that people not minimize it in light of celebrity use," he said.

The ankle device is manufactured exclusively by White's Colorado-based company, which also distributes it and provides progress reports on individuals who wear them.

Lohan, who shot to stardom as a fresh-faced child actress in Disney films like "Freaky Friday" and "The Parent Trap," has recently moved on to more adult roles. In her latest film, "I Know Who Killed Me," which opens on Friday, she plays a stripper.

It remains to be seen whether her latest relapse and brush with the law will cost her the role she landed in an upcoming film produced by and starring Oscar-winner Shirley MacLaine, "Poor Things." Production of that film has been on hold since she entered rehab for a second time in May.
© Reuters 2007

Lohan Passengers Tell Wild Story Of Pre-Arrest Drive

LOS ANGELES -- Three men say Lindsay Lohan got into the driver's seat of an SUV outside the site of a Malibu party, drove over one man's foot and took the others on a wild ride that preceded her weekend DUI arrest.

Dante Nigro, Jakon Sutter, and Ronnie Blake spoke to the celebrity news Web site TMZ.com regarding the incident that culminated with the arrest of the 21-year-old actress Tuesday morning.

The men said they were at a party when an argument began between Lohan, her assistant and her assistant's boyfriend. The dispute escalated, and the assistant announced she was quitting, they said.

Around this point, Sutter and Blake were ready to leave in Nigro's white GMC Denali SUV when the driver -- Lohan's assistant's boyfriend -- got out of the vehicle, leaving the keys in the ignition, they said.

That's when Lohan's assistant got into her car and drove away, and Lohan allegedly jumped into the driver's seat of the SUV, started the engine, and accelerated, they said.

Blake told TMZ that he was scared and jumped out of the SUV while it was moving and Lohan ran over his foot and kept driving. During the interview, one of his feet could be seen bandaged.

Lohan allegedly chased the assistant's car, with Sutter and Nigro in the SUV, at times hitting 100 mph on Pacific Coast Highway, they said.

The men alleged that at one point, Lohan caught up with the assistant and began driving in circles around her car, telling her passengers, "I can't get in trouble. I'm a celebrity. I can do whatever the f--- I want."

The assistant eventually lost Lohan, and Lohan began driving to the assistant's mother's house, the men said. Lohan arrived there as the mother was pulling into her driveway, and the woman sped away, followed by Lohan, they said.

Lohan chased the mother around Santa Monica before eventually stopping in a parking lot at the Civic Center, they said.

The assistant's mother called police on a cell phone, according to authorities.

After police arrived, Lohan allegedly told the officers "I wasn't driving. The black kid was driving," one of the three men -- an African American -- told TMZ.com.

Lohan was arrested at the scene on suspicion of drunken driving and cocaine possession and was released on $25,000 bail.

"She is safe, out of custody and presently receiving medical care," her attorney, Blair Berk, said in a statement.

Lohan is scheduled for arraignment Aug. 24 in the Santa Monica case -- the same day she is supposed to be in court in Beverly Hills, where she allegedly crashed her Mercedes into a bush on Sunset Boulevard on May 26 and left the scene.

Posted by Marv:

silver and I are withholding judgement until we hear lindsay's side.

from her own mouf.

[Edited by - marv on 28-07-2007 11:50 AM]

Posted by Silverfuel:

Ms. Peck's frantic 911 call to police while being chased by