Someone got worked up and huffy and then whined to the mods that I was saying that all non-AAs were smoking dope, which is a ridiculous and intentional misread.
The point is to use a method of evaluating any path to recovery by it's successes. The method I suggested is to find people who have passed the 5yr marker without booze or dope, or staying pilled up. That indicates the path is worthwhile to consider.
Kind of a no-brainer really. If you see very few that meet that low minimum standard, then it's a crappy path to decide to take for oneself.
It's true that alcoholics who are doing substitution don't like to examine what they are doing and get huffy when it's brought up, but like the old guy said, "if everyone likes you then somebody is lying."
Just thought it was worthwhile to add to the conversation about not doing things we don't want to do because we don't think we need to do them because we are sure we know what it takes to stay sober even though we never knew that before.