Why it's important to always get your alcohol assessment from an agency that does not offer treatment

If you have been arrested for a DUI in Washington State than one of the things that you should immediately do to help your case and your attorney is get an alcohol and drug assessment.  An alcohol and drug assessment is essentially interview you have with a counselor to try and determine whether you suffer from any alcohol or drug issues.  

You will answer questions about the DUI incident, your history of alcohol and drug use, your current usage, and you will provide a urinalysis test.  Based on how the interview goes and whether the counselor feels you suffer from any abuse or dependence issues treatment will be recommended.  This can range anywhere from a one day class up to two years of intensive treatment.  

So you're probably wondering where you get this assessment done.  Well like many things in their word you have many options.  A simply google search will reveal hundreds and hundreds of alcohol treatment agencies in Washington State that are State certified and can do this assessment.  But in my opinion as a Seattle DUI Attorney you must very cautious in deciding where to do the assessment.  Why?

Like all businesses these alcohol and drug treatment centers are in the business of making money.  And it is in their financial interests to make money off you.  Now I'm not saying they will make up issues you have in order to recommend treatment and charge you for it.  But I have seen it happen before and I'm leery of these places.  So in order to eliminate this issue what should you do?

Get an alcohol and drug assessment from an agency that does not offer treatment.  One that only does the assessment and therefore has no financial incentive to recommend treatment you don't need because they won't benefit from it financially.  

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About the author: Matthew Leyba is a DUI lawyer in Seattle, WA.  His practice focuses on representing those accused of DUI and other traffic offenses.  He is currently rated as one of the Best Seattle DUI lawyers by Avvo, and listed as a Rising Star in Seattle DUI Defense by Super Lawyers Magazine, an honor less than 2.5% of all Attorneys receive.