kokirisoldier said:
Soo many high horse people and their "drinking is the ultimate taboo" mind set. No one should ever feel guilty because they drink, no matter how much they drink either. Not your life, move on. Sick of seeing overzealous attacks against those that drink. Its not a sin. They are not throwing their life's away. If you want to blame crime/rape/domestic violence on alcohol you have to understand that those thoughts were in the persons head before they consumed.
Not entirely true.
I work as a substance abuse counselor, and a majority, if not all the guys that come into the program's issues are a direct correlation between substance abuse (note: Abuse. Not use) and their problems.
Be it that they were born into a household with a substance abuser and violence, crime, abuse etc were common place in their home (which then extrapolates into their adult life through conditioned behaviors and maladaptive through processes due to lack of proper mirroring etc) or they started drinking/using substances to relieve an inner pain that then got out of control to the point where they committed such acts.
To say that domestic violence, crime and rape are either there or not regardless of substance consumption is not correct either.
I'm sure everyone can relate to being completely wasted and then flirting with someone, and perhaps even going home and getting it on with them. In the person under the influence's mind, they were debonair, charming, and the participant was willing. This may not be the case, and the person could have in fact raped the other person due to a lack of or inability to provide consent.
As for domestic violence: As previously stated, substances remove the ability to make rational decisions and remove inhibitions. Therefore if someone's girlfriend or boyfriend, husband or wife already grated on the person's nerves (but they never in a million years would consider hurting them), by including substances into the equation then they may snap and end up abusing them. This is also because most substances (amphetamines, meth, alcohol) increase irritability. Again, something that would normally just annoy could potentially bring massive rage of someone who has been using substances.
Finally, with the crime piece, a majority of these people with whom I work tell me that most of their crimes were done simply to "acquire" more of the substance, or to survive. If someone lives on the streets due to excessive alcoholism, which resulted in the breakup of their marriage, the loss of their job and the depletion of their income, then they will do "whatever it takes" to survive. Eat out of a trash can? No problem. Rob someone for money so they can buy booze? Sure. The list goes on and on.
Basically, it's not so much a "high horse" opinion, as it's more than likely fact mixed with subjective experience. Similar to how your take on the issue is subjective, so is theirs. I'm simply providing some facts that I've come by through direct experience in the substance abuse recovery community, as well as from studies/counseling background.
(Source: Substance abuse counselor, MFCC trained, many classes/trainings/experience in working within the substance abusing population)
