enlighten me please
 

for someone who has been a meth addict for years, and has been attending his 11thday NA meetings, doing good feeling great on his sobriety, is alcohol on occasions considered a relapse? I like to mention that my husband is coming home for a vacation after almost a year of us not being together. does dinner with family which entails drinking after considered a step back to base one? kindly enlighten me on this, thank you.

It's the worst idea ever.

As far as NA is considered (or AA), yes, I think it would be considered a relapse. Your husband can choose not to drink at the dinner party. Has he indicated he intends to drink? With most addicts, any mind altering substance is a step back into active addiction. It's just a matter of time before one drink becomes meth again. Maybe not right away, but eventually.

Alcohol IS a drug, and NA agrees with that.

It's a mood/mind-altering chemical.

Meth was my DOC, but alcohol was always mixed in with my other addictions.

I don't understand why he has to drink just because alcohol exists in the same building as him. That seems strange. We have plenty of friends who decline wine when we go out a double date or whatnot, it's not uncommon at all for someone to elect not to partake. Your husband can elect not to partake.

Being 11 days sober and drinking doesn't sound like "drinking on occasion". It sounds like a relapse.

I want to stay sober so I don't go to parties or places where people are drinking alcohol. I just don't trust myself enough because I tend to be impulsive. For me, it's a bad idea.

Alcohol and /or pot are viewed as gateway drugs for those addicted to other substances.

It seems a tad insensitive to have a welcome home gathering that includes alcohol. Regardless, he is responsible for his own sobriety. Is therer some place he can go if he prefers to not be around alcohol?

Since really nothing good can come of it, and something bad potentially could, I hope he chooses to not drink.

My own personal opinion on this is that it depends a lot on the person. While I can easily agree that it is a mind altering substance and possibly a crutch for someone who needs to avoid facing things, I'm not sure its always incompatible with sobriety from drugs. I have heard that for some people its fine as they don't have trouble controlling the alcohol in the same way. However, if things are still shaky, I would think it might be a trigger or at least a first step on a slippery slope. Depends on the person, I think. I don't have a problem with my RAH having a drink in the evening- we rarely ever have more than a couple each. But at the beginning of the journey I did ask him to abstain. Although that was partially so he could show me how serious he was about sobriety too- I needed some concrete evidence evidence at that point.

Since the OP mentioned NA, I'll stick to that.....

Others here have used the terms sober/sobriety; these are AA terms (the AA definition of sober is 'freedom from alcohol' --- no mention of any other drugs). In NA, the term for abstinance/recovery is 'clean' (freedom from all mind-altering subtances--including alcohol).

......as has been stated by kmangel and Freedom1990, earlier in this thread, alcohol IS a drug, and drinking alcohol would be considered a 'no-no' a relapse in NA.

As it states in NA's Basic Text; Chapter Rour, How It Works; in the fifth (5th) paragraph following the steps is says.........:

"...Thinking of alcohol as different from other drugs has caused a great many addicts to relapse. Before we came to NA many of us viewed alcohol separately, but we cannot afford to be cofused about this. Alcohol is a drug. We are perple with the disease of addicion who must abstain from all drugs in order to recover..."


(o:
NoelleR

I thank everyone who posted a reply. It isn't his idea to drink when he comes home. It was actually I who thought fast forward what if, he is invited to drink on family occasions. But, as I was gauging him when we are talking, he said, that he believes and was thought on his recovery a couple of years ago that drinking would mean back to square one. Now i understand, with all your replies and words of wisdom, it is a NO NO! Thank you! :thanks

My husband has been clean for 6 years. He is able to drink alcohol without incident, but he does not use it as a crutch for his emotions, nor does he over-drink. He drinks resposnibly with dinner, or at a celebration etc.

Personally I wouldnt encourage it in early recovery because of the emotional ties that could be established.