Story Archives of 'Alcohol Abuse'

Now divorced, Barbara and Reggie Moser stopped by the booth to remember how they lived with addiction for many years while they were married, and how long the road to recovery was.

You can live on Park Avenue or a park bench and be addicted to alcohol. Of the eighteen million alcoholics in this country, one in five function so highly that no one would confuse them with a falling-down drunk. They show up at work, take care of their families, and get promotions - looking good on the outside while concealing their battle with booze.

Sarah Allen Benton knows. She’s a mental health counselor at Emmanuel College in Boston. Prior to becoming sober, she got a master's degree and held down several professional jobs, all while struggling with a drinking problem. She joins us to discuss her new book Understanding the High-Functioning Alcoholic.

And for many heavy drinkers, the road to alcoholism begins in college. Binge drinking can be a tough habit to break, but Augsburg College in Minneapolis has one of the country's few on-campus drug and alcohol recovery programs. It's called Step Up. The students don't just stay away from drugs — they have to get good grades, attend 12-step meetings, and keep their residence hall clean. Independent producer Hillary Frank brings us the story of one of Step Up's students, who uses only his first name, Sam. You can hear this story at the Public Radio Exchange.

(Photo by Joseph Nicolia via Flickr/Creative Commons)

With the release of a new report (PDF) recently, New Hampshire has become one of the first states to tackle the problem of underage drinking from a statewide perspective. Bringing together community groups, elected officials, young adults and members of law enforcement, health care and other affected areas and facilitated by New Futures, the report lays out a roadmap to combat underage drinking. We'll look at the report, get an idea of how big the problem is, and what we as a state can do about it. Laura's guests are John Stephen, Commissioner of New Hampshire's Department of Health and Human Services, and Judge Edwin Kelly, Head of New Hampshire's District Court System and Chair of the Governor's Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention, Intervention, and Treatment. We'll also hear from Jennifer Weirwille Norton, Director of Policy for New Futures, and Kaitlyn Reilly, a Senior at St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Dover who is active in the Youth to Youth program and also helped push the party host liability law here in New Hampshire.

During November/December 2004, NHPR News and The Exchange looked at the history, culture and effects of alcohol in the Granite State. The overlooking alcohol series was awarded an Honorable Mention for 2004 Best Documentary by the New Hampshire Associated Press Broadcasters Association.

New Hampshire has some of the nation's most stringent laws aimed at fighting underage drinking. At the height of prom and graduation season, state officials have stepped up their efforts to educate the public about the consequences of breaking those laws. It's part of a strategy to reduce alcohol use by teenagers that also includes devoting federal funds to increased enforcement over the next several months.

New Hampshire Public Radio's Shannon Mullen reports.