Ed B.
The talk was recorded at the 10th anniversary of the Midlake group on June 3, 1978.
Ed B. was born June 7, 1890 and got sober August 8, 1944. He was a long time member of the East Akron Group.
In 1954 Ed was elected one of the first Trustees of the Executive Board after the Akron Central Committee became the Intergroup Council. In 1954 Ed also was instrumental in starting the Akron Intergroup News and served as its editor for almost thirty years
He served on the Founders' Day committee in the 1950's and was active in all areas of service to Akron AA.
Ed's monthly column "Thinking Out Loud" was not just some of the best AA writing seen anywhere, but some of the best writing period.
The following editorial was recently donated to the archives as a mimeograph copy from an old issue of the Intergroup News. The publication date is uncertain but, the topic seems as relevant today as it was then.
AKRON INTERGROUP NEWS BULLETIN
EDITORIAL
This month I want address a subject which has been discussed many times before. It is the problem of non-alcoholics at AA meetings. Our traditions dictate that we avoid outside issues and drug addiction is certainly an outside issue but membership in AA is an issue which is vital to the survival and effectiveness of the AA program.
This problem is dealt with in a pamphlet published by AA World Services Inc. entitled "Problems Other Than Alcohol." It was first produced in 1958 and in my opinion is still valid today. It was written by our co-founder, Bill W.
Bill acknowledges in the first paragraph, that drug addiction is a horrible problem. He admits that many of our members suffer from drug addiction as veil as alcoholism. He asks: “What can we do about drugs within our Fellowship, and without?”
Back in 1958, as now, there were several programs, based on AA's Twelve Steps which were specifically designed to help the non-alcoholic drug abuser: There are also well known Twelve Step programs for over-eaters and those with emotional and sex problems. Why, then are so many of these people coming to AA meetings and taking up vital time with comments that have nothing to do with alcoholism?
Do these people belong AA meetings? Should they be invited to participate or even allowed to? Can they be members of AA groups? What should their function be in the body of AA.
Bill asked these questions and others and set out to answer them in the pamphlet. One of his first suggestions was to look at the Traditions which apply and to rely on AA's experience with this problem
He says that in order to “insure our own survival” we must “avoid distractions and multipurpose activity.” “Sobriety…is the sole purpose of an AA group.”
My dictionary define sobriety as being sober. It defines sober as “not drunk”!
Bill says that “there is no possible way to make nonalcohollcs into AA members. WE HAVE TO CONFINE OUR MEMBERSHIP TO ALCOHOLICS, and confine groups to a single purpose.” “If we don't…we shall almost surely collapse…and…we cannot help anyone.” How much clearer can it be? .
While it is true that anyone can attend an open AA meeting, we must learn to restrict participation to AA members, who by definition must be alcoholic. We must use discretion in choosing our speakers, chairpeople, and other participants with this requirement in mind.
We all know and love people with other problems and surely want to do all we can to help them but we must always remember our primary which is to stay SOBER AND HELP OTHER ALCOHOLICS TO ACHIEVE SOBRIETY!
--Ed.