AS others have already stated - we have a singleness of purpose in AA - we were never meant to be all things to all people. I don't want to start a whole new argument yet again but alcoholism is not the same as drug addiction.

NA locally to me was always filled with people who were a week or 24 hours clean - no recovery. NA is different to AA because they ahve their own literature and do not use the Big Book.

My home group is a closed meeting, a couple of weeks ago a woman introduced herself as an addict at the beginning of the meeting. It was explained to her that she could not share but she was welcome to stay. Unfortunately due to misinformation she was there last week - with another 'addict' in tow. I explained that this was a closed meeting (having just read out the Singleness of purpose card). She had been misinformed that she was welcome to attend so long as she didn't share. I told her that she could not attend the meeting as it is for alcoholics only-being a closed meeting.
Her reason for coming to the meeting was that their were no meetings of her and her friend's fellowship locally. She was OA and he was GA.. I suggested the radical idea that each of them could start a new meeting in their respective fellowships, it seemed like no one had thought of that!

ours is not only a closed meeting, it is a beginners meeting and for that reason we need to maintain the puirity of the AA message as it pertains to alcoholics.

Most of the people in the meeting had been involved in drugs but they are not addicts, they are alcoholics who took drugs.

aahhh peaceful sweet.

Personally and as we all know...time goes but forward.
Within a generation or 2...it will all morph together.The AA book could get rewritten, to attract and help more people.

We are just in the process of watching..almost a miracle
AA is too good to do anything but change abit.

Namaste

I will throw out some bait, still Pat


I am on legal medicinal marijuana. My doctor is fully, fully for it.
I have debilitating nausea sometimes I even get it here *wink

I use a glycerin based tincture...no smoking

change a coming.... Feds need taxes from it.

Namaste

Pat, there is a fellowship like you describe - it is called AllAddictions Anonymous. Don't know how successful it is.

thanks Niki....but I don't consider it a problem.
Can you even imagine the number of staunch (how i was raised) get pain meds? Come on, we must be realistic.

Once again...time goes but forward.

None of us would want our elder AAs to suffer :)

It will be a blast to watch. the change...I hope I get to see

Stopped all illegal drugs, i think like 18yrs ago no pot.

It helps what else am I to do my last years. I hate codeine

btw silly aspirin is a drug too..that was up a bit

gettin tired guys..Thank you for a wonderful day

Namaste... thx Nicky i missed you

So, since this topic is already at the top again....

I went to a new meeting tonight, bc I had missing my usual meeting and......they WHOLE meeting they were talking about drugs and shooting up....NO I can NOT relate to that and I will never go to this meeting again! I felt like an outsider...how could I realate to what to what they went through? I dont have a CLUE what it is like to detox from heroin!!! I dont have a clue about the urges, the withdrawls! I just dont!

And they have TWO OPTIONS, while I only have ONE!! How fair is that??

Sorry, just so frusterated.

And I totally respect what you all have to say here...

Again, just had to vent...and I havent had a chance to talk to me sponsor yet, i will. And maybe I do need to look for clsed meetings as well....

Or is this my HP trying to tell me something? That I do need to look at myself? Am I just being judgemental and seeing the differences and not trying to see what we have in common? Is there a reason I was a that meeting tonight?

UGH, I just dont know right now, and I am not sure why I am letting this get to me sooo much!

Truely hope I did not offend anyone....Just needed a place to vent and talk about this, it is really hard to discuss this with other because as I stated most I even know are cross addicted, even my sponsor, though I do feel comfortable with her.

With me, because to have my serenity I had to accept some talk of drugs, every meeting actually.

The solutions will come...thru you and younger people, it's your world to build.

At the meeting today a girl, 14 was there...court ordered, that gives me a wedgie quick.

My spiritual studies have about fixed stuff like that.
I am chaste...but just because I have HepC 2x...I was drawn to a man like I haven't been in years.
After the meeting we went right to each other. We compared needle marks..he has 2 degrees gotten in prison and now has over a year
I said Hep C......he is on disability for it

I might be able to bond....we can even have sex cause we have same Hep C

and that was an AA meeting.....the God's smiled for me today

Spirituality did it for me

Hi Ashley, both closed and open meetings should be following Singleness of Purpose. The only difference should be that non-alcoholics are welcome at open meetings as observers.

I hope you can find another meeting that is true AA.

But if not, if you have any AAs local to you who also believe in AA's Singleness of Purpose, and are willing to start a new group which adheres to AA Traditions, it might be time to go back to basics in your area and give the still suffering alcoholics out there a better chance of recovery.

Myself and others have done this very thing. Even if its not happening that you can see, there are AA groups all over the world that still implement and follow all AA Guidelines and Traditions.

Each AA group is its own fellowship, is autonomous and a spiritual entity.

I like to think that because our founders knew that selfishness and self-centredness is the root of our problem, they made sure the Traditions are as they are. AA will survive as long the message does not get watered down. For that "we" are responsible.

If you have any questions about starting your own group and think I may be able to help you PM me any time.

Here is a link to the pamphlet "The AA Group" - I think I posted it before but the link did not work.

http://www.aa.org/lang/en/catalog.cfm?category=4&product=41

dang....Bob Dylan said it best....the times they are a changing

Meds were used a whole lot in the beginning of AA. Drugs weren't really available then,,,,I think us dirty hippies brought the drugs into it.
We did not know the downside

The NA program has been around awhile to address this.
I think the courts screwed it up

And as long as the desire and a coffee pot the beauty of AA, in many forms will continue. I was/am a thumper and use legal pot
but will not go to NA

If we just could get everybody to behave!
hug

Namaste

AA was founded to offer a solution to the problem of alcoholism. It's a kind of speciality shop, not a supermarket that specifically fills its shelves to cater to everybody, although its main aim is to be helpful.

Singleness of Purpose is not excluding by design, it is what it says it is.

A bit like this song really:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4tDP-yMwXI&feature=related

I have a dream

AA will begin to accept NA to get them out of their meetings.

They would cooperate by such things as...AA meeting at 10...NA at 11:30. They could share meeting rooms. NA would thrive and AA would be purified. I am sure it could work.

Lets help each other. Lets keep it honest..because right now the only requirement for membership is a desire to quit alcohol.
We should feel free to discuss these other killer things.

One person is told that because they abused a few pills....what honesty...yet......somebody will take away their sobriety date negating all the progress they have made. I stopped AA to gain my spirituality...I saw too much...now I can accept much more.

It's 2 am here....shall I have some tincture or a sleeping pill, I think Home Health comes for my bath tomorrow
Maybe I will race to Safeway for beer to let me sleep (LIKE NO)

Singleness of purpose, do we help all drinkers? or judge them and refer to almost non existence NA.

With due respect, I believe in Jesus. What would he do?

hope i have been lucid, no meds yet tonight

Namaste




Dreams dreams

I do understand your point of view. Pat. I know many dual addicted people attend AA meetings and carry the message they have learned back to NAs who want the AA message on a one to one basis through sponsorship, if that is what the sponsee wants. NA can be built up that way if it is suffering.

CA uses the AA Big Book in my area - I don't know if this is universal?

(hug) ty for your thoughts

My first 2 sponsors were men and Big Book Thumpers.It was blue....oh and the daily thoughts. As you know they had me memorize everything LOL
I rarely mentioned drugs out of respect. They showed me a dog-eared book called Sobriety and beyond. It dates waaay back. Hazelton still has it and I had gotten Reed one.

It showed me that even in the very start they discussed many views.If you want to be scared sober.....it's amazing....but all from the founders group I think.

Namaste