St. Paul, Minnesota (CNN)<\/strong> \u2013 It\u2019s been over seven years since Marian Hagerman has spoken to anyone in his family.\u00a0 As he huddles behind a parked trailer on a cold early spring day, Hagerman reflects on his life, and recalls what led him to this moment.<\/p>\n\u201cThis is my lifestyle,\u201d says Hagerman, 54, while sneaking a\u00a0swig of what he calls \u201cwash,\u201d or mouthwash \u2013 a cheap way of getting intoxicated.\u00a0\u201cIt ain\u2019t much, but this is what I have.\u00a0 It sucks.\u00a0\u201d<\/p>\n
He says\u00a0he held a steady job for 20 years,\u00a0before his addiction to alcohol took over his life.\u00a0 Today, Hagerman lives at St. Anthony Residence in St. Paul, Minnesota, along with about 60 other late-stage alcoholics.<\/p>\n
St. Anthony,\u00a0which receives funds from the state and the Catholic church, is known as a \u201cwet house\u201d because Hagerman and the others are allowed\u00a0to drink on site, with some caveats \u2013 including no mouthwash.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not bad. I got cable TV,\u201d Hagerman says.\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cYou can\u2019t drink in your room, but you can drink. You gotta do it outside.\u201d<\/p>\n
The theory is that it\u2019s\u00a0better to allow these guys to drink in a safe place\u00a0than to\u00a0end up on the streets and in the city\u2019s emergency rooms,\u00a0jails, and detox centers.\u00a0\u00a0 At St. Anthony,\u00a0they\u00a0have access to nurses \u2013 and doctors if the situation warrants \u2013 plus on-site case managers to aid in their addiction. Ideally,\u00a0St.\u00a0Anthony\u2019s\u00a0counselors\u00a0want the residents to sober up \u2013\u00a0but they realize that there isn\u2019t a strong chance of that happening.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Have you seen this? Know anything about it? Any thoughts? St. Paul, Minnesota (CNN) \u2013 It\u2019s been over seven years since Marian Hagerman has spoken to anyone in his family.\u00a0 As he huddles behind a parked trailer on a cold early spring day, Hagerman reflects on his life, and recalls what led him to this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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