Rod Speed wrote:
David P wrote
David P wrote

2/3 of the prison population is drug & alcohol abusers, the others
are mostly mentally ill. 12-step spiritual recovery works the best,
but most won't follow the suggestions. If our political leaders
had court-ordered job requirement to attend 3 meetings a week
of Politicians Anonymous, to learn a new way of life & become
less selfish, then more of the drunks & druggies would get into
recovery. Monkey see, monkey do. lol

A.A. Steps for the Underprivileged Non-A.A.
By Edward J. Dowling, S.J. [from The Grapevine, July 1960.]
Just another irrelevant antique.

reams of irrelevant **** flushed where it belongs
€œIts like AA€� has been the passport to acceptance among the
dignosclerotic (hardening of the dignity) for such stigma-
pilloried movements as Narcotics Anonymous, Crime Prevention,
Recovery, Inc., Divorcees Anonymous, Divorcees Unanimous, WANA,
Adiposics Anonymous, the Mattachine Society, Average People,
Nicotinic Nobodies, Daughters of Bilitis, Gamblers Anonymous,
Check Writers Anonymous, Security Cloister, Politicians Anonymous,
and other self-help groups...
Only by the fools who havent even noticed that AA doesnt work.

Drug and Alcohol Dependence
Vol. 181, 1 Dec 2017, Pages 162-169
Prevalence and pathways of recovery from drug and alcohol
problems in the U.S. population: Implications for practice,
research, and policy
by.Kelly, Bergman, Hoeppner, Vilsaint, White

Highlights
Little is known regarding the prevalence and pathways to
alcohol and other drug (AOD) problem resolution.

9.1% of the U.S. adult population (22.35 million) has
resolved a significant AOD problem.

About half use some form of professional or informal
external assistance; half do not.

Most common services are mutual-help groups; outpatient
treatment.

Compared to unassisted pathway use, assisted pathway use
is associated with greater severity.

Abstract
Background
Alcohol and other drug (AOD) problems confer a global,
prodigious burden of disease, disability, and premature
mortality. Even so, little is known regarding how, and by
what means, individuals successfully resolve AOD problems.

Method
Probability-based survey of US adult population estimating:
1) AOD problem resolution prevalence; 2) lifetime use of
€œassisted€� (i.e., treatment/medication, recovery services/
mutual help) vs. €œunassisted€� resolution pathways; 3) correlates
of assisted pathway use. Participants (response = 63.4% of
39,809) responding €œyes€� to, €œDid you use to have a problem
with alcohol or drugs but no longer do?€� assessed on substance
use, clinical histories, problem resolution.

Results
Weighted prevalence of problem resolution was 9.1%, with
46% self-identifying as €œin recovery€�; 53.9% reported
€œassisted€� pathway use. Most utilized support was mutual-help
(45.1%,SE = 1.6), followed by treatment (27.6%,SE = 1.4), and
emerging recovery support services (21.8%,SE = 1.4), including
recovery community centers (6.2%,SE = 0.9). Strongest correlates
of €œassisted€� pathway use were lifetime AOD diagnosis (AOR =
10.8[7.42€“15.74], model R2 = 0.13), drug court involvement
(AOR = 8.1[5.2-12.6], model R2 = 0.10), and, inversely,
absence of lifetime psychiatric diagnosis (AOR = 0.3[0.2€“0.3],
model R2 = 0.10). Compared to those with primary alcohol
problems, those with primary cannabis problems were less likely
(AOR = 0.7[0.5€“0.9]) and those with opioid problems were more
likely (AOR = 2.2[1.4-3.4]) to use assisted pathways. Indices
related to severity were related to assisted pathways (R2
0.03).

Conclusions
Tens of millions of Americans have successfully resolved an
AOD problem using a variety of traditional and non-traditional
means. Findings suggest a need for a broadening of the menu
of self-change and community-based options that can facilitate
and support long-term AOD problem resolution.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/scienc...76871617305203