Lose a Friend, Lose an Addiction?

Todd has a concern. He is in the early phase of battling his addiction. His best friend of many years continues to use with no desire to stop. At A.A. today, Todd asked for guidance on whether he should drop his friend to keep himself clean or face temptation while keeping the friend.

I spoke up about page 101 in the Big Book:

"In our belief any scheme of combating alcoholism which proposes to shield the sick man from temptation is doomed to failure. If the alcoholic tries to shield himself he may succeed for a time, but he usually winds up with a bigger explosion than ever. We have tried these methods. These attempts to do the impossible have always failed....

"Be sure you are on solid spiritual ground.... Do not think of what you will get out of the occasion. Think of what you can bring to it."

Dottie added this analogy. "If you hang around a barbershop long enough you're going to get a haircut."