"This place has been a reprieve for me from Hell on earth."

The speaker, whom we'll call Bill Walton, is a member of Alcoholics Anonymous. Because confidentiality is central to Alcoholics Anonymous, some of the details of what you're reading are disguised, but it's an accurate composite of the kind of experiences that happen at Ocean City's Atlantic Club, a place dedicated to helping individuals overcome alcohol and drug abuse.

If you were to observe Walton closely, you'd see a well-dressed, confident, successful businessman. He's poised and he speaks with warmth and gentle authority.

Ten years ago, however, you would have seen a different man. Walton's life was falling apart. His wife was divorcing him, and his life was miserable. The problem was, once he had a drink, one wasn't enough. Two weren't enough. He couldn't stop and he was losing control of his life.

Alcoholics Anonymous helped him get his life back. When he joined the Atlantic Club and admitted to himself that he couldn't control his alcoholism, he found the help he needed.

Walton cherished the fellowship of others who were undergoing the same struggles. Today he helps others who are going through the 12-Steps. He understands when someone is going through tough times, times when it's not just trying to get through the day sober, but trying to get through the next minute.

He appreciates what the Atlantic Club has done for him because it's given him his life back. He can enjoy his family, and now he's able to feel fully alive.

He remembers that when he was drinking, that he was barely aware of colors. Now he can see and appreciate dozens of shades of a single color, like blue or green. It's like that for just about everything in his life.

Strangely, the Atlantic Club, which has meant so much to Walton and the hundreds of other people who use it, had its beginnings in a heart-wrenching tragedy.

In 1985, Alan Smith (again, not his real name), the Club's founder, lost his beloved daughter to a car accident. She would probably be alive today if it weren't for alcohol.

Smith wanted to spare others the agony that addiction had brought to his family. As he studied the issue, he came to believe that addiction was the greatest scourge ever to afflict mankind.

That might sound like an extreme statement, but alcohol and drug abuse involve more Americans and kill more of us than were involved in or killed in World War II . The fact is:

* 28.8 million of us suffer from alcohol and/or drug abuse or addiction . (For comparison, during all of World War II, fewer than 16 million of us were mobilized for military service.) * 127,000 deaths a year in this country result from alcohol or drug abuse. (For comparison, during World War II, fewer than 60,000 Americans were killed a year.) * Alcohol and drug abuse increase our susceptibility to cancer, diabetes, heart disease and a host of other lethal diseases. * They increase the likelihood of destitution, criminal behavior, violence, and spouse or child abuse.

Knowing the extreme harm that addiction causes, Smith decided to set up a local center where people could get together and support each other as they struggled to break free. It would be a home for local 12-Step programs.

In 1987, with the help of the Ocean City Lions Club, the Atlantic Club opened its doors. Today, people use the Atlantic Club almost 50,000 times a year.

One of the things that's most special about the Atlantic Club is that not only does it provide fellowship and 12-Step programs, it also houses the Worcester Addictions Cooperative Services Center (WACS). Roughly 250 individuals a week use the counseling services.

By having on-site counseling, the club, in Smith' words, "Puts the stepping stones closer together."

. The Atlantic Club is open seven days a week from 6:30 AM to 10:30 PM. For more information visit the web site at http://www.ocshoreline.com/theclub/

Alan Smith' Wish List

* That everyone would realize that alcoholism is a disease and it will progress until the alcoholic stops drinking. Don't cover for the alcoholic or make excuses; you'll only prolong the time the individual spends in denial. * That people would contribute to the Atlantic Club's endowment fund. The Club could help more of our area's 13,000 alcoholics and drug abusers if there were more funds available.