[Finny]

Since the 1950s the medical profession has identified alcoholism as a medical condition. The shame is that society still treats it as human weakness and legal problem. IMO if each time a person was drunk they took them to a medical facility with counseling instead of the county jail, we would take many steps forward very quickly.

With all due respect, that's liberal-mindset nanny-state horsecrap. It most certainly IS a human "weakness" in that it is entirely, 100 pecent behavioral within the context of an allergy. If you were one of the small minority of humans who broke out in a rash every time you ate strawberries, what would you do? YOU'D STOP EATING STRAWBERRIES.

I'm allergic to alcohol. I'm one of the small minority of humans who break out in arrests when I drink. I have woken up every place from a laundromat dryer to jail, with no idea how I got there, because I am alergic to booze. So guess what I finally did? I STOPPED DRINKING IT. That was about 23 years ago.

And you'll never guess what happened! All of the symptoms of this so-called "disease" disappeared! That's right! Imagine that!

It was quite simple. It sure as heck wasn't easy, but it was very, very simple. It was for me, and it is for every alcoholic alive. Not easy, but SIMPLE.

Listen, if alcoholism is a "disease," it's a self-inflicted and self-cured "disease." I can imagine how someone with a real disease, like MS or polio, would give his or her eye teeth to have the ability to get rid of all of that disease's symptoms SIMPLY by making a very cut-and-dried, straightforward behavioral change.

No counselor, no support group, no medical facility, no parent or loving husband or wife or suffering child can make an alcoholic stop drinking. There is only ONE PERSON who can do that -- the alcoholic.

[binreadin]

Dude, a laundromat dryer, really? That must be some story.

[jmacusa]

Ah, no. The alcoholic can’t do it alone. Doing it his way is what got them there. AA works. I know , believe me I know. And only a power greater then one’s self can make the sufferer happily and usefully whole. For me it was a loving God.

[hoosiermama]

You are correct of course that only the drinker can stop. But only the diabetic can monitor their diet. Are you aware that there is a gene in true alcoholics that has a “problem”. Also note that just like diabetes alcoholism is the body's malfunction in the use of sugar. In fact they both run in the same families.

Knowledge IS the answer to correcting the problem.... not arrest and shame! Our previous sheriff set up an educational program at the jail. He had an outreach program to the community. Arrests declined. Families got help.It was very successful. His term expired and the new sheriff chose drop the program.

[Lazamataz]

No counselor, no support group, no medical facility, no parent or loving husband or wife or suffering child can make an alcoholic stop drinking. There is only ONE PERSON who can do that -- the alcoholic.

What worked for you, would kill many of us.

I am defenseless against my first drink or drug. It is my relationship with my Higher Power, that helps me stay stopped, and only one day at a time.

You went it alone, your words implied. I am glad it worked for you. For many of us, self-will simply does not work. We needed AA, a sponsor, 12 steps, and -- most importantly -- a Higher Power. I call my Higher Power "God".