Alcohol Dependence

2 Pages 487 Words

Alcohol Dependence: Underage Drinking
Stan Bailey

Hank Williams Jr. recorded a song years ago titled Whiskey Bent and Hell Bound. At one time, that song was a fairly good description of my life. There are many things in modern society that influence our life, some good, and some bad. As the song implies, one of the negative influences that society had on my life was alcohol dependence. Alcohol dependence results from many different factors, one of which is underage drinking.

I first started drinking alcohol when I was about 8 years old. Anytime I saw a drink, if someone wasn't looking, I would get several swallows as quick as I could. Later, my brother who was six years older than me, would sneak me a drink occasionally. By the time I was ten years old, I would go running around with my brother and his friends. They were all drinking, and they always got a big kick out of watching me get drunk. I continued drinking, and was going to bars in Oklahoma by the time I was thirteen. I stopped drinking for about 3 years, but by then many of my friends were drinking, so once again I was exposed to peer pressure, which resulted in my picking up where I left off. By the time I was a senior in high school, my beer was like an American Express card, I didn't go anywhere without it. After I graduated from high school, I joined the United States Navy. In the Navy, drinking is part of the status quo. Even though drinking was expected from us, I was drinking so much that I was sent to see a substance abuse counsellor. They asked me several questions, which if I would have told them the truth, would definitely have caused me to be put into treatment. By the time I was discharged from the Navy, my room-mate and I were drinking three cases of beer a day every day! There were many factors that led to my alcohol abuse, but the biggest one was underage drinking. In the United States, people who start to drink at an early age are at...