Drag addiction

Quote from stephenNYC : Thanks dear I didn't mean it as AA bashing. AA does help a lot of people and I give it credit for that. The problem is that it also doesn't help a lot of people and you don't hear much about what happens to them. I run into people I knew in AA all the time in my neighborhood. When I tell them that I have been sober over a year but haven't been participating in AA anymore, they all have the same response: A shocked look, then a look of feeling sorry for me, and then say "well, you should start going again, it's only a matter of time before you forget and relapse" . My 'friends' from the program no longer call or return calls. For many, being active in AA, even if that means you keep relapsing and coming back, is valued above being sober without it. I am considered a "dry drunk" and therefore not worthy of friendship. It's a shame.

I'm sorry that this has been your experience but I feel like every time I see someone post a story like this, I need to make a rebuttal to say that "it isn't like this everywhere." Just as I would never dare to categorize everyone who's sober without the help of AA/a 12-step program as "doing it wrong," I truly hope that no one would assume that every AA member behaves the way you describe, either.

I'm glad you're sober, I understand that AA doesn't work for everyone, but I'd hate for someone to dismiss it as an option out of hand because they read something bad about it on the internet. I think that anyone who needs help should be able to get whatever kind of help they need, and AA really does help some people get & stay sober. Maybe something else would have helped me - I wouldn't know because I stopped looking when I found an answer that made sense to me.

What I do know is that while I was still drinking/looking for reasons not to stop, I grabbed on to any excuse that suited my rationalizations. If I'd known a little bit more about AA or how to research things online before I got sober, I might not BE sober today. I've read the Orange Papers and all that other stuff since getting sober, and watched Penn & Teller's episode of "Bullshit!" about AA... and come to the conclusion that what works for some people won't work for others.

I was dying. AA was the only place where people who didn't know me said "come on in, sit down and be welcome." Everybody who did know me wanted nothing to do with me and I figured it would just be a matter of time before people in AA found out about me and kicked me out, too - but what I discovered was that they were all just like me. So I stayed. And the past five and a half years have been amazing, well beyond anything I would have asked for myself back then.

One thing I do notice is that I almost never hear AA members sitting around saying things like "SMART Recovery/The Alcoholism & Addiction Cure/The Easy Way to Stop Drinking/Today's Remedy of the Week/whatever just doesn't work for anybody!" I might hear them say "I tried x, y, and z and none of those things worked for me," but I don't hear them saying "nobody should try x, y or z stay away they're harmful!" The lack of proselytizing is something I really appreciate about Alcoholics Anonymous ("our public relations policy is based upon attraction rather than promotion") and what drove me away from most forms of Christianity. "Go out and save all of your brothers & sisters" wasn't something I wanted to hear every Sunday. In AA I never hear that it's my job to go and save anybody, just that I need to be available if someone asks for help. And we don't tell everybody else that they're doing it wrong - or if we do, and we're working a good program, sooner or later we get pulled up by a sponsor or someone in our network who says "what the fark are you doing?"

That's my experience anyway, for whatever that's worth to you.

Quote from wiles : that's awesome!! :congrats: on 5.5 years! And @ the Sober House roommate. Crack stories always get me going

He denied it with burns on his lips and the smell of crack in the air.

"I didn't smoke crack in that room!"

Oh I guess your lips are just real dry then huh? Burning some incense are we?

Quote from calistyle : Congratulations to all three of you!

Quote from veritableqndry : He denied it with burns on his lips and the smell of crack in the air. "I didn't smoke crack in that room!" Oh I guess your lips are just real dry then huh? Burning some incense are we?

Crack scented incense!
Now I want to watch New Jack City!!

Quote from Count_Chocula : spam addiction

When the addicted can not afford to buy drugs,they commit many kinds of social crimes.We must get rid of this social cancer at any cost.

Quote from skate876 : When the addicted can not afford to buy drugs,they commit many kinds of social crimes.We must get rid of this social cancer at any cost.

How will you get rid of drugs? Outlaw them?

Quote from skate876 : When the addicted can not afford to buy drugs,they commit many kinds of social crimes.We must get rid of this social cancer at any cost.

You are a social cancer on this forum.

Quote from wiles : How will you get rid of drugs? Outlaw them?

Because that's worked well so far.

Quote from Landers : You are a social cancer on this forum. Because that's worked well so far.

It seemed like a solution he'd offer up

Quote from skate876 : When the addicted can not afford to buy drugs,they commit many kinds of social crimes.We must get rid of this social cancer at any cost.

You are a moron. When I couldn't afford drugs (in between pay checks, after I spent all of the money my parents had given me for food, maxed out my credit card and after I had sold the things I owned I no longer needed), I never committed a "social crime." I suffered through withdrawal for days and weeks at a time, usually telling everyone I had just caught the flu. I never wanted anyone to see me like that, I had way too much pride, so I just dealt with it in private. Stop further perpetuating the stereotype that all addicted drug users are poor and minorities that are out stealing and murdering to support their habit. I am white, from a good family, and was enrolled in a top college and drugs got the best of me.

Penn and Teller did an episode of bullshit on AA. For the one year they found that AA released statistics it turns out that AA has the same success rate as quitting on your own.

It apparently worked for my uncle who was really religious. It didn't for my brother. Just remember if it's working for you, great. If not, it's not the only thing out there.

Is OP hooked on drugs?

I thought he was hooked on drag queens?

Is there a SA program I can sign up for???

Quote from Pig : Is there a SA program I can sign up for???

There is Debtors Anonymous [debtorsanonymous.org].

Quote from VorlonFrog : I thought he was hooked on drag queens?

Oooh I bet that gets expensive!!!

Quote from stephenNYC : You are a moron. When I couldn't afford drugs (in between pay checks, after I spent all of the money my parents had given me for food, maxed out my credit card and after I had sold the things I owned I no longer needed), I never committed a "social crime." I suffered through withdrawal for days and weeks at a time, usually telling everyone I had just caught the flu. I never wanted anyone to see me like that, I had way too much pride, so I just dealt with it in private. Stop further perpetuating the stereotype that all addicted drug users are poor and minorities that are out stealing and murdering to support their habit. I am white, from a good family, and was enrolled in a top college and drugs got the best of me.

Yes, he is a moron. But I think he is saying that eating spam would be a social crime.

Like "Eww, did you see? He's on drugs so bad, he is eating spam!"

See:

Quote from skate876 : Quote from Count_Chocula : spam addiction When the addicted can not afford to buy drugs,they commit many kinds of social crimes.We must get rid of this social cancer at any cost.

Actually, I don't think OP means anything. I think he doesn't even know what he means...