The Doctor’s Opinion on a Life Mismanaged by Alcohol and Drugs – John M.

About This Speaker Tape

Portland, Oregon, during Prohibition. A sliding door opens to a speakeasy where a young man is frisked before entering the drinking chamber. John M. describes a fifty-year war with "Madam Barleycorn," a seductive mistress who led him from bootlegging in college to the front lines of the Normandy invasion. As a military surgeon, he operated on the wounded while clinging to bottles of Spanish cognac and English gin, using intravenous sugar solutions to kill the hangovers.

The wreckage followed him home: a narcotic license that led to a "monkey on his back," a stint in a Texas federal penitentiary chewing bennies, and the crushing guilt of a car crash that killed his first wife. After losing his medical license and suffering a coronary heart attack in a Minneapolis hospital, John M. finally accepted that his life had been mismanaged. He traded the pursuit of professional success for the simple reality of being happy, guided by a Higher Power.

Topics

Timestamps

• 0:00 Introduction of Doc J.
• 3:15 Doc J. describes bootlegging in college and the dean's reaction.
• 6:20 Discussion of cocaine use during medical internship and fellowship.
• 11:45 Account of the Normandy invasion and the cold waters of the English Channel.
• 18:30 The 'liberated' liquor in Germany and the use of IV sugar solutions to cure hangovers.
• 25:10 Experience in the federal penitentiary in Fort Worth and the use of 'bennies'.
• 31:40 The tragedy of the car crash and the death of his first wife.
• 35:20 Spiritual awakening following a coronary heart attack in Minneapolis.
• 38:10 Colleen C. begins her share, discussing her father and brother's alcoholism.
• 43:50 Colleen C. discusses the 'invisible line' and the futility of trying to control her husband.
• 48:10 Laughter: Colleen C. shares the story of her husband's 'dens of iniquity' and her failed attempt to write a book.
• 52:30 Colleen C. reflects on her journey in Al-Anon and her relationship with her daughter.