A Young Man's Excessive Drinking Leads To A DUI And Time Incarcerated In Jail

Richard had a very difficult time maintaining a job. In fact, because of his lethargy and lack of incentive, he was without a job far more often than he was employed with a job. And when he did find a job, he had an unusually hard time getting to work when his shift began, he regularly got less than satisfactory performance evaluations, and he called off sick so regularly that he commonly got fired three or four weeks after he began working.

Obviously, one of the consequences of Richard's less than acceptable employment record was the fact that he was just about flat broke almost everyday. Regardless of Richard's terrible employment track record and financial lack of attention, then again, by hook or by crook he made it his business to drink in an excessive and abusive manner almost everyday.

So it came as no big shock when Richard received a second DWI. When he went to court, the judge told Richard that his alcohol-related conduct was awful and, consequently, he was going to sentence Richard to spend nine months in the county jail.

During his time in the county jail, Richard was required to learn more about alcohol abuse facts such as alcohol consequences and alcohol deaths, about the hurtful effects of hazardous drinking, and he was required to get alcohol treatment. The magistrate highlighted the fact that unless Richard gets quality alcohol treatment and discovers how to live a life of sobriety, he will quite possibly be spending a considerable amount of time in jail.

Richard stated that he understood what the judge was declaring but he still proclaimed that incarceration was not the most logical punishment. The magistrate saw things from an entirely different vantage point and said that it was his professional job to keep alcohol dependent individuals off the streets who drive under the influence and who get arrested for one or more DUIs. To corroborate this statement, the magistrate listed some respected, extensively evaluated alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction facts and statistics that pointed to some of the negative outcomes that are correlated with careless drinking such as alcohol related deaths.

Even though Richard grasped the fact that he drank in an abusive and irresponsible manner, he never believed that he was an alcohol addicted individual. So it was a real bombshell when Richard started to experience chronic alcoholism symptoms and alcohol withdrawals just about three hours after after getting locked up in the city jail.

To monitor his symptoms of alcohol withdrawal in a harm free manner, Richard was taken to a drug and alcohol rehab facility for alcohol detoxification and then brought back to the local jail. While in jail Richard received alcohol therapy but since he got this therapy as something that was forced upon him, he was unsuccessful in taking ownership of his excessive drinking.

When his time in the city jail was completed, the judge without faltering told Richard that he would be under careful scrutiny and would be required to take random urine alcohol tests. After hearing how Richard did not take ownership of his drinking situation and how he unenthusiastically followed the rehab protocol while in the municipal jail, the magistrate knew that it was essentially a matter of time before he would be seeing Richard once again in court about his irresponsible and excessive drinking behavior.

As the magistrate thought about Richard's situation, he couldn't help but think about how some individuals never "connect the dots" and discover how to live in a responsible and mature manner.