Drunk driving: illness or crime?

Mikhail Efremov arranged an accident in the center of Moscow – as a result, a person died. It would seem that everything is obvious. The person who committed the crime must be punished to the fullest extent of the law. Moreover, many people refuse to watch films with the participation of the actor, they offer to deprive him of the title of Honored Artist of Russia.

Readers on social networks are dissatisfied with arbitrariness and crave retribution. In their opinion, the genius and presumptuous star does not take into account the lives of ordinary people, “serfs”.

But along with condemnation on the Internet, words of justification are heard louder and louder. “He is a sick man.” “The brain of a drunk works differently.” “He was not responsible for his actions!” “It’s his problem, not his fault.” “He is sorry, like the murdered man, he had personal problems.”

What is more in accusations and excuses? Real sympathy for the victim and the perpetrator of the incident? Righteous anger? Or a simple human desire to seize the occasion and speak out from the heart? Or, perhaps, the point here is that everyone sees the world from their own bell tower?

Those who love the actor want to justify him. Those in whose families there were victims of an accident call for its destruction. Some cannot separate acting from the personality of the actor, while others cannot imagine what would happen if their relative suffered in this situation.

Man is so arranged – most of his opinions and statements are subjective. After all, we see the world through the prism of our experience, knowledge, and abilities. Therefore, do not go to extremes. The Criminal Code quite specifically defines alcohol intoxication as an aggravating circumstance. Alcohol intoxication, but not alcoholism. The question arises – what is the difference?

“There is a substitution of concepts here,” explains psychotherapist Gurgen Khachaturyan. We consider alcoholism a disease, and alcohol intoxication an aggravating factor. That is, a person may not be an alcoholic, but drive drunk and kill someone, and at the same time the diagnosis of alcoholism will not be made.

According to Article 21 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation: “A person who, at the time of committing a socially dangerous act, was in a state of insanity, that is, could not realize the actual nature and social danger of his actions (inaction) or manage them due to a chronic mental disorder, temporary mental disorder, dementia or other morbid condition of the psyche.

That is, when a person with schizophrenia commits a crime, “not knowing what he is doing,” he is not sent to prison, but to compulsory treatment. And it’s really not his fault that he’s sick.

What about alcohol and drugs? The passion for drinking at first seems innocent, then it develops into an addiction. On the way to the destruction of the personality, people go down many steps, one of which can still be stopped … or not? They move on.

Who are functional alcoholics

On the other hand, are they always and completely guilty of this? Perhaps the environment, upbringing, predisposition inherent in the genes, traumatic experience contribute to the consolidation of addiction? Clinical depression can also be a cause of abuse. The options are endless.

It is always easier to judge than to understand. Judgment brings relief – “I’m not like that, I’m good, I’ll never be in his place.”

Be that as it may, alcoholism and drug addiction are diseases that can and should be treated.

“Alcoholism is considered a disease because, like any other form of addiction, this condition is contrary to the very concept of health,” says the psychotherapist. “Health, as defined by the World Health Organization, is not only the absence of disease. It is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being.

To call a person who needs the constant use of any substances that change consciousness, it is impossible by definition. It is a disease, and more than that, a mental disease—an obsessive craving for alcohol, drugs, and other change in state.”

But if we consider alcoholism a disease, does this mean that it is possible to justify an alcoholic who got behind the wheel? The disease must be treated, and not put a person in jail for twelve years. Is it so?

“Drunken driving cannot be justified, and it doesn’t even matter whether it led to human casualties. The fact is, I repeat, that we are not talking about a disease, but about a state of alcoholic intoxication, in which the speed of reactions, the perception of reality change, the psychotherapist answers. Yes, we certainly have no right to prevent others from changing their reality in accessible ways.

But here it must be borne in mind that their freedoms should not threaten the rights and freedoms of other people, and above all the right to life. Therefore, even on humanistic grounds, there is no justification for drunk driving and cannot be.”

Thus, the one who gets behind the wheel must be responsible for his actions. And if he’s drunk, call a taxi. Another thing is that an alcoholic does not understand where he is and what he is doing, but this will not mitigate his responsibility from the point of view of the law.

The problem is that under the influence of alcohol, people often overestimate their capabilities: they are sure that they drive well, perhaps they think they can handle it, since it’s not far to go. And the result is an accident and the death of an innocent person. And “disease” cannot be an excuse for a killer, whoever he may be.

Many of those who defend Mikhail Efremov appeal to his talent and merits, but is this appropriate? Is it possible to consider that “everything is forgiven for genius”?

“The concepts of genius and irresponsible attitude to the lives of other people cannot be equated,” says Gurgen Khachaturian. – And it is also impossible to justify a crime by genius, because it would be discrimination. We are all equal before the law, and if so, then whoever gets drunk behind the wheel cannot be justified either by talent or regalia.

This does not mean that you need to open a witch hunt, arrange a lynching, stop showing films or take away awards. Of course, you need to be held accountable for your misdeeds. And it does not matter who exactly will appear before the court for drunk driving – an alcoholic or a healthy person, a star or an accountant.

In this case, it’s not the disease, but the very decision to drive drunk. Taking it, we all risk – the lives of other people, our health and personal freedom. But there is something else to remember as well. In one wise book it is written: “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.” And this means that, in an effort to condemn someone, we should all not forget about humanity and compassion.