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Michaels: Sen. Flanagan's Alcohol Problem Is Common Struggle

New York state Senator John Flanagan
Karen DeWitt
New York state Senator John Flanagan

A top ranking member of the New York state legislature issued a statement on Sunday announcing he had recently completed a program to treat an alcohol problem. In the statement, 56-year-old John Flanagan, the State Senate Majority Leader from Long Island, said alcohol had become a crutch to deal with the pressure of the leadership role he has held for two years.

For more on how problems with alcohol can develop and how they can be treated, WAMC News spoke with Dr. Jennifer Michaels, the medical director of The Brien Center for Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, which operates throughout Berkshire County in Massachusetts. Dr. Michaels says one in three Americans will have a problem with alcohol at some point and it can develop at any age. 

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