In light of Park Tavern crash, substance-use recovery advocates say comprehensive approach needed

NINA MOINI: This hour, people are gathering at Westwood Lutheran church in Saint Louis park to remember Kristina Folkerts. Christina was killed Sunday, September 1 when a driver slammed his vehicle into the patio at the Park Tavern, where she was working as a server. She was just 30 years old.

The driver in that case has been charged with two counts of third degree murder, two counts of criminal vehicular homicide, and nine counts of criminal vehicular operation in connection with the crash, which killed one other person and injured nine. Authorities say Steven Bailey's blood alcohol level was more than four times the legal limit and that he had five previous DWI convictions.

Now, a DWI conviction on its own isn't always an indicator of substance use disorder, but most drivers in alcohol-involved fatal crashes have high blood alcohol levels at or above 0.15%. That's according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. And that, for perspective, is about seven or eight drinks in an hour, far beyond what the CDC considers binge drinking.

The tragedy makes us wonder how to prevent further tragedies like this one and why people who need help with substance use don't always seek it. And if they seek it, they don't always find it. William Moyers is vice president of public affairs and community relations at Hazelden Foundation and the author of Broken Open, What Painkillers Taught Me about Life and Recovery. He's on the line now. Thank you for being here, William.

WILLIAM MOYERS: Thank you for including Hazelden Betty Ford's perspective on your show today, Nina.

NINA MOINI: Absolutely. We know you have a long, rich history. And you've been open as well personally about your own addiction and sobriety. When you hear about a tragedy like this that happened in Saint Louis Park, what does it invoke in you? What do you feel?

WILLIAM MOYERS: Well, sadness, of course. This shouldn't have happened. It could have probably been prevented if the driver had been held accountable earlier in his life. You note that he had multiple drunk driving convictions. The courts need to do a better job of holding people accountable, which also includes making sure they get treatment for their substance use disorder if that's what they have.

And when anyone who has multiple DUIs probably has a dependency on alcohol. But I'll be honest with you, Nina, as much as this has dominated, this tragedy has dominated our news cycles here in Minnesota, the reality is that a lot of people who have a problem do get better. I mean, at Hazelden Betty Ford, we're celebrating our 75th anniversary.

And that anniversary includes a lot of stories like mine, people who had a problem with the substance, had consequences, needed to access treatment, accessed treatment, and then recover and don't repeat those consequences again. So it's a very frustrating moment because this is a terrible tragedy for everybody involved. But at the same time, there are good news stories.

NINA MOINI: Absolutely. And everybody is an individual as well. I read this statistic that more than one in 12 people in the United States have an alcohol use disorder. Who knows? It could be more. Do you feel like we have a cultural problem with alcohol in this country, or what needs to be done to tackle just those numbers?

WILLIAM MOYERS: Well, that's the question that we've wrangled with in terms of policy in Minnesota and across this country for decades. I mean, once we had prohibition, and it didn't work because it punished responsible drinkers. Look, there's nothing wrong with the responsible use of alcohol. Most people use it responsibly.

Some people who use it or misuse it have a consequence, including a DUI. But they learn from that problem or from that consequence and they make sure they don't do it again. It's only about one in 10 or two in 10 of us in Minnesota who have a dependency on alcohol. And if we don't address that with treatment, with accountability, then we're not going to recover from it any more than we're going to recover from any other chronic illness.

NINA MOINI: Yeah. There are, you know, many different facets to this. And the suspect we know in the Park Tavern case had an ignition interlock device on his vehicle until a few years ago, which would have prevented him from driving unless he was sober. What do you think about the effectiveness of those types of measures that try to get somebody to stop driving? Is that addressing-- it's probably not addressing the deeper problem, but what do you think about those measures?

WILLIAM MOYERS: Well, it's a tool. I mean, an interlock system is a tool. It's a way to prevent somebody from turning their engine on and getting behind the wheel and driving. But you don't have to be behind the wheel of a car to have consequences from a substance use disorder, alcoholism, and drug dependence.

And that's true not only for the person who has the problem, but for people in the community, for families. We know in Hazelden Betty Ford, in the 75 years that we've been treating people and families, that alcoholism has an impact not just on the person who suffers from the illness, but on their family, their employer, their community. And so we need to have comprehensive approaches to how we address alcohol dependency in Minnesota, just like we do across this country.

And while there are many tragic stories, while there are many consequences across this state, we do know that treatment works and recovery is possible for people like me. And when people like me recover, we don't drive under the influence. We show up at work on time. We raise our families. And we do those things which counter the perception that there is hopelessness when it comes to addiction.

NINA MOINI: Absolutely. So important. Only one in 10 people with substance use disorder are actually receiving treatment. That's a very small number. Tell us about some of the barriers, maybe a few of the top barriers from people realizing they might need help and getting that help.

WILLIAM MOYERS: Well, that's the big issue, isn't it? I mean, there's a lot of shame around the use of or dependency on alcohol or other drugs that shame can come from the individual who develops a baffling inability to just say no. The individual continues to do the same thing over and over again, which just steepens or thickens the shame and thus the stigma. There's a lot of stigma in society around people who struggle with alcohol or other drugs.

Candidly, a lot of people don't want help. It is a disease of denial. We know this at Hazelden Betty Ford. For years when I was in my 30s, I struggled with this illness and sort of denied that I was struggling with it or denied that I needed help for it. But candidly, there's not enough in the way of resources. At Hazelden Betty Ford, even in our 75th year, we treat about 25,000 people a year from across the country and around the world.

And that's only a drop in the bucket in terms of the problem. And so we need more treatment programs. We need more resources. The good news is that whether it's in public insurance or private insurance, access to addiction treatment is more available now than it's ever been. But still, it's not enough in terms of holding people accountable, helping them overcome their illness, and returning them as functioning members of their families and to society.

NINA MOINI: From where you sit, William, in your view, what needs to happen so that our state can continue to meet the need or meet the need? Does it need to be government investment? Is it private funders that need to step up or educational opportunities? What do you see?

WILLIAM MOYERS: All the above, Nina. And that's the point. There is no one size shoe that fits all when it comes to addressing the problem. We need education in schools. We need access to treatment. We need to make sure that insurance companies treat addiction on par as the law states with other chronic illnesses. We need the courts to have a carrot and stick approach. We need to hold people accountable.

But one way we need to hold people accountable is by giving them treatment, and sometimes treatment more than once. I think at the end of the day, we need to have more conversations like we're having right now where we don't put this problem in the closet until it pops out in the in the Park Tavern incident. We need to we need to talk about the fact that treatment does work and recovery is possible, that it's OK for people to ask for help, and that when they ask for help, that they can get the help that they and their families need and deserve.

NINA MOINI: William, thank you so much for sharing your critical knowledge and your own personal story of hope and resilience that's so important. Thank you.

WILLIAM MOYERS: Thank you, Nina.

NINA MOINI: William Moyers is vice president of public affairs and community relations at Hazelden Foundation and the author of Broken Open, What Painkillers Taught Me about Life and Recovery. You can listen to NPR News tomorrow, it's Friday, at 11:00 AM to hear his conversation with Kerri Miller about his newest book.