This seems like a really good service. So many people may have stories they are less than proud to be associated with that are worth hearing. @stellabelle this was a really good idea.

As to this particular article. I encountered some similar experiences though NOT quite to this degree growing up with two alcoholic parents, an alcoholic uncle 8 years older than me (fried his liver by 24), and alcoholic grand mothers. One of my grand mothers fell dead off of a bar stool at age 48. I am 45 today.

I was VERY anti-alcohol for a big portion of my life due to these experiences.

I really am not any longer. I am now of the opinion we should legalize (or at least decriminalize) everything and focus on other ways to help people besides throwing them in jail for what MIGHT happen. Portugal did this over a decade ago and all drug usage (including Heroin) and across the board has dropped. I remember in High School (so we were all under the legal drinking age) virtually everyone DRANK, and managed to get alcohol even though it was illegal. In fact, since it was illegal they seemed to think they needed to binge drink any time they got a hold of some. I also knew a lot of people that smoked cigarettes that were not old enough to do that. Banning, and criminalizing does not actually seem to solve things. If people STEAL, HURT, KILL then charge them with theft, assault, or murder. We need to stop penalizing people for what MIGHT happen and instead focus on helping people.