Steve used marijuana as a gateway drug to alcohol. He started using marijuana at age thirteen with an older brother and some friends. By age fifteen, he got into alcohol. By age seventeen, he stopped using marijuana because it did not mix well with his heavy alcohol use. Everything Steve did had to have alcohol involved with it in order for him to find it fun. Steve was a functioning alcoholic until his mid-40s when his addiction caused his life to fall apart and he tried to drink himself to death. Suicide by alcohol was prevented by Steve's twenty-year-old son, and his love for his family turned into greater respect for himself and a pathway to recovery. Now Steve is in a much better place but he is still weary of relapse.