Alcohol Related Legal Problems

Alcohol started out being the savior of my life at the young age of 14. Alcohol brought me confidence, friends, laughter, and just a social outlet in general with which I felt comfortable being a part of. It was as if I had joined an exclusive club and was cheerfully accepted by all "practicing" members!

The good times continued to roll for a few years (or so I thought). It was all about good times, partying, girls (being the sex crazed teenager that I was), and living a care free life. What I failed to notice at the time was that my grades began to drop, I no longer had a passion for participating in sports (quit my teams), and all of the dreams I had while growing up seemed to fade away. Alcohol quickly became my best friend, medical doctor, confidence coach, and future guidance counselor. What a team of mentor's huh?

It didn't take long for the alcohol related legal problems to come around. As a teenager back in the 80's, drinking and driving was done with regularity. We would load up the car with beer and just cruise through the cornfields of Illinois. Back then the police would usually let us off lightly. The first couple of times, they simply made us pour out all of our beer. Then came the "Illegal Possession of Alcohol By A Minor" tickets, followed by DUI's in the future.

Alcohol charges were treated in a much more mild fashion than what they are today. Teenagers just getting a "slap on the hand" was the commonplace, rather than the exception. Teenagers often have the bulletproof mentality, and I wasn't without exception. I kept drinking and driving even after getting three DWI charges by the time that I was 18. If your reading this and your a teenager, don't think for one second that you will get the same "free passes" in today's world. You will fast-track your ass to jail in a heartbeat.

The alcohol related legal offenses continued to mount. A couple of alcohol induced fights landed me with the charges of "aggravated assault, mob action, and a couple of others that I can't even remember. After two traffic accidents I received more DWI charges that ultimately sent me to jail several times, and eventually to prison.

At the age of 19 years old I was sentenced to a 120 day prison boot camp for violating probation with a DWI. There was a waiting list to get to the boot camp so I ended up serving time in three different prisons waiting to finally get to serve a single day of my 120 day boot camp sentence. All in all I spent nearly 11 months for that alcohol related probation violation.

Ok, by now things are starting to get more serious. I knew that I couldn't continue at the rate I was going or I was going to rot in jail or prison. Before I was introduced to alcohol I was a smart kid, got good grades, and had a bright future. Alcohol entered my life and disguised itself as my friend.

I was lucky enough to get married at the age of 21 and I was able to stay out of trouble for awhile. While I still drank (and drove too), I didn't have any legal problems. That's not to say that alcohol didn't affect my marriage though, because it did. My wife got tired of my antics and we were divorced in less than two years.

I will get into more detail in future posts about my many alcohol related legal problems, I'm just trying to sum up twenty years of drinking in one post.

Over the years I got a few more DWI's and spent more stints in multiple jails. I paid lawyers a lot of money to get the drunken driving charges lowered to lesser offenses when I could. Since I was 16 (I am 35 now) I probably have had a LEGAL license for maybe 8 of those 19 years. My license was either suspended or revoked the remainder of the time.

I am proud to say that I haven't drunk and drove in almost two years, and I pray that I never will again. I have been blessed that I have never injured or killed anybody over the years. If I can send out a plea to anybody out there that is currently drinking and driving, I would like to say "DON'T DRINK AND DRIVE". You will either suffer some of the alcohol related legal problems that I have throughout my life, or it could be much worse. To spend the rest of your life knowing that you have seriously injured or killed another innocent driver/pedestrian will haunt you for eternity, and it will haunt your soul everyday while you are serving years of your life in jail.

I hope that somebody is reading this that hasn't suffered any alcohol related legal problems to realize, that its not just a possibility, it is a PROBABILITY! When you are making poor decisions in an inebriated state of mind, not too many good things are going to come your way.

If any of you that are reading this article have read my other posts, then you know that I am a PRACTICING alcoholic. I haven't yet quit the bottle, and am uncertain on when that day will come. If you haven't read any of my other posts then I encourage you to sign up to the free email newsletter, or RSS feed. This site is about the life of an alcoholic from an alcoholic. Why do alcoholics do what they do, and why do they think the way I do? I hope that you, others, and I will gain a greater insight, perspective, and understanding of this disease that we call alcoholism.

Here is a great book that goes into detail of the thought processes that occur inside the alcoholic's mind. Good read. While I don't agree with everything, It has helped me form some of my own introspective opinions about my disease.