Zak

The no drug talk is a lttile outdated givin the huge pill addiction many of us had bezo type meds or pain pill along with drinking.Todays prescriptions are so easy to get with a Doc in the box in almost every strip mall.Our nerves are raw and you know how many of us mix both.Some may say go to NA but I find the solution mostly in AA.We need to be more tolerant about cross-addiction.

CAPTAINZING2000

I used both drugs an alcohol. I'm not concerned with why someone else is at a meeting. I'm selfish that way

barb dwyer

I firmly believe if the founders
had HAD the wealth of drugs available today
for treatment of the mental disorders that accompany alcoholism
they'd have USED those drugs.
They didn't even had penicillin
when the fellowship began.

But, that in mind -
I don't go to AA to discuss drugs.
Or to discuss my problems with drugs.

The solution, for me,
was in the action suggested
to combat my alcoholism.

While I think alcholism is a personality
before it's a substance
I think drug-alogs at AA meetings
are inappropriate.

One of the things we must learn
as alcoholics in order to remain sober
and to thrive in a state of being called 'sobriety'
is there is an appropriate time
and an appropriate place
for everything.

NA is the appropriate place
for drug discussions.

Sugah

I'd add drunk-alogs to what I think is inappropriate at AA meetings, too.

Sure, the newcomer has to hear something so he or she can relate, but beyond that, if the focus isn't on the solution, there's no AA -- and there's no alcohol in the solution.

Peace & Love,
Sugah

hendershot

shop around meetings. I have found very few that are intolerant towards drug addiction, at least where I go to meetings. There should be some that are more open to all forms of addiction. For me the choice between AA and NA is a matter of which fellowship you are more comfortable in.

Nevertheless

In my AA group anyone wanting to stop using mind altering substances is welcome.
I have never been to an NA meeting here, but I hear it's a joke. I guess there are so many court ordered people there, that they have turned it into a farce. People that actually want to stay clean come to our AA group because Idono for lack of a better term. "the positive atmosphere is too strong" for someone to come in and not have some desire to stay clean rub off on them.
The way I see it AA is there to help people who are powerless over an addiction that makes their lives unmanageable. Thats the way it is around here anyway.
Fred

Mark75

I believe that if you keep your focus on the solution and respect the singleness of purpose then the program of recovery in AA will help you recover.

If indeed you are finding the solution in AA, why fix it?

Mark

tyler

It really depends on where you are and how the local meetings are. While I do not personally practice 12step recovery, I have been to many AA and NA meetings. Yes, some of both are filled with court ordered people. In most areas there are several of both to attend. I feel that for the most part "drug" talk should stick to NA for the most part. But I've been to many AA meetings where people would cross identify (addict/alcoholic) and discuss their past drug use openly with no problem.
Personally I don't think the court should have the right to order people to attend a spiritual based program, that may conflict directly with their beliefs. It is also unfair to all of those who sincerely want to be there to work on their recovery. Of course that is a whole other topic unto itself!! Take care.

joedris

You bring up a good point. Most newcomers to AA (and a lot of the older types) are cross addicted. It's seldom that I don't hear someone introduce themselves as an alcoholic and an addict. And they're in AA because they find that program to be more successful for them than NA. But remember, the primary purpose of someone in AA is to stay sober and help another alcoholic achieve sobriety. For that reason we ask that discussions be limited to problems relating to alcohol. Will the drug issue pop up? Sure. It's hard not to bring up drugs as part of one's story. But the focus is, and should be, on alcoholism. And really, when we talk about solutions to alcohol-related problems, those solutions usually equally apply to any addiction problem, alcohol or drugs.

McGowdog

A bartender is just a pharmacist with limited inventory. But A.A. is for alcoholics.

littlebluedog

AA has a solution for alcoholism. I know I can sponsor someone through their 12 steps and help them to recover from alcoholism, but not prescription drugs. Pills were never my DOC, so the shared experience is just not there. No one can help another alcoholic like another alcoholic, and I'm sure the same rings true for rx pills.

There are 200 some-odd 12 step programs for pretty much everything out there. I'd take advantage of that if I had any other kind of addiction.

jimhere

It is about identification, not about your selfish little addict self. Respect the house you are in. We'll share the solution with you, but if you are not alcoholic you can never be a member.

We don't care what other addictions you are afflicted with or how many co-occurring disorders you may have, if you are alcoholic maybe we can help.

Pinkcuda

What happens when an alcoholic comes looking to AA for help only to stumble into a room full of addicts? Most of the addicts will sling slogans they learned in rehab which have nothing to do with AA?
Maybe this is the reason that AA is reverting to it's roots of invite only and meeting in peoples homes.
Just don't forget to turn off the lights and lock up when you leave, because AAs name is still on the door.

CarolD

As this topic is specifically discussing AA.....
I moved it to our
Alcoholism 12 Step Support Forum

basIam

While the content above is quite correct, the tone, I beleive is not constructive.

First and foremost, we must always be wary of the newcomer coming to AA looking for a solution to alcoholism. This means if you are already in the rooms of AA everything you say in a meeting must be geared to helping the person to, first, identify with the people in the room and second, understanding that there is a way out.

If you are in the rooms of AA, you have an obligation to address recovery from alcoholism and alcoholism only. The person coming in the door is looking for a solution to that. If he hears people talking about drugs, or people whining about the sad state of their life, or anything else that isn't AA, he is bound to high tail it out. And then, he will delude himself into saying "I did AA and it didn't work for me!" (as a few people on SR forums say!!!)

Now the problem I typically see -a newcomer comes in and describes himself as an addict and the old timers get indignant and can say some real arrogant things. What these old timers forget is how hard it was to admit that they were alcoholic. They forget that the mind of an alcoholic will try to use any reason to "compare out" instead of "identify in" You old timers forget that before you came in, you didn't know what alcoholism really was. Its hard for you to go back to before you experienced "the doctors opinion" and "more about alcoholism"

I can't tell you how many times I had some gruff em-effer throw the book at me and scoldingly suggest "go read this." Nevermind my ability to really understand what it was saying.

THANK GOD for Eddie who sat down with me and read it to me, and like an artist, wrapped it around my story.

The responsibility isn't on the newcomer to adjust his attitude to suit our recovery. The responsibilty is on us to describe alcoholism as it really is, in a manner that the newcomer can identify with.

As Eddie said to me once, "Alot of people in AA are like people in a lifeboat, watching people, out of arms reach and drowning in the water. Instead of throwing them a life preserver, they shake their heads and say "If you wanted to live, you would learn how to swim to the boat."

Myself, I will often say "I'm an alcoholic. . . my alcohol of choice was crack cocaine and heroin. . . but today I am not confused as to what I suffered from" and then follow this with my story emphasising the allergy/obsession/malady of alcoholism, the actions I took to recover, and then what my life is like today.

I share alot about drugs, but only in the context of alcoholism - "I took a drink and ended up downtown shooting dope" I share alot about not being a heavy drinker, but I share about how my mind tells me I can drink and not end up shooting dope. NEVER has anyone told me I am sharing inappropriately.

On the other hand, I have interrupted people talking about all the DWI's failed jobs/relationships and all the other cr@p that comes with heavy drinking - as this HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH ALCOHOLISM!!!

If you don't believe you are an alcoholic, you can't be a member of AA. Sorry. thats just the way it is (see the pamphlet 'problems other than alcohol')

Does this mean a non-heavy drinker, heavy drug abuser can't be a member? Absolutely not! Again read the pamphlet.

So if you aren't an alcoholic, don't open your mouth, you might ruining the only chance someone coming in the door has for recovery.

The same goes for "anda's" You probably don't know what an alcoholic is.

As far as drunkalogues go, they are EXTREMELY important. They are for the newcomer to identify in. They aren't for the old timer! At the same time, don't go on and on about the dwi's, failed jobs/relationships, health problems (everyone who drinks had and long enough will have problems. . . this isnt alcoholism.) Instead, concentrate on the allergy/obsession/malady. Alcoholics can't help but identify.

McGowdog

The thread title "Lighten up A.A." is a tone in and of itself.

It's good to know who and what your audience is and the autonomy of the meeting you are attending. If you're not an alcoholic and don't introduce yourself as "alcoholic" only in my homegroup, you'll be asked to leave. Now that this is out of the way, we can get down to business.

CarolD

No....I do not want AA to be a place to discuss
anything not specifically pointed to the solution
we use to recover from alcoholism. ..

If cross addicted people can use AA for their answer
to x y or z that's great.
I don't want to hear about x y or z in an AA meeting.

Seems really simple to me to respect our singleness
of purpose...



.

findingout

Maybe if more addicts who found the solution in A.A. would return (or go) to N.A. and carry the message, there would be more of the solution in N.A? The message being that recovery happens by connecting with a higher power through the process of the twelve steps, not recovery happens by attending A.A. meetings or N.A. meetings.

I attend and am a member of both programs. It was alcohol that I was drinking at 5:30 in the morning to get out the door of my house, not crack cocaine. It was alcohol that I left work for at noon, not vicodin. It was alcohol that I could not just stop using. But I had a long history of drug use and "we are people who need to abstain from all drugs in order to recover" was also a message I needed (and need) to hear. It was in N.A. where I first heard that I didn't have a drug problem, I had a Tony problem and the solution to the Tony problem was to change my whole way of thinking. The message of recovery is in both the Big Book and the N.A. Basic Text. The words are different, the message is the same.

Once at one of my regular A.A. meetings, a woman who was addicted to pills came up to me and asked my why another member had gotten so upset with her. She told me, "All I said was I don't have an alcohol problem, I can have a glass of wine and not think anything of it." I did my best to explain why us alcoholics have a problem with her sharing that at an A.A. meeting but I'm not sure it really registered. I believe she did it out of ignorance, not rudeness or disrespect, but her comment would have been just as inappropriate at an N.A. meeting.

The N.A. meetings I attend are not a joke, although there are some people there who seem to treat them that way. The A.A. meetings I attend are not a joke, although there are people there who seem to treat them that way. I have found people in both programs who take their recovery and their program seriously. Those are the people I look for, those are the people who can help.

Ribeye

The traditions state (Trad 5 from the 12/12):

"Each group has but one primary purpose—to carry its message to the alcoholic who still suffers."

AA, quite simply, is here to help the suffering alcoholic.
If an alcoholic has 'other' problems, so be it. But in AA it's about 'alcohol'.

Now, if you can sit quietly and substitute 'your drug of choice' whenever you hear 'alcohol' then AA just might work for you. But if you want AA to change to suite you.....well, good luck with that.

As has been said a few times already, it's not about you (or me) it's about the solution.

Peace.

24hrsAday

it is my understanding that Alcohol is in Fact a Drug.. i do understand it is a Legal Drug, But, a Drug None the Less. in my Home Group We have a Few Cross Addicted People (Like Myself) it causes Us No Problem with Our A.A. Meeting..