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He said two events caused his drinking to increase:

First, he separated from his wife in November 2011.

Second, he felt “betrayed” by longtime allies in the State House.

“I felt a tremendous amount of pressure in my family,” he said. “You take those personal issues (and) add betrayal on the professional side, and it really gets to be overwhelming.”

Dwyer says he felt sold out when Dels. Tiffany Alston, Wade Kach and Bob Costa voted for same-sex marriage, an issue he spent years crusading against. Dwyer told reporters one day before the vote that he had enough support to block the bill.

Kach, a Republican from Baltimore County, and Alston, a former Democrat from Prince George’s County, voted against the bill in committee. But Kach changed his vote after hearing testimony from gay couples. Alston shifted her vote after her amendment was adopted.

Kach and Costa, of Deale, were the only two House Republicans to vote for the bill. It passed the House by two votes in February.

“I had no time to do anything,” Dwyer said. “Had I known earlier, I could have taken some action.”

It was petitioned to the November ballot and passed by 52 percent of voters state wide. “That betrayal really affected me,” he said. “I was physically ill. You pour your heart into an issue like that and it’s devastating.”

He said his drinking culminated in the crash. http://www.capitalgazette.com/maryland_gazette/top_stories/dwyer-opens
-up-on-his-drinking-and-recovery/article_980d0633-137d-51bf-bb16-a0381d54db84.html

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