I too sobered up before PAWS. My last drink was one month short of my 18th birthday back in 1977. My withdraw from alcohol was several moths before when I came out of a blackout with my legs on fire and spent some time in at the hospital. The week after getting out of the hospital I went back to court for other alcohol related crimes and found myself in rehab, after that a halfway house, and then slipping going to AA meetings and drinking.
Don't let others bull bleep you, you can be young and an alcoholic. Most of us don't live long enough to become "old" or older alcoholics. This is a deadly disease. I seen to many people die because they though they were "too young". I've lost a few good friends because they though it was just a phase or were convinced they could stop if they wanted.
I found help through the Fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous. I suggest you give them a call.