I guarantee you that I lost more friends when I was drinking than I ever did when I was sober. In fact friends weren't the only thing I lost when I was drinking. What did drinking cost me? How much was the toll? Does the loss of a drinking buddy in sobriety weigh more than the things I lost when drinking?
I personally have had some of my drinking buddies come back to me after time with questions about how I did it. Then they asked me if they decided to quit would I be willing to tell them how I did it. This is all from the seeds I planted back then.