M$Man wrote:
> I'm a 30 yr old man clean for 98 days. My drug of choice was coke, with a
> screw driver chaser to clean my throat after every line, I started using in
> college 12 years ago and was a daily user for 6 years. I spent 30 days in a
> controlled detox, while there I was forced to attend 12 step meetings. I see
> an addiction therapist weekly, who tells me in every session that I am only
> buying time, and can never maintain my sobriety with out a program. I have
> made several attempts to find a meeting that's right for me, but haven't. I
> am also an agnostic, and have deep issues with the theocratic structure of
> AA. I am a high-bottom addict I'm told, in that I have never lost every
> thing and been forced to live in the gutter and sale my ass for a bottle of
> Absolute. That's part of my issue with the program as well, its designed for
> people that have hit bottom and can go no lower, a jail house conversion if
> you will. While I did reached that point, that is, I became so disgusted
> with the unmanageable downward spiral my life was taking, I still managed to
> keep it together. Never lost my job, house, family, friends, and they have
> all supported me through my recovery.
>
> So my question is, are there people out there that have managed to stay
> clean and sober with out the program? Is my desire to stay sober and live to
> see 40 enough to sustain me? I think it is, I mean, I had the wherewithal to
> admit myself, and dry out, and have maintained for 68 days since I got out!
>
> Any insight would be greatly appreciated.
>
> Thanks - Chris
>
>
Chris,

Most people end up abstaining or moderating alcohol and drug use with no
outside assistance whatsoever. Most people who go to 12-Step struggle
to give it up sometimes for the rest of their lives.

The Step groups aren't merely religious, they are religious cults and an
offshoot of a pro-fascist Fundamentalist Christian cult called the
Oxford Group. There is a lot of information about them at:
http://www.morerevealed.com . Maybe very interesting to you is a book
on the website which goes into AA history, its "success" rates
(actuallly it is a horrible failure) and the techniques they use to
destablilize people and gain new recruits.
http://www.morerevealed.com/books/mr/

It isn't really surprising that people who sit around talking about
alcohol and drugs for years on end and under constant pressure to an
authoritarian religious cult don't do nearly as well as those who stop
or moderate and move on with life.

Ken Ragge