My uncle lived with my family for much of my life because of his problem. He never seemed too bad until I got to about 7 years old. He was never a physically abusive drunk, but the mental abuse put on my mother and it still takes a toll on me when I start to think about it again. It was not that he would just show up drunk every once in a while, it was that he would do it maybe four or five times a week. People speak of how heroine and other major drugs are so addictive. I believe that these people have really never lived with an alcoholic. My uncle was a really good man when he didn’t drink, but the problem was that he seemed to need it. If he did not have any alcohol in a few days he seemed depressed and did not do much aside from sit and watch television. It is very safe to say that he was addicted. My uncle is not the only one that is affected though. Many feel the same pain that I do.
I have had my turn with a few different drugs and also with alcohol in my short life so far. This is unfortunate, but it has taught me an important lesson before it could all catch up to me and really harm me. I believe that alcohol is the one that started anything that I have done. One other bad experience that has added to my sobriety and utter hatred of alcohol is that one of my good friends in high school was killed by a drunk driver one month before graduation. This was the final straw that led me to stop doing what seemed almost natural to me.
Reading the papers on a Sunday morning does not find me reading about all the accidents cause by an acid trip gone wrong. On the contrary, back at home in Virginia Beach, I have read more than a few times of five or more drunk driving deaths on a single Saturday night. This seems to be prevalent all over the United States and not just in Virginia Beach.
Garcia tells of how the war on drugs cannot be completed until we stop glorifying alcohol, and I could not agree more. I do go against one idea that Garcia brought up. He said as his final words, “End the Hypocrisy. End the war.” This I do not believe should happen. I think that, although many people still do drugs, the few folks that the commercials and the big arrests affect are a number worth keeping the war going for. Alcohol is still, as Garcia implied, the worst drug around.
