Put us down as 100 percent behind the 24/7 program.

That’s the name for the sobriety program being rolled out for examination in Wyoming in the next few days. The 24/7 sobriety program was approved by the Legislature this year and signed into law by Gov. Matt Mead. The attorney general’s office has been doing what it was tasked to do: create a set of rules and regulations for the program, and a 45-day public comment period will open soon.

Once that concludes, and any modifications are made, the program will go into effect in Wyoming late this year or early next. We are eager to see it debut.

It’s based on a sobriety effort launched in South Dakota almost a decade ago and replicated in Montana and other states.

The Wyoming version will require that people convicted of second-offense drunken driving and additional DUI convictions to submit to a breath test for booze twice a day about 12 hours apart, seven days a week. Other alcohol-related convictions can lead to similar testing.

The judge sentences people into the program but the program sets the times. It is optional in pre-trial settings but could be mandatory in post-trial sentencing.

The process will not cost the taxpayers, according to J. Michael “Mike” Reed, the impaired driving policy analyst who works in the governor’s policy office. People will pay $2 per test, and the equipment to administer the alcohol checks already is in the hands of law enforcement.

In addition, this will keep more people out of jail and prison, and that will save tax dollars. It will keep them working and off government assistance, while also helping to keep families together.

This is the kind of modern, forward-looking policy we are pleased to see developed and implemented. It’s time for a sober look at the problems that booze causes.

Alcohol is a legal substance that many of us consume without causing major problems for ourselves or others. But it also is at the bottom of a great deal of destruction and despair.

The Wyoming Highway Patrol and the Governor’s Council on Impaired Driving keep an eye on the carnage. We average 146 highway deaths per year in the state, and about one-third of those are tied to alcohol.

In addition, domestic abuse and other crimes often are soaked with beer, whiskey and other intoxicating beverages. Some, perhaps most, of the people who cause a lot of that pain need to have their alcohol intake curtailed or controlled.

The 24/7 sobriety program will do just that.

In South Dakota, the number of people who have gone through its 24/7 program and were later arrested for a second offense DUI has declined 50 percent compared to prior trends, and the number of domestic abuse cases has dropped between 9 and 12 percent, Reed said.

We would welcome such success in Wyoming.

We do have one quibble. The law allows counties to opt out of the 24/7 program. That seems wrong to us.

If someone in one county is having to undergo checks to ensure they are no longer drinking, does it seem fair if someone in the adjoining county is not? The person in the non-24/7 county may have served time behind bars, but perhaps not.

And once they are out, there is no daily reminder, with a penalty of incarceration hanging over their head, not to drink. We favor making 24/7 the law effective in all 23 counties.

But there is time to adjust this as the program is implemented. We’re glad to see this step taken to reduce the harm alcohol can do to our people.