What can you tell us about Your Environment?

Call Now: 734-507-1333 or call our Toll Free, 24-hour Hotline at: 877-MY-CRIME (877-692-7463)

The Law Office of Joseph F. Awad, P.C. specializes in Restoring your right to drive. Aggressive and Experienced, Attorney Awad will fight for your rights.

License Restoration Questions about Your Environment

1. Do you go to bars?
2. Do your friends go to bars?
3. Do your friends drink in bars and other establishments?
4. If they do drink, how often do they do so?
5. Do you accompany them when they drink?

The hearing officer takes seriously your decision to never drink. It is therefore imperative that your surroundings do not contradict your decision to remain sober. You should never enter willingly enter into bars. Your decision to enter a bar shows that your past is not far enough behind you. Always remember that a person truly committed to sobriety is going to make material changes in life that show a dedication to never again drinking alcohol. Hence, even your presence in bars should not be tolerated. If your battle with addiction is to be successful in the long term, you must never immerse yourself in temptation. It is better to steer clear of alcohol altogether, when it is practical to do so.

If, after a prolonged exposure to the bar scene you decide, in a moment of weakness, to have “one little drink,” you have hindered your progress. The secretary of state knows alcohol addiction well enough to know that your decision to consistently spent time in bars is not far behind your decision to drink at those establishments, as well. One does not make a commitment to never eating sweets only to place a pie at the dinner table. Do not make the prideful error of ever thinking you are beyond a poor decision to drink. You may enter a bar with every intention in the world of only drinking soda. Nevertheless, the urge to consume alcohol may surprise and possibly overcome you if you have easy access to buying a drink.

By the same token, if your friends go to bars as a matter of course, it is clear to the secretary of state that, once again, you have not made a full commitment to abstaining from alcohol. Please recall that your environment has a way of influencing your behavior in ways in which you may never fully appreciate. You should continually stamp out any and all influences over you that distract you from your daily task of remaining alcohol-free. If your “good” friends always go to bars, it is not unreasonable to assume that your friends drink regularly. You cannot hope to convince the secretary of state that you have been sober for a while if your closest companions always defer to going to bars for fun. Any claim that you ALWAYS go to bars with your friends, and never drink, will likely be viewed as suspect, even if you claim it is truthful.

Be very aware of the impression you may be leaving on the hearing officer in your responses. If, for example, you are asked whether or not your friends drink in the bars they attend, your response will reveal a lot about where you spend your time, and who you spend it with. Note the subtle complexity of the question: If you state that your friends always drink in bars they attend, you have implicitly suggested the following: Your friends always drink, you are always around them when they go to bars, and ALL of you go to bars so frequently that you can competently answer the question regarding how often they actually do drink. It is the author’s opinion that no hearing officer will believe that your friends regularly attend bars only to drink soda. Nor will a hearing officer believe, for very long, that your consistent presence in such places will not one day result in drinking alcohol, if it has not already.

Note that all of the questions in this category allow you the opportunity to implicitly show the secretary of state how often you have the chance to drink with your “friends.” The power of peer pressure is not a high school cliché; it is very real and, in many cases, one of the leading causes of problem drinking. With your increased understanding of alcoholism, it is also wise for you to understand that the people that contributed to your delinquency are a thing of the past. If your old friends are your current friends, as well, then your old habits may have integrated themselves into any major lifestyle change you have tried to create. To truly remain alcohol-free, divorce yourself from the friends who have encouraged your over-indulgence, and find new people that regularly demonstrate the decision to make smart decisions: decisions that are in line with your decision to abstain from alcohol by creating a network of friends that help, not hinder, you.

All about License Restoration in Michigan

Michigan's DUI Attorney for Criminal Defense

Click Here for Maps & Directions

26677 W. Twelve Mile Rd.
Southfield, MI 48034