Alcoholism News

Where is the Shame?

There is often a difficult dividing line between understanding that alcoholism is a disease and that the person suffering from it has lost control of his/her life, and not being outraged when someone in a high-profile, responsible position gets nabbed for DUI and drug possession.

The dividing line becomes even more difficult deal with when an alcoholic, under the influence, is involved in a fatal car crash.

Last month a Wisconsin State Representative, Jeffery Wood, was arrested for his third DUI and the police discovered marijuana in his car. It’s a local alcoholism news story and as the story goes, the State Police got a report of a drunk driver on I-90. Wood smashed into a signpost and snow bank, but continued his meandering. Wood also told the trooper that he had no idea how his car got a flat tire.

In an Associated Press story concerning the incident, writer Ryan J. Foley reports:

“Wisconsin has the highest rate of drunken driving in the nation, according to a federal study released last year. The current Legislature is considering tougher laws, including proposals making first-offense drunken driving a crime instead of a civil infraction and making third and fourth offenses felonies instead of misdemeanors.”

This is an on-going topic on this blog, because it’s a major social calamity in Wisconsin. DUI and alcoholism news stories are very common. People don’t get it. We want tougher laws in this state, yet we continue to perpetuate the problem. Alcohol is engrained in Wisconsin culture.

Beer and brandy flow in countless taverns, restaurants, sporting events and even church fund-raisers. When Milwaukee Brewers fans sing the chorus of the “Beer Barrel Polka” during the seventh inning stretch, it’s their version of “God Bless America” and song with a silly kind of reverence. We want law-makers to protect us from “the other guy” out there, yet people don’t take responsibility for their own behavior. Of course, then people get arrested for DUI, they’re going to find a lawyer and fight, and believe me, there are attorneys just lining up for new clients.

Wood will go to trial next month, but he faces a possible jail term of 30 days to a year, plus the loss of his driver’s license for to three years. That little revocation part of the sentence is a joke, because people drive anyway and they don’t care what the law says. The court may order an ignition interlock on Wood’s car, so if he is like others, he’ll just drive another car.

One Wisconsin rep suggested that those with DUI convictions should be prohibited, by law, from buying a motor vehicle for a specified period of time. Others have grandstanded on this issue, suggesting that one DUI conviction should be a felony, which of course plays well to some folks, but it’s not the answer.

Wisconsin’s big wrestling match is doing something about the epidemic drunk driving while still holding on to the drinking tradition. We have more taverns in Wisconsin per capita than any other place in the country. The Tavern League, a lobbying organization, is a powerful force in Madison.

Sending drunken drivers up the river is going to be expensive. It’s not a solution because it would literally triple our prison population. That’s how large this problem is, and so we need to examine the situation and find a practical solution. I believe treatment is better and far less expensive.

Court ordered or otherwise, treatment offers greater possibility of avoiding additional DUI incidents. There are treatment programs in the prisons, but sometimes there is a waiting list because there aren’t enough resources to accommodate the demand.

In the weeks and months ahead, the Wisconsin legislature will be dealing with DUI and the tug-of-war between the Tavern League/Wisconsin culture and those who present the reality of a very real and ever-growing public health crisis.

Ned Wicker is the addictions chaplain at Waukesha Memorial Hospital Lawrence Center

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