Outburst at Meeting
Member
Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 142
Originally Posted by Mark75 
Really? Seems that a sponsee on illegal drugs is a sponsee not on the beam.
Since then I've washed my hands of the drug issues completely. I don't want to hear about them, I don't want to know about them. I have no opinion on their use.
Member
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Richmond,Va.
Posts: 183
If I am sponsoring someone I want to know exactly what medicines they are taking.Before I will agree to sponsor someone we sit down and I lay out the conditions under which I will agree to sponsor them.
I will not sponsor people who own guns,they can resume ownership after they've done the 12 steps.Too many suicides happen in early sobriety.I will not sponsor someone who refuses to apply themselves to this program as I did.I must know if they want what I have and are willing to go to any lengths to get it before we start the work.
It is a great honor to be asked to sponsor someone....and I assume that if they drink again they will die,even if they don't realize it yet.
I will not sponsor people who own guns,they can resume ownership after they've done the 12 steps.Too many suicides happen in early sobriety.I will not sponsor someone who refuses to apply themselves to this program as I did.I must know if they want what I have and are willing to go to any lengths to get it before we start the work.
It is a great honor to be asked to sponsor someone....and I assume that if they drink again they will die,even if they don't realize it yet.
Member
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Australia
Posts: 3,597
This topic came up at a meeting last night and it was pointed out that the 5th Tradition is "Each group has but one primary purpose - to carry it's message to the alcoholic who still suffers". NA exists for those who have a drug problem.
I am an addict as well as an alcoholic but I don't feel my sobriety is threatened by not talking about my drug problem at an AA meeting. I can pick up the phone and talk to my recovery friends if I need to or talk to them before or after an AA meeting. I don't need to share my problems with drug addiction from the floor at an AA meeting.
None of us are entitled to force others to listen to a subject that might not be appropriate at a meeting. I wouldn't go to NA and talk about my alcohol problems and get huffy because I was reminded it was NA, not AA.
Having said all that though, I'm willing to bet that the majority of AA meetings are ok with people sharing about any addiction. That's certainly the case in the area I live.
I am an addict as well as an alcoholic but I don't feel my sobriety is threatened by not talking about my drug problem at an AA meeting. I can pick up the phone and talk to my recovery friends if I need to or talk to them before or after an AA meeting. I don't need to share my problems with drug addiction from the floor at an AA meeting.
None of us are entitled to force others to listen to a subject that might not be appropriate at a meeting. I wouldn't go to NA and talk about my alcohol problems and get huffy because I was reminded it was NA, not AA.
Having said all that though, I'm willing to bet that the majority of AA meetings are ok with people sharing about any addiction. That's certainly the case in the area I live.
Member
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: De
Posts: 1,333
I used to shoot up Meth so that I could drink more. Saying that there should be no mentioning of drugs in AA is wrong. One must keep in mind that RESPECT should go both ways when sharing one's experience, strength, and hope.
a southern belle
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: tennessee
Posts: 265
I get itchy and irritated at the judgmental fools who choose to think that alcohol is not a drug! Wish they were wise enough to read and comprehend the medical definition of a "drug". Keep your sober chin up and share til your heart's content...keep in mind...when bill was beginning to help ppl...drugs were only in dark alleys...not in a healthcare professional's pocket!
Member
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Australia
Posts: 3,597
Here is a link to a pamphlet called Problems Other Than Alcohol from the AA website. Alcoholics Anonymous :.
Alcoholics Anonymous : Problems Other Than Alcohol
If someone makes a passing comment about drug use in an AA meeting, it's an overreaction for anyone to get upset about it. Many people say things like 'Drugs were also part of my drinking story' without then going into detail about their drug use.
Alcoholics Anonymous : Problems Other Than Alcohol
If someone makes a passing comment about drug use in an AA meeting, it's an overreaction for anyone to get upset about it. Many people say things like 'Drugs were also part of my drinking story' without then going into detail about their drug use.
a southern belle
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: tennessee
Posts: 265
I too am a recovering alcoholic but, another human suffering from addiction wet or dry still moves my compassion. The way I see it....if this were a group of cancer survivors...would some be scorned, frowned upon, or disqualified because their cancer was different from mine? That's not the way I'm twisted.
Today's Muse
Join Date: May 2007
Location: West end
Posts: 1,081
A drug is a drug, is a drug, or is it? Hmmmm....okay, I can except that alcohol is a drug, if I must. I had a problem with drinking, not pot, cocaine, meth, painkillers, etc. It isn't that I'm not sympathetic to anyone with any addiction, the problem is I can't relate to drug use other than alcohol. I had no interest in illegal substances, zero. I didn't like them and wouldn't cross the street to get them or use them. Now, for booze, I'd go to great lengths to get them and plow anyone over who got in my way. I was obsessed with alcohol, getting more and drinking it. Drugs, I could care less about them.
I could tolerate people mentioning them, but couldn't relate or understand. That is my issue with the matter. Not everyone who has an alcohol problem crosses over into using "drugs". To me, they are separate in my mind. Others don't have to agree with me, it is just how I view things from my experience.
I could tolerate people mentioning them, but couldn't relate or understand. That is my issue with the matter. Not everyone who has an alcohol problem crosses over into using "drugs". To me, they are separate in my mind. Others don't have to agree with me, it is just how I view things from my experience.
Awaiting Email Confirmation
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: CA
Posts: 174
Originally Posted by jojoba
Our program literature states that alcoholism is a unique malady and profoundly different from substance abuse.
Member
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Miami, FL
Posts: 1,701
A very wise old man who had many decades in recovery interviewed me once because I wanted one of his sponsees to be my sponsor. He was probably the only person I met in a 12-step program who ever took the time to explain anything about recovery face to face. (Online, folks are much more forthcoming.)
But he told me that addiction is addiction is addiction. He said that whether you were addicted to alcohol or gambling or chocolate or cocaine, the experience was the same. He told me that if I let myself be put off by the surface differences, I would cut myself off the chance to learn from a whole range of people. He himself had only drank and smoked tobacco, but felt that he was just like every other addict.
I got a job two days later that prevented me from ever going to his meeting again, so I did not see him after that. But his words always stuck with me. (Also, his injunction to never smoke cigarettes because he felt that smoking make it harder to recover from some other addictions.)
While I never felt any strong compulsion to drink, the stories I heard in AA were always closer to my experience than those I heard in other fellowships. It is not the substance that makes our experience similar but rather the circumstances in which we used those substances. I used a drug in a way very close to the way drinkers use alcohol and related to drinking stories much more than drugging ones.
But that said, I learned from a lot of people I heard talk--even when it was about gambling and heroin--things that were completely outside of my experience. Because when they talked about recovering and struggling to understand themselves and face life--that is the same for all of us.
If one accepts the disease model of addiction/alcoholism, it is hard to made too fine a distinction between the different forms of addiction. The same parts of the brain light up no matter what one's substance or behavior of choice is.
Maybe the details of using, drinking, gambling, having sex, etc are different. But a path of recovery is not different for different addictions. It may be different from different people, but a 12-step path of recovery is the same for any addiction. It is the same in SMART or the other techniques as well. You do not change how you recover based on what the addiction was.
But he told me that addiction is addiction is addiction. He said that whether you were addicted to alcohol or gambling or chocolate or cocaine, the experience was the same. He told me that if I let myself be put off by the surface differences, I would cut myself off the chance to learn from a whole range of people. He himself had only drank and smoked tobacco, but felt that he was just like every other addict.
I got a job two days later that prevented me from ever going to his meeting again, so I did not see him after that. But his words always stuck with me. (Also, his injunction to never smoke cigarettes because he felt that smoking make it harder to recover from some other addictions.)
While I never felt any strong compulsion to drink, the stories I heard in AA were always closer to my experience than those I heard in other fellowships. It is not the substance that makes our experience similar but rather the circumstances in which we used those substances. I used a drug in a way very close to the way drinkers use alcohol and related to drinking stories much more than drugging ones.
But that said, I learned from a lot of people I heard talk--even when it was about gambling and heroin--things that were completely outside of my experience. Because when they talked about recovering and struggling to understand themselves and face life--that is the same for all of us.
If one accepts the disease model of addiction/alcoholism, it is hard to made too fine a distinction between the different forms of addiction. The same parts of the brain light up no matter what one's substance or behavior of choice is.
Maybe the details of using, drinking, gambling, having sex, etc are different. But a path of recovery is not different for different addictions. It may be different from different people, but a 12-step path of recovery is the same for any addiction. It is the same in SMART or the other techniques as well. You do not change how you recover based on what the addiction was.
L'il fighter
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Mississauga, Ontario
Posts: 297
Is it really *that* much of an issue to talk about a drug other than alcohol for a few minutes? Especially if it relates to a recovering addict's overall story? Them be some harsh rules in AA.
And yes, alcohol is very much a drug. I have no reason to believe that anything about it is unique, in terms of addiction and recovery.
And yes, alcohol is very much a drug. I have no reason to believe that anything about it is unique, in terms of addiction and recovery.
Member
Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 142
Originally Posted by midgetcop
Is it really *that* much of an issue to talk about a drug other than alcohol for a few minutes? Especially if it relates to a recovering addict's overall story? Them be some harsh rules in AA.
And yes, alcohol is very much a drug. I have no reason to believe that anything about it is unique, in terms of addiction and recovery.
And yes, alcohol is very much a drug. I have no reason to believe that anything about it is unique, in terms of addiction and recovery.
Member
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Near Scranton PA
Posts: 424
I did my rehab in September 2011. It was a 66 bed facility. During the month I was there, and allowing for a rotating patient census, there were 3 alcoholics (myself included) and 63 people with problems-other-than-alcohol. At said rehab, we were also instructed to self-identify as "My name is XXX and I'm a cross-addicted alcoholic". The rationale was that we were following the AA 12 Step model for recovery but nearly everyone had some substance issue in addition to alcohol.
At one of the meetings I attend, I've met an old, old old-timer who worked for the Wisons at Stepping Stones. He was a pall bearer at Bill W.'s funeral and attends all the anniversary celebrations. He's also quite happy to listen to a young girl describe her trouble with an addiction to benzos and says the loudest, "Keep coming back!" I know, because I've sat next to him.
At one of the meetings I attend, I've met an old, old old-timer who worked for the Wisons at Stepping Stones. He was a pall bearer at Bill W.'s funeral and attends all the anniversary celebrations. He's also quite happy to listen to a young girl describe her trouble with an addiction to benzos and says the loudest, "Keep coming back!" I know, because I've sat next to him.
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