Not much really, at the core level I mean. I have never known an alcoholic that could use drugs safely and I have never known an addict that could drink safely. Bill Wilson said in another grapevine article I read years ago, "Addicts and Alcoholics are cousins" One must remember that Bill's experience with drugs was limited to seditives prescribed by a doctor.

He also grew up in another era where drugs were really an evil and underground thing. Alcohol was the drug of choice in his day and socially acceptable, whereas drugs are also socially acceptable today in addition to alcohol.

The only difference between addicts and alcoholics I've seen is lifestyle. N.A. and A.A. have been at odds for years, A.A. old timers hated when people talked about drugs at A.A. meetings and basically chased the drug people out so they just started their own pro

gram called N.A. based on the same principles and 12 steps as A.A.

An addiction is an addiction, whether your choice of drug is alcohol or coke or pills, doesn't matter, we all go to the same place in the end, jails, institutions, death.

In the future, my lifetime maybe, the two programs will merge, addicts and alcoholics will finally realize they are one and the same.

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