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Whiskey Man on a tear through Central Indiana



Spirit of John's 1966 song blamed in deaths of young people.

http://www.indystar.com/articles/8/092383-2508-009.html

Ruth Holladay
Whiskey Man's evil spirits are ruining young lives

     Related content
                  . Hundreds say goodbye to Ball State student



November 13, 2003


Whiskey Man has been on a tear in Central Indiana.

He was in Muncie Saturday, when Ball State University student Michael
McKinney, after several hours of drinking in bars, stumbled at 3:30 a.m. onto
a woman's porch, banged on her door and terrified her. McKinney was shot and
killed by a Ball State policeman responding to her 911 call. Toxicology
reports are not in yet, but it is a good bet that McKinney, who police say ran
toward the officer, was under the influence of something.

The weekend before, Whiskey Man chilled out in Mooresville, at the home of
47-year-old Mike Dorsett, a firefighter and parent who threw a bash for 30
underage kids from Mooresville High School. Steven Terrell, 17, co-captain of
the football team, was killed in a crash after driving away from the party.
Police got a whiff of Whiskey Man at the accident site.

Whiskey Man hit Fishers on Saturday. He was at a sendoff given by Mark Edward
Barbour, 47, whose son will enter the military soon. Guests included 60
under-21 people, 43 of whom were arrested for illegal alcohol consumption.
Barbour, like Dorsett, faces numerous charges for serving alcohol to minors.
But Whiskey Man must have left Fishers disappointed -- nobody died.

So does Whiskey Man sound like an antiquated joke, an invocation of an
alcoholic/drug-addicted John Barleycorn/Bogeyman? Believe. He's as real as the
lives he's ruined, including that of the late John Entwistle, bassist for the
rock group The Who. Entwistle wrote "Whiskey Man" in 1966. ("Whiskey Man's my
friend, he's with me nearly all the time. He always joins me when I drink, and
we get on just fine. Nobody has ever seen him, I'm the only one.") Entwistle
died in June 2002, at 57, of a cocaine-induced heart attack.

So who's keeping tabs on Whiskey Man these days? Not enough of us, by all
accounts. Certainly not enough adults who are responsible for young people's
welfare, including at high school and colleges. Certainly not parents who
serve booze at parties, who both break the law and set a lousy moral example.

But not everybody politely ignores Whiskey Man. The folks who run Fairbanks
Hospital, one of the few addiction treatment facilities left in this
community, are on his case. Here are thoughts from Dr. Rebecca Kelly and Leesa
A. Smith, both of whom work with adolescents there:

Too little attention is paid to drug/alcohol abuse among the 18-25 set. "It is
a real tough age to treat," says Kelly. Many party heavy, she says. Yet those
who seek treatment find support groups in their age range are scarce.

Many parents sanction teen drinking, whether it's out of guilt, a misguided
desire to be a pal or the very American notion that "It's my house/I can do
what I want." Kelly says parents may think they are setting limits by taking
away keys, etc., but the message the kids get is that they have been given
permission to drink, period.

Kids become addicted far more quickly than adults. Developing minds and bodies
are damaged. Many kids now use a "garbage can" approach when they drink and
drug: They go from booze to pot to pills in one setting. Nationally, the
average first age of alcohol/drug abuse has fallen to 9 from 12.

There is an antidote to Whiskey Man. It is the recovery school -- regular
colleges and high schools that incorporate alcohol/drug awareness and support
programs for recovering students. So far, 19 such programs exist in the United
States. Fairbanks hopes to start the first one in Indiana soon.

Whiskey Man will be there, naturally. But only as a dry subject for study.