MADISON - Two area lawmakers are behind a bill that would let courts place second- and third-offense drunken drivers on probation as long as they take a drug designed to treat alcoholism.

Probation is not allowed under current law for individuals convicted of second- or third-offense drunken driving.

In addition to a fine, anyone convicted of a second drunken driving offense can be imprisoned for anywhere from five days to six months. Anyone convicted of a third offense faces a fine and imprisonment for no less than 30 days and no more than one year.

State Rep. Peter Barca, D-Pleasant Prairie, on Thursday introduced the bill that would change this. Sen. John Lehman, D-Racine, co-sponsored the bill, which would require anyone convicted of a second or third offense and placed on probation to take naltrexone for the duration of their probation. The probation sentence would be an option for the judge, not a requirement.

The bill is a good idea, Lehman said, even at a time when the mood of the people in Wisconsin and the Legislature is to get tougher on drunken drivers and when people acknowledge that Wisconsin is not considered tough when it comes to drunken-driving laws.

"This is a much smaller item. This is the rational look at the use of one therapeutic drug," Lehman said.

Lehman said he supported the bill because it offers "a rational approach" to treating the disease of alcoholism. The bill stems from research done at the LaFollette School of Public Affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Lehman said.

"The main consideration is, what is best to get these guys and gals off the road and stop the revolving door?" Lehman said. "The main motivation is to try to find the most effective way to get to diseased individuals."

Wisconsin leads the nation in a number of drinking-related trends. The state is significantly above the national average when it comes to alcohol use among adults and high school students, pre-capita alcohol consumption and heavy drinking, according to Carolyn Heinrich of the LaFollette School.

Heinrich and her colleagues studied the role that state policymakers can play in improving access to treatment for alcohol abuse, including the use of naltrexone. The direct and indirect costs of alcoholism cost approximately $185 billion per year in the United States.

"State governments have much at stake in designing more effective policies and removing barriers to the use of proven treatments," Heinrich wrote in a policy report published last fall. "On average, states spend about $1 of every $7 of total spending on programs related to substance abuse and its consequences."