Sen. Torres Says He Was Treated for Alcoholism

State Sen. Art Torres (D-Los Angeles), arrested last month on a second drunk-driving charge, said Wednesday he is an alcoholic and has completed a 25-day treatment program.

Torres, 43, an influential political leader in the California Latino community and widely considered one of the brightest and most energetic members of the Legislature, said he realized after his last arrest that he is suffering from alcoholism.

“I am a recovering alcoholic,” Torres said in an interview in his Capitol office. “I thought I could control it by myself, but this is a disease that you can’t control by yourself. I wasn’t willing to admit that I had a problem.”

The East Los Angeles Democrat became the second state legislator in the last three months to publicly acknowledge seeking treatment for alcoholism. Sen. Bill Greene (D-Los Angeles) missed part of the legislative session when he sought treatment at the end of the summer.

Torres said that three days after the Legislature adjourned Sept. 15 he enrolled as a day-patient in Starting Point in Sacramento. He said he attended therapy sessions for 25 days and returned home at night and on weekends.

Torres said he attends meetings of a self-help group as part of his recovery. He said drinking did not impair his performance as a legislator.

“I know that it didn’t affect my performance,” Torres said. “I don’t know why. Maybe it is because I am so hard-driving or because I am so ambitious about the issues I care about.”

Torres, elected to the Assembly in 1974 and to the Senate in 1982, has been considered a rising political star in California and has been mentioned as a potential candidate for governor.

In the interview in his Capitol office, Torres said he has not yet assessed the political impact of his second drunk-driving arrest.

“I am not a quitter,” he said. “I believe that anything can be overcome if you are honest and forthright with people, but at this point I am not really considering a statewide run. I can perceive only one day at a time. Time will tell whether I am a viable candidate down the road anyway.”

Torres said he does not use drugs and seldom consumed hard liquor. He said he drank red wine “once or twice and week and on weekends with friends or staff in a social setting, usually at the end of a long day.”

The lawmaker was first arrested for drunk driving in July, 1987, when his car nearly crashed into a Sacramento police vehicle parked with its emergency lights flashing.

He pleaded no contest, paid an $827 fine and was placed on probation for three years. One condition of probation was that he not refuse to take any future chemical tests to determine a blood-alcohol level.

In the early hours of Sept. 6, Torres was arrested on a drunk-driving charge after leaving a Sacramento restaurant. The arresting officer said the lawmaker refused to take a field sobriety examination, “could not perform” a breath test and refused to take any other test.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Steve Masuda said the customary punishment for a second drunk-driving conviction is a fine and penalties totaling $1,320, 10 days in jail that can be served on weekend work projects and four years of probation.

Torres also faces suspension of his driver’s license for two years by the Department of Motor Vehicles, an action he said he will fight.

Shortly after his first arrest two years ago, Torres told colleagues in the Legislature that he had made “a mistake and I paid for it” and “now is the time for me to learn” that “drinking and driving are a bad combination.”

Reminded of those remarks, Torres said people will have to judge him not by his words but by the actions he will take “from this day forth.”