Mary Lou Retton Arrested for DUI

[MaryClare]

Problem drinkers are overrepresented among drunk drivers (easy to figure out why). A 57 year-old driving under the influence with a bottle of wine on the passenger seat has a drinking problem. There's no way it's a one-off incident.

Problem drinking isn’t the same as alcoholism. Problem drinking is generally just anti social behaviour, but not alcohol dependency.

A good chunk of British adults could be described as problem drinkers, but they aren’t alcoholics. When problem drinkers are also selfish, that’s when driving under the influence becomes a frequent occurrence. But the majority would never dream of getting behind the wheel whilst drunk.

 

[JaJa]

All that means is that people who are alcoholics have a high chance of committing a DUI offence. It doesn’t mean that they make up the majority.

"Persons who drink and drive often suffer from addictions, but addiction provides a better explanation of drinking and driving than it does of the probability of experiencing an arrest for DUI."

 

[MaryClare]

"Persons who drink and drive often suffer from addictions, but addiction provides a better explanation of drinking and driving than it does of the probability of experiencing an arrest for DUI."

Yes. As I said, all that is means that alcoholics have a high probability of DUI offences as a result of their addiction. It doesn’t point to anything that suggests a majority of DUI arrests are alcohol dependent.

 

[JaJa]

Yes. As I said, all that is means that alcoholics have a high probability of DUI offences as a result of their addiction. It doesn’t point to anything that suggests a majority of DUI arrests are alcohol dependent.

Alcohol criteria endorsement and psychiatric and drug use disorders among DUI offenders: Greater severity among women and multiple offenders - PMC

Data from the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA), a high-risk family study of alcohol dependence, were used to examine differences in alcohol diagnostic criteria endorsement and psychiatric and drug use disorders by gender and ...

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

"Individuals with two or more DUIs exhibited greater severity of alcohol dependence than those with none or one DUI"

 

[MaryClare]

Alcohol criteria endorsement and psychiatric and drug use disorders among DUI offenders: Greater severity among women and multiple offenders - PMC

Data from the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA), a high-risk family study of alcohol dependence, were used to examine differences in alcohol diagnostic criteria endorsement and psychiatric and drug use disorders by gender and ...

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

"Individuals with two or more DUIs exhibited greater severity of alcohol dependence than those with none or one DUI"

Again, nothing to suggest that majority of DUIs are alcoholics…

 

[JaJa]

Problem drinking isn’t the same as alcoholism. Problem drinking is generally just anti social behaviour, but not alcohol dependency.

A good chunk of British adults could be described as problem drinkers, but they aren’t alcoholics. When problem drinkers are also selfish, that’s when driving under the influence becomes a frequent occurrence. But the majority would never dream of getting behind the wheel whilst drunk.

"Problem drinking" is not a clinical term and most people do use it to describe people with alcohol dependency issues. I do not think anyone on this Board said that the majority of people with DUIs or DWIs are alcoholics -- there are likely tons of young kids who drive while drunk after a night out with their friends but are not alcohol dependent. However, clearly there is some correlation between DUIs and alcoholism and if MLR does have this problem some measure of compassion is, I believe, in order.

 

[JDB]

I don't want to go into the nitty gritty of Alcohol Use Disorder. I do suspect Mary Lou Retton has it and we should have sympathy for her over it. But she always manages to neutralize my sympathy for her in some way, in this case by driving while intoxicated.

 

[JaJa]

I don't want to go into the nitty gritty of Alcohol Use Disorder. I do suspect Mary Lou Retton has it and we should have sympathy for her over it. But she always manages to neutralize my sympathy for her in some way, in this case by driving while intoxicated.

Agreed. On all points

 

[2btrout]

She drives a Porsche?

.... is that where all of the GFM donations went?

“It’s only a car payment” … No really, most new cars are in same range as many of the Porsche models. Though maybe she traded in her 1984 Vette.