Have to attend AA meeting for DUI. I was asked to leave when I said I wasn't an alcoholic at an open meeting.

Question

I didn't know you had to be only an alcoholic to attend open AA meetings. Was that right to do? This was my first time going to a meeting.

Answer 1

I have gone to AA meetings with friends to support their growth and sobriety, and have always been warmly welcomed, even cheered, once. I would say attend another meeting, coming early to meet someone to talk to before the meeting starts. Ask if you can attend this meeting, and how you can improve your acceptance. When possible, ask for a sponsor. The sponsor can help you with your particular challenges. Best of luck to you.

Answer 2

I'm so sorry you had a bad experience with your first AA meeting. If this was, in fact, an open meeting then you absolutely should not have been asked to leave. Open meetings are just that--open to anyone who wants to attend, alcoholic or not!

I would suggest you try another open meeting or, if there aren't many meetings nearby, make sure that the meeting you tried to attend is in fact open and go again. If someone asks you to leave, ask someone else to help out, because this is simply wrong. I have been in AA a long time, with many years of happy sobriety, and I can tell you you would never be asked to leave any meeting I was at.

Answer 3

You know, it's a big problem but part of your probation is that you have to attend AA meetings. Part of going to an AA meeting is "admitting" that you're an alcoholic. Another part of AA that some people object to is admitting you are powerless and seeking help from God (or a "higher power").

So, here are your options:

1. Go to AA and "admit" that you're an alcoholic. Think of it this way, it's just saying words you are required to say to satisfy the terms of your probation. Remember, if you are in southern California, you have already (probably) signed a paper AGREEING to go to A.A.

2. Hire your lawyer to go back into Court, (try to) explain to the Judge that although you drove drunk you're not an alcoholic, and that you're such a truthful person you cannot admit to being an alcoholic even though the Court is implicitly requiring you to do so. (Hint--that's not likely to work at all, but it IS an option. Not lying about that.) Maybe you can go to some alternative alcohol class, but you will have to do the research and find some other sort of equivalent program so your lawyer can pitch the plan to the Judge, and not have it look like you're just trying to get out of going to AA meetings.

3. You can get your lawyer to go into Court and tell the Judge that you can't do AA because you have religious objections to it. The Judge might find it hard to compel you to do what is essentially religious training. (That's not very likely to work, either.)

4. Go back into Court, tell the Court you won't say the magic word, and ask for jail time instead. If you are in LA county, you won't do too much of the time, probably, because the jails are overcrowded.

Answer 4

There's this guy who used to get drunk with his friends about 3 nights a week, got pulled over for driving recklessly one night and failed the breathalizer. Was ordered to attend AA meetings, found a meeting that tolerated the "I am not an alkie...just here for court"

One night he got arrested for public intoxication....

(what are the chances of this...getting in trouble for ALCOHOL...again...)
2 months later he was driving down a two way av. too drunk, too drunk to see ahead of him, got into the wrong lane and crashed into family of five. Those three kids were my cousins, my uncle and his wife. One of my cousins died at the accident, another at the hospital.


You don't have to call yourself an alcoholic to be at meetings, the only requirement is to be aware of that you may have a drinking problem, which is causing you problems- like this DUI. In this program's words " The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking."
If you honestly can say that your drinking isn't causing you problems, then the f*ck with those meetings. I just pray that you don't have crash into anyone to reach a bottom that will help you decide wether you're alcoholic or not.
I know a thing or two about this- I am a recovering alcoholic.

Answer 5

No that's not right and to be honest with you it does not make sense cause you can go to a NA meeting and in the12 it says AND ALCOHOL is a drug see AA only works with alcoholic's but still they never should have made you leave, I Can remember when they had called on me and told them,NO Iam not an alcholic I'm just here causethe courts made me

Answer 6

If you are doing court ordered AA's because of a DUI ,then you have a problem.I think the first step in the AA stuff is admitting to being and alcoholic or drug addict.

Answer 7

anyone can attend open meetings. if you were asked to leave then it must be a closed meeting. what does this have to do with law and ethics though?

Answer 8

Experience is learning. So now you know.