Sir, - John Waters (Opinion, February 19th) thinks that "alcoholism is a spiritual disease". I am an alcoholic. There is nothing spiritual about the impulse to drink a glass of wine, beer or spirits. There is nothing spiritual about the certainty that if I do have that drink, the resulting physical, mental, and emotional destruction will lead to my death. Don't complicate it Mr Waters. - Yours, etc.,
Tom Farrell, Hawthorn Park, Forrest Road, Swords, Co Dublin.