Jim,I couldn't agree with you more..I would say it is more than some that mean well..Probably more like 95%..And the predators only represent a very small fraction..But yes, they are there..And it is the nature of a predator to seek out the easiest targets..The young,the desparate,the innocent..From my perspective these made up the bulk of the newcommers..and I also saw it happen 1st hand..Now,if there was any structure or authority in AA,something might be done about it..But there isn't and so these predators get away with it. I am also curious about herb..Does it help?? Some of the best people I met in AA were on the mj maintinance program..Also,my 18 year old son smokes..He is ADHD,and honestly,it seems to really help him..I never smoked it,so I don't know?? but if it would help with the al,I would give it a try..Have a good day guys...Goodman

Yeah there are definitely some really cool people in AA. It's funny because I see that there are good things AA did for me, but unfortunately sobriety isn't one of them.

Yogagirl and Goodman,

I would have to say, the herb is relatively new to me (the past year). As a 45 year old musician (was cool to realize just how many of us there are here on this board), I've obviously been around it all of my life and tried it throughout my life but it always kinda wigged me out. I don't know if its something I would want to do too often once my alcohol intake decreases, as I can wig out on it, however, that being said, it intensifies the feeling of the buzz so you might drink a little less.

Now that I enjoy the taste of it (the herb), I may have opened up a can of worms however.

I would suggest maybe trying it,....being that we're addicts though. I've seen people turn into pot heads which is not cool. Being stoned all day.
I would think in a perfect world, all of us wish we could have a few pops every now and then and smoke recreationally at the end of a long day or once in a blue moon....

Complete honest disclaimer, the herb may be hindering a little bit, but like my obsession with alcohol seems to be gone (habit remaining), I don't think the herb is addictive at all, maybe just psychologically if you really like the feeling. My Best, Jim

My pet hamster smokes occasionally and he said that when he smokes he drinks more than normal. He thinks it is a combination of cotton mouth, paranoia, and couch-lock. Drinking to cure cotton mouth is self-explanatory, but he also feels that AL combats the paranoia that he gets EVERYTIME he smokes sober. Couch-lock is a semi catatonic state where he sits on the couch unable to move, but within arms reach of 6-12 beers (that is ALOT for a 4lb hamster!). For those that have seen "Get Him to the Greek" and have experience with drugs, he uses alcohol as his "furry wall." If you haven't seen the movie, or lack experience with psychoactive drugs, a "furry wall" is an object to keep you grounded in this world so you don't slip all the way into an alternate existence. Kinda like holding on to the grass to keep from falling off the Earth. The repetition of drinking from the can, and the familiar taste keep him in this world and out of cartoonland. He is not one to do things half-assed, so when he smokes, he smokes to get high.

He thinks that smoking MJ, one of it's synthetic alternatives, or any other psychoactive drug is fine, but he cautions against using it as a replacement for drinking. He believes that he smokes MJ for the same reason he drinks AL: to escape from reality. He is in the process of fixing "reality" so that he doesn't need to escape anymore, but each time he visits cartoonland, the real world seems not worth fixing when there is an easy trip to an alternative universe. He started TSM at the same time I did and hasn't really used any drugs lately due to this reason.

Hello! I am not sure where to post this but I hope the owners of this blog read it. There is an AA member who has been posing as a sympathetic helper on 'alternative to aa' sites all around the place. He has been outed on three sites so far and I wanted to warn you in case he turns up here.

http://stinkin-thinkin.com/2011/05/29/####-other-gig/comment-page-6/#comment-59481

He has taken the people at lifering in for years. He was a moderator there, whilst disparaging them in his other personas. His MO is to get people into AA when they are 'ready' and not before. He has openly spoken of his amusement at seeing people in Lifering and other places relapse. Just wanted to warn you!

Thanks for the warning. We are constantly on the lookout for fakes -- they won't last long here.

I had never been on the Stinkin Thinkin website because I thought it was a pro-12 step site from the name. I couldn't have been more wrong. The AA dictionary parody page is a riot. Here's the link for anyone who wants a chuckle.http://stinkin-thinkin.com/dictionaary/

ST Vincent; you couldn't have been more wrong about stinkin thinkin. I learnt most of what I know about tsm from people on there who SWEAR by it. ST has a link to this site, which is how I found it. If I, or anyone I knew, needed help with alcohol, I would not hesitate to send them here, which I do. In fact, I do not understand whatsoever why people go to AA when they could follow this very simple and proven method.

Come and have a look at st. In fact, since the imposter saga that I linked to, and which I still find hard to believe, I am becoming hesitant to mention any AA alternatives when tsm does not involve the danger of one's recovery being subverted by these jokers. I know tsm costs some money, but nothing to the cost of 'rehab', which is almost universally 12 step based. And I think that the cost of attending AA meetings is very high in terms of the damage it does to one's mental health. The brainwashing into powerlessness, the reliance on a group of unknown and unchecked and unqualified people.

I (we) are doing our best to expose AA. I just wonder how Prof Chick and the man in London will cope with demand. It is so strange that there are so few places to get it.
I am not sure that the AA imposter would bother with this site because it is based on science and not cult religion. But people on this site might also use some of the sites he infiltrated.

I will keep promoting tsm, now more than ever. Hyacinth.