We're safe when we have the fellowship of other addicts engaged in the solution.
Rob, are there CA (Cocaine Anonymous) meetings in your area? If so, I have found this to be a great avenue to learning about and working the 12 steps. There's plenty of dual-addicted AA members out there too.
I'm actively engaged in both programs (CA & AA) as my primary means of staying clean & sober. Before, I found I was able to get clean on my own OK but I just couldn't stay clean longer than a few months. It is only after failing to stay clean on my own many times that I gave in to these programs. I worked the 12 steps (and still do) and have been continuously clean and sober for over 11 years. As a result, life has gotten pretty good.
I was pretty skeptical about all this 12-step stuff and was slow to embrace it, but those cravings I used to experience have been removed. I still have bad days like everyone else--the difference is it doesn't occur to me to pick up a drink or a drug over it.
I've come to see that there is nothing so bad in my life today that a drink or drug won't make worse.
By the way, it is the newcomer that is the lifeblood of these programs--only they can give reports from the front line that remind everyone else where they came from. Remembering my past helps keep me from having to repeat it.
So thanks for my sobriety and I have high hopes for yours!