er, Ce ee CounterAttack — not just spring and Christmas, but all year round Christmas and springtime are two seasons of the year when Terrace RCMP undertake their high-profile campaign against impaired driving. The CounterAttack campaign, however, is a public awareness device the police use to highlight one of their crime-detecting ac- tivities that in fact goes on at a vigorous pace all year. Cst. Ken Harkness explains that Christmas and spring were chosen as target seasons because several years of statistics showed that people in B.C. are more prone to drive with illegal alcohol blood levels at those times of the year than at other times. As a demonstration of the detection and arrest process for drunk drivers, Cpl. Gary Mortiz recently took a Terrace Review staff photographer through the procedure and a display of some of the hardware police use. Cst. Harkness also provided us with a copy of the TRY (The Responsibility is Yours) test that can be used as an objective test for personal alcohol abuse pro- blems. Try it out. TRY Test Personal Evaluation How much alcohol is too much? How can you tell if you may be in danger of developing a drinking problem?. This questionnaire has been designed to help you take a realistic look at your drinking habits. There are. many factors -to consider, such as where, when, how and how often you drink. But what happens when you drink (consequences) is pro- bably the single most important thing to think about. Look at all these factors in relation to each other. You'll get a better picture of your drinking habits when you see patterns form. Answer the TRY Test per- sonal evaluation as honestly as you can. The TRY Test answer sheet will help you evaluate your responses. If a friend or family member’s drinking is affecting you, this questionnaire can be used to examine the impact of their drinking habits, ie: ‘‘Does my spouse ever lose time from work due to his/her drinking?”’ 1) Do you ever lose time from work or school due to drinking? Yes OC No O 2) Do your friends or family ever comment on your drinking, or the effect it is having on them? Yes 1] No 0 3) Has your reputation ever suffered because of your drink- ing? Yes 0 No 0 4) Do you ever feel guilty about your drinking, or the effects of your drinking? Yes 0 No () 5) Have you ever suffered any financial difficulties as a result of your drinking? Yes O No 0 6) Are your preferred friends heavy drinkers? Yes CJ No [1 7) Do you eat lightly or skip meals to enhance the effects of alcohol? Yes (] No O 8) Has your general ambition decreased due to your drinking? Yes O No O 9) Is it difficult for you to predict with any consistency how much you will drink and how it will effect you? Yes O No C 10) Is it possible that drinking may be disrupting your normal sleep patterns? Yes LJ] No 1 11) Has there been a reduction in your efficiency, or an increase in the times you have been late or absent from work or school since you began drinking? Yes C] No 12) Do you find yourself drink- ing alone more often? Yes [1 No C) 13) Have you ever experienced a period of memory loss or fuzzy memory as a result of your drinking? Yes () No 14) Has medical treatment or hospitalization ever been necessitated by your drinking? Yes 1 No (J 15) Do you see your drinking as a way to combat shyness, to build up self-confidence, or to escape from worries, stress or boredom? Yes CL] No [J 16) Have you ever used a ‘‘mor- ning eye-opener” to steady your nerves or to get rid of a hangover? Yes O No 0 17) Can you drink more than you used to without feeling the effects? Yes 1 No O 18) Have you ever been arrested for driving under the influence? Yes 1] No 19) Have you ever felt that you should cut down on your drink- ing? Yes No 1] *” Answers This questionnaire deals primarily with alcohol use because alcohol is the drug of choice for most people. How- ever, the questions and personal evaluation can also be used to detect possible problems with other drugs, including ‘‘street’’ drugs such as marijuana and co- caine, or prescription drugs. conan even + |: Because no two people are alike, ‘‘safe’’ levels of drinking habits differ from person to per- son. This test is intended to pro- vide you with a checklist of war- ning signs. Other important risk factors include: whether either natural parent had drinking or drug problems; whether you began drinking regularly before the age of 18; and whether you use ‘’street?’ drugs on a regular basis or mix drugs and alcohol. This questionnaire is not. in- tended as a substitute for a thorough medical examination and discussion with your doctor. With this in mind, the TRY Test personal evaluation should be scored as follows: A **Yes” answer to any ONE question should be taken as a signal that the person is poten- tially at risk; A “Yes” answer to any TWO questions should be taken as a definite warning sign; A “Yes”? answer to THREE OR MORE questions clearly in- dicates that professional con- sultation and evaluation are ad- vised. Terrace Review — Wednesday, May 2, 1990 ‘Ad F THE BREATHALYZER, demonstrated here by Terrace jail guard Jim ipple and Cpl, Gary Moritz, is a sophisticated high-tech device that compares differences in light transmission between a chemical sample that reacts with alcohol by changing color and a neutral sample. RADAR Is one piece of hardware police use all the time, but it is helpful in uncovering impalred Ma drivers as well as speeders. Vehicle operators who have had too much te drink tend to forget about speed limits or ignore them altogether. THE ALERT roadside breath testing system is a tool that saves time and helps police spot marginally impaired drivers. Cpl. Gary Moritz says some regular drinkers are difficult to detect by eye - because they have developed a high tolerance for alcohol. IT DOESN'T LOOK LIKE MUCH OF A ROOM, but it’s the most expensive accommodation in town. A minimum fine of several hundred dollars and-a year off the road are the current penalties for impaired driving. Cst. Greg Goodwin is one of the Terra RCMP members on the look-out for potential guests. .