Alcohol problem won't go away by ignoring it

Editor,

It's been a while since I graced your pages with my comments and intellect. As some of you know, I work for Lake County as a Chemical Dependency Counselor and have done this work for over 12 years. I also have many more years of personal experience with alcohol abuse and all the drama that goes with it.

We recently decided to go to the media with answers to questions regarding this sensitive issue and all the other not-talked-about topics regarding chemical dependency.

Someone said marijuana is the gateway drug, but from personal experience I believe alcohol actually takes that position. Yes, all drugs cause problems, but alcohol is the most prevalent mood altering substance used and seems to cause the most deaths and injuries.

I am not here to argue the legal issues but rather the moral issues surrounding the use of mood altering chemicals.

There are people who can drink responsibly and there are people who can't and won't.

There is also the question of "where do the kids get the alcohol?" The answer is simple. They get it from adults who either buy it for them because it is believed they will get it anyway, [so] why not; and there are those who do it to get money to supply their own use.

Personally, I feel it should be a felony to supply alcohol to a minor just as it is to supply other drugs to people. It wouldn't prevent alcohol from getting to some of the kids, but if a person is looking at the possibility of a felony conviction they might think before buying for kids.

This drug and alcohol problem is not going to go away by ignoring it. Every day, we meet budding alcoholics who are following in their parents' footsteps and who are here to take care of a MIP or MDD charge and to get the court off their back.

Most have no intention of stopping their use and will go on to be the future DUI offenders and other criminals who we look down on and don't want for neighbors.

If you don't believe what I am saying, go to the jail and see who is in there and what they are in there for.

About 90 percent are in there for drug and alcohol related crimes and who, without the problem of addiction, would probably be pretty decent people.

If you have a child who is starting to experiment with alcohol and maybe some other drug, talk to them — or start saving money for bail and lawyer fees. Believe me, treatment and education is much cheaper and the death toll will be a lot lower, as well as the cost to taxpayers for our prison systems.

Chuck Ripley, LAC

Polson