[elkfersupper]

I'd like to see those sources.

One here.

Suicide and Homicide in State Prisons and Local Jails

Another interpretation/extrapolation here (cover of the e-book and pages 41-42 of the text):

Welcome to The Truth about Drinking and Driving

[supercat]

Interesting articles. Reminds me of a term I coined dealing with things like pollution lawsuits: "Statistical homeopathy": the more remote the causal link, the more powerful must be the agent that causes it.

What's going on here is a little different, but shares some similarity: the more broadly a problem is defined, the more that problem is going to be detected. Loosening the definition of "drunk driver" will increase the number of so-called "drunk drivers" on the road. If those who called for the looser definition can convince others that this "increase" is a problem, they can use it to justify further loosening even if most of the "problem" is caused by the looser standards in the first place.

[TChad]

Both those sources are good, Thanks.

What struck me about the first source was not just the number of suicide, but the number of deaths from all causes that follow incarceration for DUI. Appalling.

The book in your second link looks interesting. I have long doubted the typical DUI statistics. "Alcohol associated" is a long way from "alcohol caused," and the book seems to try to quantify that. I suspect that the truth is hard to sell to the MADDing crowd. (Sorry.)