Broadening the Gateway

I first came into Alcoholics Anonymous in 1996, when I was 16 years old. At that time I wasn’t getting sober by choice. I had been sent to rehab, after being kicked out of school for a drug offence. Back then my drug of choice was not alcohol, and the counselors at the rehab, as we went through the Big Book, suggested that in order to relate, I should replace the word alcohol in the book with the addictive substance I had the biggest problem with. I did have experiences with alcohol—I starting drinking at the age of 10 and my loss of control when drinking which usually ended in vomiting and humiliation. This is what made other drugs more appealing, although it certainly helped me identify as an alcoholic. I stayed sober for two and half years, very active in AA, and was especially enthusiastic about attending young people’s conferences. Then I had my first experience with relapse.