Grapes of wrath

If alcoholic beverages were just being invented and up for review now, they would never be legalized for widespread consumption. Just too many downsides and social costs to the populace. The healthniks would squash the proposal like a wine grape.

Which would be too bad. In these days of terrorism and recession, a couple of drinks can be stress reducing. And besides, a glass of California cabernet shows our perceived enemy, the terrorists, that we won’t have our culture defeated. And what about the French Paradox, the idea that moderate wine consumption with meals helps prevent heart disease? Surely that can’t be ignored.

But since we’ve made this substance legal, what does need to be recognized is our responsibility to help those who have a chronic addiction to the grape and other alcohol. Stressors and depressions due to an addiction surround their life. For most of them, the path to freedom has gone down the 12-step road, one that is steeped in religion (See Stepping Out ).

Certainly this time of year—and this year in particular—presents a challenge to those who might relapse back into addictions. We’ve found the stories of two women who have found their own separate paths out, and stayed out.