Why do all the AAers smoke cigarettes?

Question

Alcoholics Anonymous is about abstaining from the use of drugs. Alcohol is a drug... If alcohol is an addictive drug and AAers profess to be clean from drugs and addiction, why then do they profusely all smoke cigarettes before and after their cult like meetings? I am a "new comer" and wish to be accepted. I said that I believe in their god. Should I start smoking cigarettes too? Do I have to love Clancy as well?

Answer 1

what's with all the AA bashing questions???

Answer 2

A lot of them probably smoked before they quit drinking, and cigarettes are not a mind-altering drug.
What is their god? Do you mean when they say a "higher power"? That's not really "their god", so I'm a little confused by that one. And Clancy? What's that? Do you mean Tom Clancy. the writer??
Also, what's so cult-like about their meetings? It's a group of supportive people to be around to help you stay clean, who know what you've been through.
You really seem to dislike these people and everything they are about. So why are you going there? If you want to be in AA and don't like the meetings you've attended, then find different ones who you feel more comfortable with or who you can better relate to.
Different people go to different meetings in different locations/nights/times. Find a group you like, and they can be a "cult" you enjoy being with.

Answer 3

Your wrong AA is about abstaining from alcohol! If one has another addiction it is suggested they deal with that but their status in AA is what they make it. There are NO RULES in AA. Clancy is a member that is well respected because of time he stayed sober NOTHING more! He is not God! You seem to be one who will likely drink again because you seek the differences from yourself in an attempt to exclude yourself. I am 20+ years sober and do not smoke. I often attend both smoking and non smoking meetings. If smoke offends you go to non smoking meetings. If your a newcomer your accepted all people are there are no requirements other than a desire to stop drinking. Pay more attention and you might stay sober

Answer 4

Cigarettes are habit forming but they don't follow the typical chemical pattern of addiction where a tolerance is built up and it requires more and more to achieve the same effect.

I used to attend AA in my early days of abstinance but along the way I answered the call of Jesus on my life and I haven't been back in years. AA is a good program that has helped many people but all of the power comes from the first three steps that follow the Biblical pattern of confession, repentance, and turning one's life over to God.

If you don't already smoke, don't start. If you haven't accepted Jesus as your savior and received God's Holy Spirit then I strongly advise you to find a good local Christian church and to start attending and listening to the gospel message so that you can become free from bondage to sin and a new creation in Christ.

Romans 6:14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

If you don't get the power of God working in your life against the power of your addiction then you will be like the man Jesus described in this parable who cleaned up the house of his life but didn't invite the Holy Spirit to come in and take up residence.

""When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. Then it says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.' And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this evil generation." Matthew 12:43-45

I have no idea who "Clancy" is.

Answer 5

Where does it say in Alcoholics Anonymous that it is about abstaining from the use of drugs? I'm afraid that you've gotten AA mixed up with Narcotics Anonymous. In AA, they claim that "the only requirement for AA membership is a desire to stop drinking" (3rd Tradition).

But that's just part of the bait-&-switch. You see, AA really isn't about giving up alcohol, or any drug, for that matter. It's about finding religion, confessing your sins, and spreading the holy AA gospel. It just happens that AA considers drugs & alcohol to be deadly sins. Well, all except caffeine, nicotine & carbohydrates.

You'll hear oldtimers at meetings chuckle & say at meetings, "Well, at least I never got a DUI for smoking cigarettes!"

Oh, so is addiction based on whether or not you get pulled over by the police? What about the health risks incurred by tobacco smoking?

I've been taken to task many times by steppers for smoking pot. They tell me that I'm not "sober" as they puff generic tobacco smoke in my face. They say things like, "Oh but it's IL-LE-GAL!" But isn't alcohol legal? What's the point again?

To me, it's all a matter of self-righteousness & arrogant oldtimer busybodies claiming to know what's best for everyone else. I don't deny that abstinence-based sobriety models work for some folks, but steppers' insistence that "one-size-fits-all" is terribly misguided. Harm reduction can be effective for some folks. Also, it's horribly dangerous for some steppers to play lay doctor & tell newcomers they need to give up all their meds. Some folks enter AA dually-diagnosed (our friend Ray can tell you more about that) but believe it or not, there is intense peer pressure for AA members to abstain from any psychiatric medication. This really makes AA not much different from the Church of Scientology.

And as far as Clancy goes, if you want to be a dutiful little stepper & earn the right to browbeat other newcomers into submission with cult-like dogma, then you'd best get down on your knees & worship Clancy right now.

Answer 6

AA might work for some but it is masking the real reason for drinking. & smoking is replacing alcohol with ciggarettes. There is always a reason for the excessive consumption of alcohol whether it be inner pain or turmoil, depression, fears or anxiety. Find out what makes you tick & remove that from your life by making changes to be a happier person. Make new friends, move house, change jobs whatever & you will see a marked improvement. You & only you can stop your drinking, not a club or membership or a "God".

Answer 7

It could be that they are trying to emulate the cult founder William Griffith Wilson or Bill W as they affectionately call him. Bill W smoked himself silly and died of emphysema like a fish gasping out of water.

The real question is why they don't use the 12 steps to quit smoking. The REAL answer is that the 12 steps don't do anything at all. Every one who quits drinking does so because they make a 'strong decision' to quit and are willing to do anything to make it happen. What happens next doesn't really matter. They may be sent to AA so it might appear that AA is doing it or they may start listening to preachers and decide Jesus is doing it or maybe drinking an herbal tea 3 times a day may get them sober,heck they might even wash themselves in the Jordan river if someone told them to. The bottom line is that they REALLY WANTED to get sober more than they wanted to drink and were willing to do anything to make it happen, the power of choice is what makes people better. What happens next is just the means to that end. AA takes the credit because people won't claim their own power. They don't reach the same decision with smoking because it doesn't effect them as much as drinking did, at least not as obviously. Smoking kills very slowly and silently so it is harder for people to make the connection.


I have known a few AAers that smoked weed and many who popped benzo's like they were chicklets and saw nothing wrong with it, this doesn't mean a thing to them because they only wanted to stop drinking and as long as they stay away from "devil rum" they are satisfied.

It's my observation that they rarely deal with the real issues in their life properly because AA/NA/SA and all the other A's are just social clubs and not conducive to REALLY getting better, they want you to come forever so they can't have you getting better. This being the case, they just smoke more,drink more coffee, take more sedatives and just act out every other impulse that strikes them. I have known very few who actually reached the level of serenity they are promised in the AA literature.

Answer 8

Nicotine is harder to kick than alcohol. Most addictive personalities substitute one drug for another. But since alcohol was doing the most damage to their lives, they concentrate on that. Nowhere in their literature does it say you have to stop smoking; only stop drinking and believe in a higher power.

Answer 9

It is better to be addicted to cigarettes than drugs or alcohol. When is the last time you heard of someone crashing his car from cigarette intoxication?

It is still damaging, but the lesser of two evils.

Answer 10

Everyone knows that drinking and smoking go hand in hand. Come on, people are already giving up one addiction, you can't expect them to give up both at the same time, now can you? That is just plain unreasonable.

Answer 11

give me a break with your veiled insults. obviously people that drink and do drugs, have an addiction problem. at least theyve moved from something that can harm someone elses health to something that just harms their own (so long as they dont smoke around others)