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This is an opinion piece.  If you'd rather read something other than a discussion of drug and alcohol abuse, you might be interested in our four-part series on Hector Noesi.

's awright?  's awright.

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Q.  Do you figure that Josh Hamilton's situation is more dire, or less dire, than we would guess at first glance?

A.  Well, here's one thing about it.  In the PC world, if we don't like something, we go into zero-tolerance mode.  We don't like littering, so throwing a napkin out of your car window is not far removed, on the media-lynching felony scale, from assault with a deadly weapon.  That which we find distasteful, we react to very harshly.

There is a media assumption that for Josh Hamilton, his lapse back into alcohol is pretty much the same thing as if he'd lapsed back into heroin.  This is simply not true.  Many opiate addicts, perhaps more than 50% of them, can substitute alcohol for opiates.  

And then their drinking problems, long-term, may be no worse than that of many "social drinkers" who overdo alcohol.  There is a proverb that 75% of Russian men are alcoholics by the American definition.  It doesn't stop the factories from running.  People go to work and maintain their lives despite the fact that they drink a lot, and I don't think that Hamilton's drinking implies, not at all, that he's an odds-on bet to go back to opiates.

Here is a relatively nuanced article on the question of whether it is okay for drug addicts to drink.

We're not saying it isn't mortally dangerous for Hamilton to drink, of course.  If it meant a 16% chance that he'd relapse into heroin, would it be worth the risk?  Is Russian Roulette with a .357 magnum a cool game, or is it something that insane people play?

But it's his life, and real justice depends on a nuanced consideration of the crime.  A fair judge is sympathetic to the community that is endangered, and is also sympathetic to the individual who has done something wrong.

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Q.  What is your own background as it relates to helping people with addictions?

A.  The church where I work is next door to a rehab center, from where residents circulate freely over to our building.  This has caused me to study up on it quite a bit, as you might guess.

In 2011, one of these individuals, with an extreme history of abuse, became a very active member of our church for about ten months.  A couple of months ago, he fell off the wagon and back into a tragic life.  He's back in rehab now, with career development, and is clearing his life back up.  This has been part of the day gig for some years now.

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Q.  How much would you guess Hamilton has been drinking?

A.  When we read that he was in a Dallas bar, getting his pictures taken etc., the first thought was, "Man, I hope he's not fighting terribly with his wife."  

The next day, we read that the "weak moment" came "because of personal reasons with a family member."  Maybe the family member is an uncle....

This, friends, is why you see Hollywood megastars commit suicide, go to jail, go Mel Gibson, whatever.  Because your marriage (um, or other family relationship) drives your happiness.  

You could have $100 million dollars, be as good-looking as Hamilton or Mel Gibson or Kim Kardashian or whatever, you could have an external life that only Cinderella could dream of ... but if your husband or wife spends their days pushing your hot buttons, you're going to be miserable.

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Q.  You mean, like Hamilton wanted to be caught?

A.  That's the first thing I'd deal with, if he came into my office, anyway.

It's not that hard for a guy to drink without getting caught, for a while, anyway.  In this very article, Hamilton notes that he drank, then invited Ian Kinsler to dinner, and Kinsler had no idea.  Most alcoholics are masterminds at staying incognito, and Hamilton sounds like he is, too.  If Hamilton is that confident about his "game" then you figure he's done it for a while.

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A miserable family relationship can cause so much pain that a person literally longs for death.  Hamilton allowing himself to be busted, photographed, etc., I would guess to be a desperate cry for help.  "I can't take this any more.  Something, anything, has to change.  Maybe somebody will step in and help me with my family now."

Of course, we're speaking from a distance, but these are the syndromes that come up again, and again, and again, in substance abuse.

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