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gump · Joined: 19 Jan 2010 Posts: 6 Location: Turkey

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johnslat · Posted: Wed Jun 13, 2012 10:27 pm Post subject:

Dear gump,

No one can PM you until you have 5 posts.

I'm a "friend of Bill" (sober for 10 years now) but I left Saudi in 2003 and attended only an online group during the "sober year" there.

But in addition to your link, you can find some contact information for AA in Saudi here:

https://sites.google.com/site/aamercaamecom/saudi-arabia

with e-mail addresses and phone numbers. So, you can probably get the info you need.

Many/Most of the meetings seem to be on compounds, so there wouldn't be a problem with men and women being in the same meeting.

Also, if you download the printable schedule, it mentions a Ladies - Closed Meeting) in Riyadh on Wednesdays from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.

So, I think you'll also need to mention where you'll be in Saudi.

Funny thing about the Kingdom: I knew people who became alcoholics there and people who quit there (besides myself.)

All the best.

Regards,
John

gump · Joined: 19 Jan 2010 Posts: 6 Location: Turkey

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gelynch52ph · Joined: 15 Feb 2011 Posts: 132

posh · Joined: 22 Oct 2010 Posts: 430

[/quote]Just how on earth would a person BECOME an alcoholic in a country with no alcohol, unless possibly you were on a foreigner compound with booze?[/quote]

Sid has sent many a man to oblivion, from where he has never returned Wink

johnslat · Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2012 12:22 pm Post subject:

Dear gelynch52ph,

"Just how on earth would a person BECOME an alcoholic in a country with no alcohol . . . "

A faulty premise leads to an incorrect conclusion. While alcohol is "illegal" in Saudi, that, by NO means, means (Hmm - kind of like that "means . . . . means") that there's "no alcohol" there.

Think USA during Prohibition:

"The greatest unintended consequence of Prohibition however, was the plainest to see. For over a decade, the law that was meant to foster temperance instead fostered intemperance and excess. The solution the United States had devised to address the problem of alcohol abuse had instead made the problem even worse. The statistics of the period are notoriously unreliable, but it is very clear that in many parts of the United States more people were drinking, and people were drinking more."

http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/prohibition/unintended-consequences/

My first or second night in Saudi, the Director of the Jeddah IPA (a Saudi, of course) invited me to his apartment. The first thing he did when I got there was offer me a drink (scotch). I was both startled and suspicious, so I refused. He said," Well, I hope you don't mind if I have one," and poured
himself a good jolt. When I saw that, I told him, "Well, actually, I guess I wouldn't mind one myself." Very Happy

Regards,
John

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

I regularly went to meetings in Jeddah and then in Al Khobar when I moved there. Men and women at meetings.

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

Contact details, telephone numbers, meeting places available from GSO in NYC (Po Box 459)

wantok · Joined: 05 Jul 2012 Posts: 168

johnslat · Posted: Fri Jul 13, 2012 1:00 pm Post subject:

Dear wantok,

Why would you want to post links to incorrect information?

http://alcoholrehab.com/alcohol-rehab/alcohol-in-saudi-arabia/

"As alcohol is banned in Saudi Arabia there are no treatment options for alcoholics. Those individuals who wish to escape the addiction will have to go it alone or travel abroad for treatment. Little is known about the extent of alcoholism among Saudis. There is a great deal of stigma associated with addiction, and any Saudi with a drink problem is likely to be treated as a criminal."

Are you IN Saudi? Are you an alcoholic? Have you ever heard of AA?

Regards,
John

2buckets · Joined: 14 Dec 2010 Posts: 515 Location: Middle East

I saw more drinking and alcoholism among expats and Saudis than most any other place in the world.

The lure of forbidden fruit.

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

Alcohol abuse is common. So is heroin addiction. Treatment facilities are available although AA is not offically recognised by the Min of Health in Riyadh as an option.

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

"Not officially recognised" but when I left in 2011, there were meetings in Jeddah, Riyadh, Khobar and Jubail. I found AA in KSA to be a good way to meet people from outside the Ghetto of EFL. It was also humbling to be reminded that there is a world there oustide the classroom ! I think many of my non-AA colleagues had NO links at all with people outside teaching !

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

Incidentally I do know some individuals who got sober in KSA. A hard place to sober up in !

AA there is very international with dozens of different nationalities - although most are from USA or UK - both men and women.