Certainly there are different degrees of abuse--but I think the heredity theory is very dubious science. There is a lot of theory which is inappropriately promoted as gospel, something I am liable to do myself. Widely publicized statistical data shows that different ethnic groups have very different rates of alcoholism, but interpreting this data is difficult.

Hereditary-alcoholism theorists suggest that the longer alcohol has been a part of a culture, the smaller the proportion of alcoholics because they have less evolutionary success. A tenuous theory. The cultural factors theory explains the same data by pointing out cultures which ritualize the social or religious use of alcohol, but strongly discourage excessive consumption and drunkenness (Jewish and Italian society are the usual ones cited--both have very low rates of identified alcoholism.) North American alcohol culture has been strongly influenced by the temperance movement which advocated an all-or-nothing approach. You know, zero-tolerance. Some people need to not drink any alcohol, ever, but as a universal cure-all, it's a strategy lacking in breadth.

But if you drink a lot of alcohol for a long period of time, your physiology changes--if like me you have always had a high tolerance for alcohol, you are probably at more risk of developing a severe problem with it than if you get sick every time you drink. The thing is, eventually your liver stops working right, and instead of being processed normally and released gradually, the alcohol is metabolized straight into the bloodstream--and that's when you may get to the point of intoxication and unpredictable behaviour after one or two drinks.

By the way, thanks Dharmabum.

I feel like I've said a lot here, and maybe we should let this thread drop off since John E decided to go to private discussion--anyone who wants to keep this discussion going care to start a new thread?

Best of luck & positive reinforcement to everyone working through this issue in their lives.

Willie-O