alcoholism and gavin newsome

san francisco mayor gavin newsome’s recent announcement to seek rehab for his drinking problem has been received with public skepticism. i know the timing of the announcement is not the best since a few days before he publicly apologized for having an affair with his former campaign manager’s wife. this could be construed as newsome looking for a little public sympathy and an explanation for a lapse in his moral judgement. but if newsome is serious about coping with his alcoholism, he should be commended for recognizing his tendency and doing something to control it. for those of us who drink on a regular basis, who can say they can go without a drink once in the presence of a bar or restaurant? can a lot of people make the claim that they can go three days straight without a drink and then not binge when they finally go out for drinks? there is a place for alcohol in our lives, i just think we should be aware of it and not allow it to get out of hand in our daily lives. hopefully, for a lot of us, we won’t need to seek outside help to cope with it but have the will power in ourselves to control alcoholic compulsions and then not have to make appologies for an error in our moral judgement and, in turn, seek rehab.