A Sober Perspective on Montana’s Drinking Culture and the Fight Against DUIs
For those who truly know me, you are likely aware I’ve never intentionally had a drink of alcohol in my entire life. I made this decision early in my high school years in Malta, Montana, despite alcohol being deeply ingrained in our high school culture. As a small-town, 100% sober high school kid, I still went to plenty of parties and keggers. That’s when I really began observing Montana’s drinking culture, not as a participant, but as an outsider and frequent designated driver. My observations of the drinking culture continued in college working my way through as a mobile DJ, entertaining at parties, wedding receptions, and office gatherings, always surrounded by heavy alcohol consumers every Friday and Saturday night for over three years in the Kansas City area.
At 21, when I became a young police officer in Kansas City, MO, the consequences of drinking and driving became painfully real. I’ll never forget the moment I helped pull a young lifeless body from a car—just one of many tragic encounters with the devastation caused by DUIs. I even have a very personal family tragedies related to alcohol, but I won’t share it here. You see, this is more than a job for me, it’s deeply personal.
Today and for the past 5 years, I have had the honor of running Drive Safe Missoula, home to our local DUI Task Force in Missoula County, MT. I am also honored to travel across the country as a speaker, helping other state transportation departments, law enforcement organizations, and other groups learn how to leverage Artificial Intelligence (AI) to reduce DUI-related crashes and improve traffic safety. Why? Because I do it for you. Because there’s a good chance you, or someone you know, has experienced firsthand the destruction caused by DUIs. And I never want you to go through that again. I don’t want any other family to face the soul-crushing fear and sadness of seeing a police officer at their door at 2 a.m. delivering life-changing news. I don’t want first responders to witness another horrific crash scene that will ultimately be forever etched in their memories. I don’t want to see another white cross on our Montana roadways. I want you, your family, your friends, and your community…our community to get to where you’re going safely..
When I say, “get to where you’re going,” I’m talking about more than just the grocery store or work. I mean your future destination in life. It’s about you being able to live your dreams and to see the accomplishment of goals you are working toward. That young guy from the DUI crash when I was 21—what if he was on his way to med school, or business school, or becoming a teacher? Sadly, we will never know because he didn’t make it.
More about our drinking culture here in Montana… In high school, it seemed like the goal was to drink as much alcohol as possible and to do it as fast as possible, to prove something—to rebel against the “system,” against the adults, the media, the laws, they were all saying “You can’t. You aren’t old enough.” Legal drinking age 21? Yeah, right. “Hold my beer and watch this.” At the time, I didn’t know the term "Psychological Reactance," but I knew instinctively that this was the rocket fuel behind the under-21 drinking culture I witnessed. Tell someone they can’t do something, and they’ll fight tooth and nail to prove you wrong. Sadly, this is how many people “learned to drink.” There was no such thing as moderation. It was all or nothing and you only live once. After high school and college, many people carried this drinking style on into the rest of their lives where it gets passed down to future generations. Wanna see it in action? Just watch full grown adults at a college football tailgate on a college campus and the under-21 crowd following suit. Even worse when it’s at a T-ball tournament. I don’t think we, collectively speaking, ever learned how to “drink responsibility” in this country, would you agree?
Today, 80% of what I teach locally and across the country revolves around the concept of avoiding psychological reactance in our messaging. The other 20% focuses on using AI to create the strategies that can change beliefs about drinking culture and traffic safety. My goal is long term. It begins with the changing of beliefs, influencing behavior and shifting the culture in a positive direction.
I give a full standing ovation to the industry (See Photo Below) for recognizing the need for change and doing something about it. Sure, it’s about business, but the fact that they’re making and promoting non-alcoholic options like the craft Non-Alcoholic (NA) brews at Imagine Nation Brewing and that places like "Hold My Bar" (Montana’s first NA bar) even exist is huge. I feel the shift, and it’s exciting—especially for people like me who don’t drink alcohol or perhaps for those in recovery. It's a heartwarming service to our community.
I love this because for me, standing at a bar ordering a Diet Coke has always been beyond uncomfortable. It’s not just a “fish out of water” feeling—it’s like a fish flopping on the hot asphalt of a NASCAR track during the Daytona 500, as beer-sponsored cars run me over at 150+ miles per hour while 50,000 beer-chugging fans cheer with every desperate flop. To put it mildly. So now that there are more options and more people who prefer non-alcoholic (NA) drinks are stepping into the spotlight and business catering to this, I’m thrilled. It’s truly a step in the right direction and Cheers to Change!
And, with that, I'll end abruptly and say I hope to listen to what you and our community have to say at the Taproom Dialogue hosted by Imagine Nation Brewing Co. on Sunday, October 6th, from 4 to 5:30 p.m.
Thank you and Drive Safe Missoula.
