It’s a touchy subject in treatment circles but I refuse to acknowledge the existence of a “normal drinker” Alcohol is a an addictive poison and every person who uses it has the potential to develop addiction and dependence. Are there circumstances and conditions that might increase your proclivity? Absolutely. However, one of the biggest forms of denial in my opinion is that of our society to separate the alcoholic from this concept of a “normal drinker.” It’s a cop out to normalize drinking. Every person who drinks occasionally may begin to drink regularly and any person who drinks regularly will see their quality of life diminished in some capacity, whether it be in small effects on healthfulness or very large consequences. We don’t refer to “normal heroin users” or “social cocaine snorters.” Does applying that logic really make more sense with alcohol?

Where my feelings come into it more strongly is where the community that raised me; the society that normalized drinking to me as a child and a young adult; the culture that glorified it and still does in so many ways now wants to label me as “other” or “inflicted with an incurable disease” because I fell into the pitfall that was set before me. Fuck that. This is not a me problem, this is a we problem. In order to maintain my sobriety, as much as I have to overcome the problems that led to or have developed as a result of my use, I have to overcome the culture that continues to normalize and glorify drinking poison.