A felony DWI in Texas puts more than your freedom at risk. Your driver's license, your professional license, and your career can all be on the line at the same time. What you do about the underlying problem, starting now, affects how the court sees your case.
GARS is a genetic test that shows how your brain responds to alcohol. It is often the missing piece for someone who has been through treatment before and ended up back here.
Call Precision Recovery at (210) 701-8287 to find out whether it applies to you.
What is GARS?
GARS stands for Genetic Addiction Risk Score. It is a genetic test that looks at a group of genes tied to your brain's reward system.
Those genes affect how your brain responds to alcohol, and how strongly it pushes you toward it. Some people inherit versions of those genes that make that pull much stronger than it is for the average person. GARS shows whether you are one of them.
How the Test Works
The test is done with a simple, painless cheek swab. No needles, no blood draw, and it takes about a minute.
The swab goes to a lab, which looks at specific spots in your DNA where people commonly differ. Each spot gets scored, and the scores add up to a single number. A higher number means a stronger inherited risk.
That number is the starting point for your treatment plan, not the end of the conversation.
What the Results Actually Mean
Your brain has a reward system. When something good happens, it releases dopamine, and you feel satisfied. That system is supposed to settle you.
For some people, it doesn’t work as well. The signal comes through weaker, or it fades faster. Ordinary things don't produce the same payoff they do for other people. Alcohol does, at least briefly, and the brain learns that fast.
That difference is partly inherited, which is why addiction so often runs through families. The genes GARS looks at are the ones most closely tied to that system, including the one researchers have studied the longest in connection with severe alcohol problems.
If your score comes back high, it means your brain is wired in a way that makes alcohol harder to walk away from. That is a physical fact about your biology, not a statement about your character.
Why This Matters After a Second or Third DWI
Here is what usually happens.
Someone gets a DWI. They go through a program, take it seriously, and mean every word of it. A year or two later, they are back in the same situation, and now they believe the problem is them. They did not try hard enough. They are weak. They are the kind of person this keeps happening to.
For many people, that is not what happened. The program addressed the behavior and never touched the biology underneath it. The pull was still there when treatment ended, and eventually it won.
Knowing that changes how people approach recovery. It is not a reason to stop taking responsibility. It is a reason to stop relying on willpower alone, because willpower is not the tool that works against this.
Call (210) 701-8287 to talk about where to start.
What GARS Does Not Do
This part matters as much as the rest.
GARS does not diagnose anything. It measures risk, not disease. A high score does not mean you have a substance use disorder, and a low score does not mean you are in the clear. Plenty of people with low genetic risk develop serious problems, because genetics is one factor among many.
GARS also does not predict your future. Environment, stress, trauma, and habit all matter, and every one of those is something treatment can work on.
And GARS is not a defense. It does not excuse a DWI or make a case go away. What it does is explain a pattern, so the treatment built around it has a better chance of holding.
How We Use It Here
GARS is part of our assessment and evaluation, not a standalone product. We combine it with your history, your medical background, and a clinical evaluation, because the test by itself does not tell us enough.
What the results change is the plan. A high genetic risk score points toward more structure and a longer runway, because the pull does not disappear when a program ends. It may point toward medical support alongside therapy. It often shapes which level of care fits, whether that is an Intensive Outpatient Program or a Partial Hospitalization Program with more frequent contact.
It also changes what counseling focuses on. When someone understands that their brain responds differently, the work shifts away from shame and toward building a life that does not depend on willpower holding out.
Many people find the conversation with their family goes differently too. There is a real explanation now, and often a family history that suddenly makes sense.
If You Are Facing a Court Date
GARS results become part of the documentation we provide to your attorney, along with your ongoing progress reports and expert testimony at no cost.
Courts respond to evidence that someone is addressing a real, identified problem rather than checking a box. A clinical assessment that includes genetic testing carries more weight than a certificate from a class.
We are not a law firm, and we do not give legal advice. If you do not have an attorney yet, we can connect you with one from our network who handles felony DWI cases.
Find Out Where You Stand
A cheek swab takes a minute. What it tells you can reframe years of your life.
Call Precision Recovery at (210) 701-8287 or reach out here to ask about GARS testing and what treatment would look like for you.
