Gee Dotsie, I think the people who run those programs are contractors so they would have no authority so I suppose they have no power to kick anyone out, but it sure sounds like that guy should have been in jail.

No one can learn anything or make good decisions when their thinking is impaired. That's the problem with driving drunk, people have to decide if they are too drunk to drive after they have had a few and their thinking is already impaired.
If we are going somewhere where we will be drinking even a glass of wine, we decide ahead of time who will drive home and that person gets no wine. It's just too dangerous in this crowded world.
smile

I personally never had a drink, yep that right. I have never smoked either or have I done drugs. I was always the designated driver for the group and still am today. I hate the taste of alcohol in cough syrup so how could it be good in a drink, blah!!! Hate the smell of cigarettes and cigars but don't mind a nice smelling pipe as long as the smoke isn't too near me. And drugs, heck I hate the ones that are necessary to me and why would I want to take others that serve no purpose but to fry the brain and make one stupid? My parets gave us good examples to follow always about that. Me too but both my boys drink and smoke and have done drugs and one probably is still doing them, don't know for sure....I guess good example just goes so far and curiosity and peer pressure win out sometimes...

Chatty,

That is VERY impressive!

D.

Chatty, you bring up a very good point. How is it that some people are able to make good choices about alcohol and drugs while others have no control. So much of it has to do with curiosity and peer pressure, but it also has to do with brain chemistry. And that's the part people don't realize they're messing with when they begin experimenting.

This reminds me of a story I read somewhere about making personal choices. It goes something like this.
Two sons of an alcoholic...

One said," My Dad was a drunk, I am a drunk...it's all his fault." The other son said, My Dad was a drunk, I saw how it affected our family, and I refuse to raise my children that way."

I believe brain chemistry is a factor, also. Alcoholism is described as a disease. So much we don't know about it yet.

chick

Hi everyone, I had a boyfriend (yes, just one!) when I graduated high school. This boy had his eyes on me since the 6th grade. We were both too shy to get together. Long story short, the summer of 1972 we met up, and could not ignore the chemistry. His father was an alcoholic, and so was mine, and we bonded over the hazards of our parents. At the same time, he and I drank the summer away, having beer keg parties in the barn at his house, his father drinking along with the kids. However, my boyfriend would say, "I never want to be like him. I am going to make something of my life." Indeed my boyfriend is a top-notch environmental hydro-geologist and skiier. So, if the USGS needs someone to ski atop a glacier and sample for global warming, he's the guy. His father died of alchohol related conditions at the age of 43. My boyfriend (oops, ex) is now 53 with a 3 year old child. As for me, most of you know the story: I abused drugs and alcohol to ease the pain of my childhood. I'm 51 now, and I haven't had a drink since the Judds did their pay-per-view farewell tour in 1994. (another long story) By the way, when I go to Vermont in August for the writer's conference, this ex-boyfriend will be picking me up at the airport. 33 years after the summer of 1972. So, my point is, alcohol can be a genetic disease, but it can also be a choice. Love and Light, Lynn

I have always said that alcoholics and addicts have no choice in taking the second drink or drug because the addiction impairs their thinking from the time the substance hits their system.

But "choosing" to take the first drink or drug is unforgivable because it affects not only them, but everyone around them.
smile

The above mentioned boyfriend (oops, ex) doesn't know this, but...one morning in 1972 I was alone in the house with boyfriend's father. Everyone was off at school or at work. I was upstairs, and I heard a thud downstairs. I was so scared, I waited a few minutes, then decided I'd better check this out. There was Mr. S., on the floor, having convulsions. He had said the night before that he was going to stop drinking once and for all. I guess that he immediately went into withdrawal. We didn't have 911 at the time, and the house was in the country. I called a neighbor whose number happened to be on the wall, and they came rushing over. What would have happened if I had waited any longer? It was just 10 years after that that Mr. S died. Do you think it scared me straight? No, not at that time. I was one of those children that raid the family's liquor cabinet. I did it when I was 13 to ease the pain. Well, how far I've come. My husband and I don't even own a liquor cabinet! LLL

[ July 07, 2005, 08:51 PM: Message edited by: lynn329 ]

Oh geeshhhh.........if you have a week, I could give you HORROR stories about drinking and driving, drugs and more drugs.

I work in criminal court......

Need I say more?

Every single one of our cases involves either alcohol or drugs. Most of our defendants are under 25 years of age and being sent to prison for 5 years PLUS because of their inability to control their actions.

Seems so senseless!!

Then we have families of the deceased victims crying their eyes out in testifying that they want the defendant to get "life" sentences.

Talk about a heartbreaker!

Being I have four daughters myself........I can't imagine the pain that a parent feels when they loose their own child to drunk driving, or drugs.

My step sister overdosed on prescription drugs when she was 35 years old. This was 7 years ago. Left behind a 5 months old daughter and a 8 year old son. My step father never shows emotions.....and to see him crying like a baby at her funeral was a vision that is forever carved in my heart.

Times are so different than when I was in highschool......sometimes my daughters tell me "ohhh mom, your being overprotective"......but I would rather be this way then to allow them to run around and be subjected to someone else's stupidity, road rage, stray bullet or any of the above. Makes me sick just thinking about it.

Teresa

Teresa,

Is there anything in particular that you've found to be a helpful tool in communicating to teens the hazards of drugs and alcohol?

My 16 yr old and I have a VERY open dialog - but I still sense that she could at any opportunity make a quick decision and do something stupid (it has happened before).

I have since then purchased home drug tests - and let her know that when she goes "out" that I have the right to test her...and if she fails...freedom is history!

danita