Madison NORML

Source: greenbaypressgazette.com click here

July 27, 2008

We can prevent these tragedies

The more we learn in Gannett Wisconsin Media’s monthlong State of Drinking series, the more it seems we as a society, as a culture, have been in a collective condition of denial.

We all have Jon Sustacheks among us, who have alienated their families and all but destroyed their bodies. We hear about people like Marc Dybdahl, whose parents elsewhere on this page describe his death by alcohol poisoning on his 21st birthday. In Monday’s paper we’ll hear another familiar story, about a young man who is in prison for the tragedy he caused by getting behind the wheel of a car stone drunk.

And then, we’ll have a few more shots. We’ll celebrate another friend’s 21st birthday. We’ll have a few beers and then drive ourselves home — at least we hope and pray that we’ll get home without something going wrong.

The Badger culture can be summed up: “That won’t happen to me.”

We’re not trying to reinstate Prohibition here. The goal of this series is not to ban alcohol or declare Demon Rum the source of all evil in Wisconsin today.

But we are trying to wake readers up.

Families are being torn apart. Innocents are being injured and killed. Individual lives are trickling away, one drink at a time, or ending suddenly.

And most of us look on, say to ourselves, “That won’t happen to me,” and continue as if nothing happened.

But these things are happening. And most of it is preventable.

A sober friend or family member could drive someone home. People who can could stop after one or two drinks. People who can’t stop can be confronted by their loved ones to seek treatment. Our laws that permit people to accumulate seven, eight, double-digit drunken driving convictions could be tightened. We could open drug courts like the one that is seeing success in Winnebago County.

The one thing we should not do is nothing. The stakes are much too high.

It’s time we came out of denial.