You should be damn proud of it...I have a guy in my homegroup that took a white chip (24 hr) on his 10 month anniversary because he smoked a joint....He gained a lot of respect that day....It all comes down to what you want to live with.

Whoops never meant to hit enter. I know that if I wouldn't have had ambition to not drink.....ei>>>>a one year sobriety date....that I would have started to drink again.....and that would have never ended....i have drank since the age of 12 and am now 40....the longest I have ever had a straight time was three months when i was 18. Its not like I am going to lie and say that I have not used. But I know I have not drank, and for that I feel that I am still ALIVE today.

Thanks for the input!!!

Sounds like you are making real progress... You have my support and respect. And congrats for not drinking for a year!

I agree with you totally the chip is not the accomplishment !!!

It really depend on why your in AA in the first place. Is it for alcohol, drugs or both. But the truth is that you've been sober from alcohol for a year. That's someone you should be proud about. Focus on that and not the chip.

I have really mixed feelings and can agree with both sides here so I'm not one to say. However, I wouldn't take the coin simply because I don't do coins. Honestly, I feel the alcoholic with the most sober time is the one who got up earliest in the morning. Sobriety for me is a one-day-at-a-time thing. I've heard and seen too many with tons of time relapse. I've done it too many times to put any stock in consecutive days. For me sober today is enough.

Congratulations on the alcohol abstinance. Personally, I feel if I were using any sort of recreational drug, I would have substituted one vice for another and would not feel entitled to the one year reward. We are all pilgrims on this path to sobriety. Your honesty and integrity are yours and yours alone. Make the decision that makes you feel best.

I use to lie and get the sobriety chip. I once picked up a 30 day chip at a large meeting while I was intoxicated! They are meaningless to me & actually are harmful in my recovery.

If I'm not mistaken aa is for alcoholism, and aa takes no position on outside issues. Drugs are an outside issue.

I don't personally feel that using drugs is sobriety.

to thine own self be true

Maybe see what your sponsor thinks of this situation? Congratulations on a year free of alcohol. I know for me, if I'd taken drugs (non prescribed) I would just be reaplacing one drug for another.

First-off, let's remember that this thread is almost two years old, and the OP'er hasn't been on this site since 4/8/12.

Now, to the original question..............:

"Can I getmy AA one year chip ? If I slipped with drugs."

The answer, per AA (the organisation, not the 'opinions' of any of it's members), would be absolutely yes.

AA has a singleness of purpose (alcohol, alcoholics, alcoholism....no mention of drugs at all). As DoubleBarrel has stated, AA (again the organisation, not the 'opinions' of any of it's members) has no interest in outside issues, and it considers anything other than alcohol an outside issue.

Let's get a wee bit into semantics.........

AA (the org......) uses the term 'sober' which it defines as freedom from alcohol (no mention of any other drugs).

NA (the org......) uses the term 'clean' which it defines as freedom from all mind altering substances (with the exceptions of caffeine and nicotine).

Both AA and NA believe in abstinence.........:

AA believes in abstinence from alcohol; and
NA believes in abstinence from all mind altering substances (with the exceptions of caffeine and nicotine).

.....and btw, these are NOT my opinions, but come from the AA and NA organisations themselves. These are facts which can be checked by going to their individual sites.

(o:
NoelleR

yes -- it seems that the next positive step would be

one year clean and sober

Mountainman


PS
years ago just short of getting my 3 year AA token
I took some pain pills from my doctor (more than prescribed)
I did not go and get the AA token -- just didn't feel honest about it

I've been clean and sober for a number of years.
I can't tell what to do. This fourteen year coin
Has the inscription on it " to thine own self be true"
Ultimately we have to look at ourselves each day
In the mirror and be able to like ourselves.

To me AA or any real sobriety means one day at a time without a drink or a mind altering drug...taking a chip might be considered dirty to some. You can certainly celebrate one year without alcohol and should! But taking a chip at a meeting might not be the best way...this is just the way that I understand the program to work.

To thine own self be true

It's entirely up to you in IMHO; what type of program do you OWN? What's YOUR definition of sobriety, Rigorous Honesty? On thing I can say with certainty; as you have posed the question/concern you have also become attached to it and given it a label, what level of attachment and what label?

In good conscious, I would not
be able to accept the chip.
Any program must be based
on honesty with one's self.

I would have to check my motives. Regardless of whatever 12-step program. WHY I took whatever I took would need to be examined.

Did I toke a joint at a party? Find a pill whilst vacuuming the couch and then eat it? I would absolutely pick up a white chip at my AA homegroup in those cases. Did I take percocet for impacted and abcessed tooth after setting up accountability with my sponsor and spouse? That to me is not a relapse and I would not pick up a white chip.

So the motive matters. Or it has in my limited experience. It takes complete honesty to examine motives, though. It is harder than it sounds!!

My last "slip" was the best thing that ever happened to me. It is not about chips for me, it is about FINALLY living the truth. With rigorous honesty.