Alcoholism Support Group
Alcoholism is the continued consumption of alcoholic beverages, even when it is negatively affecting your health, work, relationships and life. If you think alcohol is causing you to lose control, it's time to seek help. Our group is a safe place to vent, check in, get back up if you fall, and reach sobriety.
The Third Tradition states that, "The only requirement for AA membership is desire to stop drinking."
Many people in our group have successfully stopped drinking alcohol, live the Steps and lead happy lives. Many too have used the Steps to quit drinking and other addictive substances.
However, there are people who stop drinking but continue to use other substances and might even consider themselves as sober alcoholics. While I personally don't think a person is sober if they continue to get high on other substances, that person can still call himself a member of Alcoholics Anonymous if he has the desire to stop drinking.
So the group consists of a few substance abusers who are actively trying to stop drinking. What's the problem?
Our group is involved in a lot of 12 Step Work. Our members have the opportunity to go to hospitals and treatment facilities to carry the AA message. People sign up to go and facilitate meetings at these centres.
The problem occurs when a person who chairs a treatment meeting is an AA member who is actively using illegal substances.
I would like our group to define sobriety-not for AA membership but for active AA service work.
Do any of the groups out there openly state their definition of Sobriety? Or, does your group have a definition of sobriety for those who get involved in service work?
Discussion of this would be useful as we have a committee meeting coming up and I would like to have some information to bring to our committee in order to have them consider defining the parameters of those AA's that are fit for service work.
Service work can be anything including, opening up the club, chairing meetings, committee work, or treatment centre work.
Many people in our group have successfully stopped drinking alcohol, live the Steps and lead happy lives. Many too have used the Steps to quit drinking and other addictive substances.
However, there are people who stop drinking but continue to use other substances and might even consider themselves as sober alcoholics. While I personally don't think a person is sober if they continue to get high on other substances, that person can still call himself a member of Alcoholics Anonymous if he has the desire to stop drinking.
So the group consists of a few substance abusers who are actively trying to stop drinking. What's the problem?
Our group is involved in a lot of 12 Step Work. Our members have the opportunity to go to hospitals and treatment facilities to carry the AA message. People sign up to go and facilitate meetings at these centres.
The problem occurs when a person who chairs a treatment meeting is an AA member who is actively using illegal substances.
I would like our group to define sobriety-not for AA membership but for active AA service work.
Do any of the groups out there openly state their definition of Sobriety? Or, does your group have a definition of sobriety for those who get involved in service work?
Discussion of this would be useful as we have a committee meeting coming up and I would like to have some information to bring to our committee in order to have them consider defining the parameters of those AA's that are fit for service work.
Service work can be anything including, opening up the club, chairing meetings, committee work, or treatment centre work.
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My 6mo twin DD's are EBF and just started rice cereal on the first. Everything has been going fine except this morning one of them had a diaper rash (lots of redness around her anus). I read this as one of the signs of an allergy. BUT I did just buy a different brand diaper yesterday (which they have used randomly before w/no issues). Do you think its the cereal or the diaper? Im ready to start...
AA has meetings which are open to anyone. There are also meetings which are closed. Those meetings are for persons who have a desire to get or to stay sober. If an addict wishes to attend an AA meeting, the addict may attend open meetings. However, when I am struggeling to not drink, I am more likely to identify with someone who is recovering from alcohol abuse than with someone who was a "huffer." If a person wants to identify alcohol as a drug, they can. If so, then someone who wants to stop using nicotine and caffine which are just as much a drug as alcohol, would also qualify as a member of NA. Few crack addicts or crystal meth users would take them seriously. Clancy I., who speaks at many major AA functions, said it best. The idea of alcoholics and drug users are the same was probably started at some treatment center which had enough money for only one van and therefore had to take all their clients to the same meeting. Bill W., in writing the Chapter "More About Alcoholism," seemed to believe there were even more than one kind of alcoholics. There are ways to change AA traditions. If one wants to include addicts as AA members, one should get involved in service work.
if it fixes a feeling , then its a no no.
What message do we give to inmates or patients if we allow someone like that to be a representative of AA? 'Quit drink but still medicate yourself with ******* because life is so hard/bad that we can't get along without it.'
Come on!!
There was a lot of controversial discussion of course-including even whether to allow addicts in our AA meetings.
I made sure we stuck to the subject though as some alcoholics have a tendancy to hear what they want to hear and then change what they thought they heard.
We decided not to place any signs in the room diferrentiating the addict. In fact we decided it wouldn'[t be good idea to write addict for public viewing as that in itself might open up a new issue.
We decided to simply state in the meeting minutes that, in order to do 12 Step work, the group requires people to be clean and sober from alcohol and substance abuse for the required length of time.
This is now in our minutes and can be pointed out at any time.
I'm curious though...were there very many who were oppossed to the idea really, that one should be completely drug free?
We made sure to only include alcohol and substance abuse.
It turned out that discussing the issue brought out some of the instances that had occurred in the past, where people were opening up the club, doing coffee, or chairing meetings who were actively abusing drugs, but claimed to be free of alcohol.
The committee (18 members)voted overwhelming for the recommendation stated in the committee minutes.