Never a final design: interviewing Norwegian alcohol smugglers

This paper presents a typology of respondents that have been encountered in interview-based research on the illegal alcohol market in Norway. Six distinct types (“the social talker”, “the expert witness”, “the flasher”, “the manipulator” and “the paranoid”) are distinguished and their relative value discussed from a scientific perspective. Students of organized crime must learn how to handle these characters both socially and analytically, and how to avoid certain pitfalls. Challenges a researcher may meet while studying organized crime will also be discussed, like “going nervous,” “going naïve”, “going native” and “going nonchalant”. Traditional Scandinavian literature on research methods has not been very helpful in this sense.     

Youthful animal abuse and later problem behavior outcomes: findings from two generations

The objective of this study was to document the long-term relationship between youthful animal abuse and a variety of problem behavior outcomes later in life. Data were used from a national, longitudinal, and multigenerational sample collected by the National Youth Survey Family Study, which assessed families across 27 years from 1977 to 2004. The analytic sample consisted of 2538 individuals who were analyzed using multivariate ordinary least squares and logistic regression modeling that controlled for important demographic factors. Hypotheses were tested across two generations separately showing that a history of animal abuse does, indeed, predict later problem behaviors, including serious offending, marijuana use, other drug use, alcohol use, and deviant beliefs. Depending on the outcome examined, each model accounts for 5–34% of the variation in respondents’ problem behaviors. Within each model, animal abuse was often one of the strongest predictors. Implications of these findings, the study’s limitations, and future research directions are discussed.     

ALCOHOL AND THE RISK OF PHYSICAL AND SEXUAL ASSAULT VICTIMIZATION*

We examine the effect of alcohol consumption on an individual's risk of victimization for physical and sexual assault. Analyses of the National Violence Against Women Survey suggest that the frequency and amount of alcohol people consume has strong effects on their risk of victimization when drinking, but is not associated with their victimization while sober. This evidence suggests that drinking has a situational causal effect on victimization, and cannot be attributed to opportunity factors associated with drinking. This effect is particularly strong for men and young adults, who may be more likely to behave provocatively when under the influence. Victims of sexual assaults and men assaulted by their female partners are also particularly likely to be drinking.     

A Theoretical Analysis of Alcohol Regulation and Drinking-Related Economic Crime

Alcohol consumption is widely believed to influence criminal activity, and numerous sociological, criminological, and psychological studies demonstrate an apparent positive correlation between drinking and crime. Using a multiattribute model of offender and victim behavior, this study examines the theoretical effects of changes in the price of alcohol on the incidence of crimes committed for economic gain. It is shown that in the general case price effects do not result in an unambiguous decrease in the rates of crime or victimization even when the models are constructed to impose a bias towards the finding of a causal negative price effect. Using a modified model of the drinking offender that imposes even further structure on the model, it is shown that the realization and magnitude of a negative equilibrium alcohol price effect will likely depend upon the implementation of complementary alcohol control policies. The implications of the theoretical analysis to policy implementation and empirical research are also considered.     

直接进样气相色谱法测定全血中乙醇的含量

目的建立一种直接进样气相色谱法检测全血中的乙醇。方法全血经硫酸铝钾沉淀蛋白,加入内标异丙醇后,用直接进样气相色谱法进行检测,FID为检测器,用保留时间定性,内标标准曲线法定量。结果该方法线性范围为0.2-1.4mg/m L,相关系数R=0.999 3,总分析时间不超过5min,最低检测限为0.01mg/m L,相对标准偏差（RSD）〈5%,平均回收率为92.3%;所建立的方法与顶空气相色谱（HS-GC）法比较相对偏差（RD）〈10%。结论该方法可用于全血中乙醇的检测。     

贵州省 1 000 例涉嫌酒后驾驶者的鉴定结果分析

目的通过对贵州省2012年1000例涉嫌酒后驾驶、道路交通事故酒精检案的特点进行分析,为预防和控制酒后驾车提供科学数据。方法在利用Excel及Spss统计软件对涉嫌交通事故肇事者性别、年龄、肇事时间、肇事车型以及对肇事者血中乙醇质量浓度（BAC）等数据进行统计分析。结果涉嫌酒后驾驶者男性居多,年龄在20~50岁间占92%。事故多发生于20~24时,以县市区干道为主,肇事车辆为摩托车占46.72%。在1000例乙醇检案中,28.7%为未检出,9.3%为酒后驾车,59.5%为醉酒驾车。结论 2012年贵州省发生的1000例涉嫌酒后驾驶案件中有一定相关特征,可为＂酒驾＂的预防与控制提供准确的科学依据。     

Perceptions of drink driving legal limits in England: a qualitative investigation

ABSTRACT

There are strict laws relating to alcohol intake and driving; however, while most people are aware of these laws, drink driving still occurs. The current research provides an in-depth account of individuals’ awareness and attitudes towards current drink driving limits and laws in England. Individuals (N?=?83) were interviewed, and their responses recorded for thematic analysis. Results indicated major themes of: attitudes towards drink driving laws, limits, and effectiveness; reasons for drink driving; and post-drink driving reflections. Outcomes show that most individuals are aware there are strict laws, but are unaware of the exact limits, and do not understand how to convert legal limits into actual drinking behaviours. Sub-themes emerged indicating that individuals held heuristic beliefs about being able to consume one or two alcohol beverages without negative effects on their driving ability. Conclusions from this research indicate that views are mostly invariant across key population demographics; peer pressure was the only sub-theme that appeared to differ between younger and older individuals. The findings have implications for policy makers and future interventions in terms of clarifying drink driving limits and translating this into drinking behaviour. There was also some support for stricter laws and regulations.     

Methyl alcohol poisoning in Trabzon (Turkey)

The aim of this retrospective study was to examine methyl alcohol intoxications in Trabzon (Turkey) and to determine any relations between the laboratory results and histopathologic changes. A total of 4492 forensic autopsies were performed from 1998 to 2008. Thirteen of the cases (0.3%) were because of methanol poisoning, and all were men. Their ages ranged from 25 to 62 years. The blood methanol concentrations ranged widely, from 15 to 482 mg/dL. In six cases, poisoning was because of consumption of the alcoholic beverage "Raki," while in five cases, poisoning was because of the ingestion of cologne. The products consumed were unknown in the other two cases because of insufficient history and data records. Mortality because of methanol poisoning may be prevented/decreased with the implementation of some precautions, such as public education regarding the harms of methyl alcohol, routine monitoring of the vendors that sell alcoholic beverages and cologne, and appropriate legal retribution for the illegal production of methanol.     

Postmortem detection of isopropanol in ketoacidosis

Isopropanol (IPA) detected in deaths because of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) or alcoholic ketoacidosis (AKA) may cause concern for IPA poisoning. This study addressed this concern in a 15-year retrospective review of 260 deaths in which concentrations of acetone and IPA, as well as their ratios, were compared in DKA (175 cases), AKA (79 cases), and IPA intoxication (six cases). The results demonstrated the frequency of detecting IPA in ketoacidosis when there was no evidence of IPA ingestion. IPA was detectable in 77% of DKA cases with quantifiable concentrations averaging 15.1 ± 13.0 mg/dL; 52% of AKA cases with quantifiable concentrations averaging 18.5 ± 22.1 mg/dL; and in cases of IPA intoxication, averaging 326 ± 260 mg/dL. There was weak correlation of IPA production with postmortem interval in DKA only (r = -0.48). Although IPA concentrations were much higher with ingestion, potentially toxic concentrations were achievable in DKA without known ingestion.     

Evaluation of the Analytical Performance of a Fuel Cell Breath Alcohol Testing Instrument: A Seven‐Year Comprehensive Study

Abstract: Between 2003 and 2009, 54,255 breath test sequences were performed on 129 AlcoSensor IV–XL evidential instruments in Orange County, CA. The overall mean breath alcohol concentration and standard deviation from these tests was 0.141 ± 0.051 g/210 L. Of these test sequences, 38,580 successfully resulted in two valid breath alcohol results, with 97.5% of these results agreeing within ±0.020 g/210 L of each other and 86.3% within ±0.010 g/210 L. The mean absolute difference between duplicate tests was 0.006 g/210 L with a median of 0.004 g/210 L. Of the 2.5% of duplicate test results that did not agree within ±0.020 g/210 L, 95% of these had a breath alcohol concentration of 0.10 g/210 L or greater and 77% had an alcohol concentration of 0.15 g/210 L or greater. The data indicate that the AlcoSensor IV–XL can measure a breath sample for alcohol concentration with adequate precision even amid the effects of biological variations.