Federal Alcohol Evaluation 101
1st lecture outline
So the Federal evaluation system depends on TOLERANCE (forgive me Dr. Garber if this isn't EXACTLY right). The only way one can get tolerant is lots of consumption over time. For an alcohol naieve person, 0.10 would mean total inability to operate a motor vehicle. That person at 0.18 would be very near alcohol poisoning, e.g, not breathing and in need of endotracheal intubation and life support, or face down off a cub and someone watching the airway.
A tolerant person, pulled over at 0.20 BAC is operating and likely doing a somewhat credible job of it, even takes a stab at roadside sobriety testing.
Your only chance, if an LEO impunes you behavior (DUI- non alcohol for example, no smell), nothing you can say is credible. After all you have been impuned. All is fodder for the finding of inconsistency and suspicion. There are only two things that can speak in your favor- a negative field BAC and/or a negative controlled blood alcohol done by a controlled lab. Never mind the time delay, we have tables for that to go back to the roadside moment.
So if you are completely sober, you need to blow and you need to get any hospital based blood values you can, because your conduct cannot speak in your behalf. It has been discounted.
If you aren't sober, then G_d help you.
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For one offense, at or above a value of 0.15 (assumed or real), you can be
(1) evaluated by a State licensed Cert. Alcohol and Drug counselor. FAA does not use DSM5 criteria, but rather a variation of DSM4. No check boxes are allowed. The loss of control, tolerance, withdrawal syndrome, continued use in the face of known consequences, lifestyle centered on the use of substance, all have to be essayed separate for unlike DSM-4, ANY ONE of these can give you the FAA diagnosis of "alcohol dependence". The M.A. level guys are fairly adaptable and I can usually guide them so the report will be useful. The B.A guys, not so much. We have no use for mild/mod/severe Alcohol use disorder from DSM5.
(2) You have to prove it's your "one and only". You get a 10 year DMV search (not the free one on the internet but the kind you pay for and wait) to prove this: All states in which you have had licenses.
(3) You need a personal statement detailing your drinking habits, the events of the night in question and what you learned, and THAT cannot hit the DSM-4 tripwires.
(4) You need evidence of an educational course.
When I did my time at OKC I had a guy whose file I didn't complete reading - because he convicted himself in the personal statement. Usually, if you really do have a problem, you don't see the issues. The attitude, "everybody does it, so it's gotta be acceptable" is a total waterloo, as it was for the guy's file that I reviewed.
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So if you get A BAC above 0.20, and in reality anything over 0.17, it's at least alcohol use disorder and abuse; anything over 0.20 is presumptive alcohol dependency. (to get that great a level and still be operating a car. I'd be dead). You need HIMS. If you don't know what that is, attend lecture #2 (dunno if I'll write it).
If you don't blow, remember you still have to report the alcohol related arrest. A plead down to a wet reckless is still an alcohol related public event that needs evaluation. So if the original ticket even mentions alcohol, even if you beat it you still have to be evaluated at FAA (on your upcoming medical). That's why the FAA demands the arrest record, including the comments of the arresting officer.
I have had guys early in their careers who saw this, got the wet reckless plead down (no 61.15 report), got on an abstinence monitoring program (9 months), and by the time the next medical came, had 9 month's proveable abstinence, favorable lists of logged recovery activities, concurrences of a HMS psychiatrist, and HIMS psychologist, and got HIMS special issued prior to their upcoming expiration. Didn't miss a day of work. BUT YOU HAVE TO SEE THE LIGHT.
So deny deny deny that you have a problem just gets you grounded.
From the federal point of view, you need to blow DEFENSIVELY.
If you get convicted you have the same problem- just you have a 61.15 report to do in 60 days and the wheels turn a little faster. I've another guy who saw that coming (wheels of 61.15 started turning), started on his abstinence program, by the time the agency yanked his second class, he had 8 weeks of sobriety to go; he was restored to 2nd class after missing 10 weeks of work...can you say "NOT FIRED?" He had to remain monitored for FOUR years. Now we are working on getting his Canadian pardon. When the boss wants to go to Toronto, he waits in the "not quite in Canada area" of the airport as he is denied entry.
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Now, abuse vs dependency:
From 61.107:
(b) No substance abuse within the preceding 2 years defined as:
(1) Use of a substance in a situation in which that use was physically hazardous, if there has been at any other time an instance of the use of a substance also in a situation in which that use was physically hazardous;
(2) A verified positive drug test result, an alcohol test result of 0.04 or greater alcohol concentration, or a refusal to submit to a drug or alcohol test required by the U.S. Department of Transportation or an agency of the U.S. Department of Transportation; or
When one falls short of the above criteria for alcohol dependence, but (1) or (2) above is satisfied, you get two years of random urines and sponsorship with the HIMS AME, they call you pee, for two years, without the Thanksgiving dinner trimmings. And you'd better not miss.
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In case anyone is still in doubt, the FAA expects airmen to be abstinent. This is why Randy Babbitt got fired. The ONLY Exception is the 3rd class airman who had abuse, did his two year of monitoring, passed, got back in the regular issuance pool. He can go back to drinking if he stays out of trouble. EVERYONE ELSE is expected to REMAIN ABSTINENT.
Did the wife throw you out because you'd been drinking, were belligerent, and you got arrested? BUSTED. See 18(x). HIMS for you.
To "idiot". Don't be one. GET AN ATTORNEY.
