I awoke to the sound of someone pounding on the door. It was 4 o’clock in the morning. I was a high school student at the time, living at home. The banging at our door continued until someone finally got up and opened it. A voice spoke in urgent tones. There had been a terrible car accident. Three young men had been killed. Police officials found that I had been once been close friends with them and knew them. Since their families lived far away, could I please be the one to go and identify the bodies for law enforcement officials? I did my grim duty. It turned out that the three victims had been out drinking at a nearby bar. The young man who was driving had been under the influence of alcohol.
That was one my first brushes with the deadly power of alcohol, but it wasn’t the last. Someone I knew was arrested for armed robbery. He did it while he was drunk. Another person I knew was charged with raping his best friend’s girlfriend. The rape charge didn