9 - Do you tell yourself you can stop drinking any time you want to, even though you keep getting drunk when you don't mean to?
Many of us kidded ourselves into thinking that we drank out of choice. After we came into A.A., we found out that once we started to drink, we couldn't stop. 

10 - Have you missed days of work or school because of drinking?
Many of us admit now that we "called in sick" many times when the truth was that we were hung-over or on a drunk.

11 - Do you have "blackouts"?
A "blackout" is when we have been drinking hours or days that we cannot remember. When we came to A.A., we found out that this is a pretty sure sign of alcoholic drinking.

12 - Have you ever felt that your life would be better if you did not drink?
Many of us started to drink because drinking made life seem better, at least for a while. By the time we got into A.A., we felt trapped. We were drinking to live and living to drink. We were sick and tired of being sick and tired.

Did you answer YES four or more times? If so, you are probably in trouble with alcohol. Why do we say this? Because thousands of people in A.A. have said so for many years. They found out the truth about themselves — the hard way.

Medical conditions, prior injuries, dental problems: All of life’s wear-and-tear can be important for your defense. If you are interviewing a potential DWI defense lawyer who does not use a questionnaire to elicit your prior medical history or ask probing questions about your physical condition, you may want to consider a different attorney.

Certain medical and dental conditions make a subject unsuitable for breath testing.  Breath-testing machines are designed to “read” alcohol molecules that come from deep lung air. This “reading” is supposed to approximate the alcohol level in your blood.  Unfortunately, the machine does not differentiate between the molecules of alcohol in the deep lung air and the alcohol molecules that are trapped in the mouth in dentures, bridges and other dental work.  Alcohol molecules can also be in your mouth if they are brought up from the stomach due to a belch or esophageal reflux episode.

Other medical conditions are important for attacking supposedly poor performance on Field Sobriety Tests.  These balance and coordination exercises, through which officers attempt to judge someone’s natural abilities by asking him or her to perform unnatural maneuvers, can be greatly impacted by prior injuries or conditions.  Being flat-footed, having torn cartilage in a knee or suffering from any number of other physical ailments can affect a person’s ability to perform these roadside tests.

Whether or not you currently suffer from any medical conditions or ailments, you should list all prior injuries, significant illnesses, accidents or medical conditions for your lawyer to consider.  While no one enjoys enduring life’s hard knocks, all of us experience them. A condition you once thought was bad luck may hold the key to hearing the two sweetest words in the English language: Not guilty.

Only you can decide whether you think A.A. is for you. Try to keep an open mind on the subject. We will be glad to show you how we stopped drinking ourselves. Just call. A.A. does not promise to solve your life's problems. But we can show you how we are learning to live without drinking "one day at a time." We stay away from that "first drink." If there is no first drink, there cannot be a tenth.  When we got rid of alcohol, we found that life became much more manageable.

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS® is a fellowship of men and women who share their experiences, strengths and hopes with each other. They strive to solve their common problems and help others recover from alcoholism. 

  •  The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking. There are no dues or fees for A.A. membership: We are self-supporting through our own contributions.

  •  A.A. is not allied with any sect, denomination, political group, organization or institution; does not wish to engage in any controversy; neither endorses nor opposes any causes. Our primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics to achieve sobriety.