Even god forgives, just because someone made wrong choices at some time in his life does not mean he cant sort his life out later.
its not doing anything you want with a plan to repent later, but ppl stray, due to various reasons, company/friends, understanding/misunderstanding, and later they realize hmmm that was not the smartest thing to do, and atthat point want to make a change.
On the other hand someone can say if one gave up a vice becase he came to terms with teh fact that it was wrong, then he has seen the right and wrong much closer and may be less likely to do it again because he has been there.
again we are not talkign about someone with a chemical depencency issue and relapse, but someone who drinks socially because at one point in time he made the wrong decision that it was okay to do so, and is not realizing that he made a wrong choice and wants to stop doing it.
Well ofcourse, there is forgiveness for perhaps even the henious of acts let alone just drinking. But on the other hand, there's also personal responsiblity. If I can just the "pls forgive, I have erred" route out of everything, whats stopping me or anyone to do what ever they want? So there have to be consequences for your actions, I just dont buy the "Im sorry" excuse.
And no he doesnt have any chemical dependency, but the chances of this guy reverting to his past (drugs etc) is a lot higher than someone who has never taken drugs.