...that drunks always lead tempestuous lives on one level or another, one damned tragedy following close on the heels of the one before until they either dry out or kill somebody, hopefully themselves before they top someone else, but it doesn't always work out that way, unfortunately.

It stands to reason, though; they've had a running start. If someone handed one a pill in a bottle with a little label that said, "This will make you stupid," what sort of idiot pops it in their mouths?

Reminds me of fugu connoisseurs, who aren't satisfied with merely eating a poisonous fish, they want enough poison left in that their lips grow numb, the first sign of fatal intoxication. If one survives -- and one usually does -- you've had all the fun of suicide without the expense of a funeral.

Cheers,

Puddin'