What is DUI Assessment?

Nevada, like many other states in the country, has mandatory alcohol and drug assessment laws which require convicted DUI offenders to undergo an assessment of alcohol abuse problems. A DUI assessment may hence be taken as a non-negotiable legal necessity. A competent DUI attorney will tell you that it is in your best interest to have a DUI assessment and to begin the recommended treatment before your trial date. Although this will not impact your DUI arrest record, your cooperation in a DUI assessment may help get you a less severe punishment. During a DUI assessment, you sit down in a face-to-face clinical interview with a state certified assessor. As the assessment will be used to determine possible substance abuse problems, it is usually very in-depth and time-consuming. The assessment will cover not only your drug or alcohol use but also such factors as your stress-coping abilities, your potential risk as a driver honesty or truthfulness. The DUI assessment report may also touch on your biomedical condition, withdrawal potential, if any, emotional and behavioral status and tendencies, treatment acceptance or resistance, relapse potential, and your recovery environment. After the DUI assessment, the courts will study the evaluation and take the final recommendations in the assessment seriously in your sentencing. Your DUI attorney will advise you that you too should take the assessment seriously. If you are open and honest with your assessor, you will receive an assessment that is reflective of your actual position and tendencies. It can give you more information about whether you have an addiction to drug or alcohol. This information can help you start medical, mental and emotional recovery from problem drinking or drugs. DUI assessments are used to report your level of drug or alcohol dependency to state government agencies such as the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) as well as the DUI criminal courts. It is important to give an accurate picture of your drug or alcohol use in order to get appropriate help, which may include attendance at AA/NA meetings in the future or eventually medication or rehabilitation for alcoholism. A Las Vegas DUI lawyer will tell you that it is for your own good to enter a DUI assessment with full openness and honesty.