Exactly eighty years ago tonight Indiana police introduced unsuspecting New Year’s revelers to the Drunkometer, the first utilitarian device that was used to calculate the blood alcohol level of drivers by breath testing. But it wasn’t until 1954 when Robert Borkenstein developed the Breathalyzer, a more stable and portable device, that highway police were able to use the alcohol breath test as a routine procedure to accurately distinguish intoxicated drivers as “over the limit”.

As a practicing alcoholic I wasn’t scared of drunk driving or the possible deadly repercussions, but I did fear the breathalyzer and the loss of freedom it represented. In recovery and as an advocate I am all too aware of dangers of DUI and routinely deal with the aftermath, now I see the Breathalyzer as a benevolent tool. Much like Dr. Frankenstein’s creature, many see only the monster while those that look deeper will see an invention that reflects the struggle of man dealing with the vagaries of modern advances.

So on this New Year’s regardless if you view the Breathalyzer as good or evil; just be sure to stay safe and make wise decisions. If you drink designate a sober driver, because Borkenstein’s monster will definitively be haunting the roads tonight.

Keeping in mind that the driver of this Russian tank (actually it’s an anti-air armored vehicle) stumbled drunk into a store and bought two bottles of vodka and then proceeded to run over a couple of houses, listen to what the officer says at the end of this clip.

The driver was absolutely sober, because he was going to military exercises.

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My apologies to screedler who sent me this video a month or so back- I lost the link in my computerized clutter until this evening. This story is particularly interesting to me since my time in the military was spent in tanks. I have a few shocking tales of my own, unfortunately they need to stay under wraps as a matter of national secur… uh, reputation.

Thankfully know one got hurt, but it is hard not feel sympathy for the poor guy that had his house ran over by the very army that had left him homeless in the first place. My advice to the ladies screaming at the tank from behind: Never stand behind a tank. Even with a sober driver a tanker can only see directly in front of him without a commander up top to guide and can’t hear a thing except the sound of the vehicle. They are lucky they weren’t flattened.

Back to the officer who said the tank driver was “completely sober”… get a breathalyzer!

So now we get to the last and most difficult installment (because I promised solutions) of my series on alcohol and violence. If you haven’t done so I suggest going back and reading part one and two. Laying a little groundwork first, have you ever noticed how there are particular subjects our media will almost fall over itself to mention in a negative light? Here’s a good example that doesn’t just border absurdity, as you can see it actually crashes across the border.

EL PASO, Texas — Two young Mexican children were killed, and their mother and two sisters were hospitalized Friday after a sport utility vehicle ran over a family while speeding toward a border crossing, authorities said. The SUV had a bloodied windshield and was dragging a baby stroller underneath when it stopped at a border checkpoint in the border town of El Paso, said Roger Maier, spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Patrol ~ Fox News

Not until the fourth paragraph of this story are we informed that this bloodthirsty SUV even has a driver, much less that he was probably DRUNK!

Just do a Google search on “SUV Kills” and it’s hard not to notice that the media has decided that SUV=Bad. I wish the same thing could be said for the way they report the violence in which alcohol plays a factor. According to a University of Ohio study, even though alcohol is a contributing factor in at least a third of most accidents and crimes its complicity is vastly under-reported.

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Now to make my point. For a generation our cars continued to get bigger and more powerful, what soccer mom didn’t need a vehicle that would seat fourteen to drive around her 1.5 kids. But a few years back, almost overnight a new must-have vehicle began to show up in driveways: Hybrids. Small, underpowered, expensive, and at least in my opinion one of the biggest sellers looks like a cockroach- so why did they become suddenly popular? It wasn’t really gas prices yet, the reason they first became popular is because they were considered the antithesis of the SUV culture. Most people began driving around in these expensive, over-engineered ugly cars haughtily staring up their noses at the land yachts directly because of the media’s hatred for all things SUV.

It became cool and hip to have a hybrid, our culture had changed. Same thing happened with smoking, even for the large segment that still does smoke over 70% want to quit.

It’s a proven solution and certainly better than prohibition and dry laws that have been miserable failures. My first suggestion is to campaign the media to do what they are obviously good at, a hatchet job on alcohol. Actually a hatchet job isn’t necessary, just truthfully report the news. Not only dutifully reporting alcohol related violence, better yet alcohol and/or drugs, but also how it plays a negative factor in almost every aspect of our lives. Infidelity, bankruptcy, neglect, verbal abuse, truancy, lost time, misspent funds, dropouts, sexually transmitted diseases and teen pregnancies just to name a few. Secondly, we need to get everyone involved, not just the media- schools, parents, and employers could get on this ride all to their own benefit.

Maybe in another generation it would be hip and cool to abstain from alcohol, we could change our culture again.

Read part one of this series here.

Read part two of this series here.

My favorite Sci-fi blog io9 has provided the starting point for the second part in my series on the relationship between alcohol and violence entitled Beverages of Mass Destruction. Citing a Canadian study, How to Build a Violent World in One Easy Step suggests the quickest way to create a dystopia is to just add alcohol.

For every 1,000 litres of alcohol sold in stores (there were no stats for what got sold in bars), numbers of violent assaults and deaths nearby increased by 13%. For young people, the risk increased by 21%. One could easily imagine a dystopian future where cities zone certain “undesirable” areas for more liquor stores, as a way of trimming down or crippling the population there. ~ io9

The study is incomplete, but does it really take a bunch of scientists to figure out that an increase in public alcohol consumption will be followed by an increase in violence? I guess what is more enlightening are those that predictably come to the defense of alcohol in the comments section.

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Even though the post’s author is stating facts only and suggests no new legislation or prohibition, the topic definitely raises the ire of a few of the readers that seem awful defensive. From one commenter, “It sounds like you really want to see a correlation between alcohol and violent assaults. That’s unfortunate. It’s much more likely that a third element influences both alcohol sales and violence — warmer weather, the start or end of the sports seasons, etc.” Another commenter states,” Alcohol laws are ridiculous all over the US. It’s what happens when you live in a country colonized by Puritans. I shudder to think what those same Puritans are going to do with a study like this one.”

For the naysayers, here are a few statistics from the US Department of Justice that add credibility to this “just add alcohol” equation for violence.

• About 1 million violent crimes occurred in 2002 in which victims perceived the offender to have been drinking at the time of the offense. Among those victims who provided information about the offender’s use of alcohol, about 30% of the victimizations involved an offender who had been drinking.
• Two-thirds of victims who suffered violence by an intimate (a current or former spouse, boyfriend, or girlfriend) reported that alcohol had been a factor. Among spouse victims, 3 out of 4 incidents were reported to have involved an offender who had been drinking. By contrast, an estimated 31% of stranger victimizations where the victim could determine the absence or presence of alcohol were perceived to be alcohol-related.
• For about 1 in 5 violent victimizations involving perceived alcohol use by the offender, victims also reported they believed the offender to have been using drugs as well.

There are two very concrete facts here. One is that there is a direct correlation between alcohol and violence, and the other is that most people will turn a blind eye to this fact while many will even try to dispute the obvious. It is a shame that such an easily identifiable problem is considered is reluctantly accepted as unsolvable because of the past failure of prohibition and dry laws.

I however do not agree that we have to accept the status quo and will continue the series focusing on possible solutions later in the week.

Read part one of this series here.

Read part three of this series here.

Unfortunately long before they become an adult, most people have a personal and visceral understanding of the definition of a “mean drunk”.

With alcohol a factor in at least a third (reported) of all violent crime in the US and even more in some countries, one need not be a statistician to be able to correlate the obvious association between alcohol and violence. The same beer goggles that make us indiscriminately promiscuous can also lower the civilized inhibition that usually prevents aggressive and violent impulsive behavior.

I don’t think this fact comes as a surprise to the public, politicians, and scientists, but in today’s world of protest and mobilization the lackadaisical response to this violence is enigmatic.

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The same society that will contemplate spending trillions to battle global warming and not tolerate tainted toys from China will go out of its way not to take notice of what is arguably the single most identifiable “preventable” cause of harm to the civilized world.

Prohibition: It’s massive failure is the first thing that people think of and a main arguing point of those would say that targeting alcohol is a counterproductive process. Others would argue that the benefits of responsible alcohol use far outweigh its harm and that all shouldn’t be punished for the actions of a few. Well I guess the same could be said for the responsible use of nerve gas as a deterrent, and regarding the damages caused by alcohol abuse the term “few” is extremely misleading.

I would agree however that prohibition is not the answer, but neither is avoidance and misdirected initiatives. Take for instance my choice of pictures for this post; it comes from a past BBC story about a proposed ban of glass bottles in Glasgow pubs to curtail their use as weapons. This acceptance and risk reduction are the norm worldwide.

No my answer to this problem is closer to that of the slow but sure campaign that has been waged very effectively in the US against smoking. I propose a “surge” in the war on drugs and alcohol that is more focused on changing the long term social acceptance of alcohol use rather than immediate legislation and enforcement. Of course the anti-smoking lobby has those that equate change with denying liberties, but this is usually the cause of their failed initiatives. No I think long term change is the answer to bringing about a new generation that questions the value of even “responsible drinking” and that alcohol related violence becomes as rare as the vestigial ashtray on commercial flights.

Update: I will continue this series later in the week and leave you with an anti-smoking PSA that is good food for thought when considering my proposed “surge”.

Read part two of this series here.

Read part three of this series here.

I long ago lost any sensitivity about being an alcoholic or speaking to others of my disease, but this is far from common as this and substance abuse are usually deeply hidden by families “in the closet”.

About the only time I am personally reminded of the stigma that some associate with addictions is if I embarrass my wife by bringing up the subject in what she considers an inappropriate environment. Sorry honey. It’s kind of hard not to let the A word slip in mixed company every now and then considering my daily updates of The Discovering Alcoholic.

ATLANTA — Alcohol was a factor in the death of a 25-year-old man who fell down a stairwell at Turner Field during the game between the Atlanta Braves and New York Mets. Justin Hayes of Cumming, Ga., suffered head injuries Wednesday night and was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital. He fell about 150 feet from the club level to the landing on the field level during the eighth inning. ~ Fox News

Actually it wasn’t this story; instead it was the response of the poor boy’s parents to the alcohol-related portion of this story that caught my attention.

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I would like to make two statements very clear before my commentary. The death of this young man is a tragedy regardless of the circumstances and by no means am I trying to say that he was an alcoholic or had an addiction. With that being said it was this press release made by the parents that was a potent reminder that even though alcoholism and substance abuse are a common occurrence in families, it is still something that is considered unmentionable.

Campbell said on Wednesday night that police believed Hayes had been drinking before the accident, but family and coworkers disputed that it had figured into his death. ~ AJC.com

That’s right, they have just lost their son to a tragic accident and it seems that they are more worried that people will notice that alcohol was a contributing factor in his death. Even his friends get in on the act:

Hayes’ co-worker and longtime friend Sean McLendon said he wasn’t the type to drink excessively. “He never had a problem with alcohol,” McLendon said. “He lost his balance.” AJC.com

As if you had to be an alcoholic to get drunk and act a fool in the first place, not to mention that we all know that drinking almost always improves your balance!

The guy was acting the idiot sliding down a railing that had a 120 foot drop on one side. The family wants to say he was just having fun and his friends want to say he was stone cold sober in order to deflect any accusations that he may have had other problems. It seems they would prefer the general public to think of him as just stupid rather than face the stigma than his death being alcohol related.

I notice this type of behavior more often in the South although I am fairly sure it is not restricted to our region. Uncles sometimes just disappear. Teenagers mysteriously get pulled out of the middle of a school year for a vacation or missionary trip. Someone’s father will go to work in South America for anywhere from 30 to 90 days. Jail, rehab, and just the plain insanity of addiction and substance affects almost every family in the nation at some time, yet society in general pretends “but, it doesn’t happen here or to us.”

Like I said, I feel very sorry for the family of this young man and care little whether he was a raging alky or sober as a judge, it is their response to the reports which are the target of my commentary. We will always be fighting a losing battle with alcoholism and substance abuse if as a society we continue to deny we have a problem.

News report video click here.