What the A.A. Grapevine Is

There is a magazine on the table and you do not know if you are supposed to buy it, read it, or leave it alone. You can leave it alone. You can also pick it up. It is the A.A. Grapevine. The long form of Tradition Nine calls it the fellowship's principal newspaper. Trustees of the General Service Board guarantee its integrity.

If the night is already a medical emergency, call 911. Call or text 988 if you are in a mental health crisis. A stack of magazines will not manage withdrawal. NIAAA says alcohol withdrawal can be life-threatening when a person who drinks heavily over time stops suddenly. A meeting cannot manage that either.

A newspaper the trustees answer for

Those trustees are custodians of the Traditions. They also receive voluntary contributions that maintain the General Service Office in New York. The Grapevine sits in that same sentence of the long form. It is the paper whose integrity those trustees guarantee. A loose flyer on the table is a different object.

The Twelve Traditions were first published there in April 1946, under the title Twelve Points to Assure Our Future. Short and long forms both exist. You will hear groups read a tradition or take a topic from A.A. literature. Discussion topics often come from the Big Book, Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, As Bill Sees It, Daily Reflections, or the Grapevine. You can follow the topic with nothing in your hands.

You do not need a subscription to stay in the meeting. There are no dues or fees. The basket is separate, and it is voluntary. Skipping it is fine. If you want a copy of the magazine, ask someone at the meeting what that group does with the stack. If you do not want one, put it back. No price has to change your mind, because membership does not depend on money.

When the meeting uses it

When the chair picks a Grapevine topic, you do not have to have read the piece beforehand. The chair opens with that group's format. You can listen. Many step, tradition, or book meetings read a short passage at the start. If the passage is from the Grapevine, you still do not have to perform. The words are there for the hour. They are not a quiz.

You might see the magazine beside other A.A. books and not know which pile is which. You do not have to sort the whole table tonight. The Grapevine is the one the long form calls the principal newspaper. The other names are books groups study. The books guide can wait until you are curious. Conference-approved is a separate question about a label on literature. You can sit in the meeting without settling that label.

If a story in the magazine names the writer's drinking in detail, remember it is one member's experience, the same way a share is. Do not put that person's name, or anyone else's from the room, on the internet. An anonymity statement might be read at the meeting for that reason. Tradition Twelve asks members to place principles before personalities.

News, not a ticket

The free Meeting Guide app carries news from the General Service Office and from the Grapevine. It is on iOS and Android, supported by Seventh Tradition contributions, and it also lists meetings. Local entities control those listings. News in the app is not a cover charge for the door. You can ignore it and still look up a meeting. aa.org is not a meeting finder. The app and Find A.A. Near You are how you reach local lists.

A meeting is still people talking. At most meetings, members talk about what drinking did to them and to the people around them, what they did to stop, and how they live now. The purpose is to share experience, strength, and hope. A magazine can sit beside that. It does not replace the hour, and it does not replace a clinician.

NIDA says mutual-help groups such as A.A. are peer-led, not led by healthcare professionals, and not a substitute for treatment. If you need a program, call (800) 653-9376. That call is free to you. Treatment providers pay for the referral service. The line is not A.A., and it is not SMART Recovery. FindTreatment.gov lists licensed programs. SAMHSA's National Helpline, 1-800-662-HELP (4357), is free, confidential, and answered in English and Spanish.

Tonight

Read a copy if one is in reach, or leave it on the table and go to the meeting. You can listen and not buy anything. Use the meetings search and confirm the listing. The traditions are the short text if you want to see what first ran in that paper. The books guide is there if the rest of the literature table is the confusing part. One meeting is enough for tonight. The magazine can wait.

Additional Resources

Sources cited on this page:

• A.A.: The Twelve Traditions
• A.A.: Meeting Guide app
• A.A.: What to Expect at an A.A. Meeting
• A.A.: Need help with a drinking problem?
• A.A.: The Twelve Steps
• NIDA: Treatment, including mutual-help groups
• NIAAA Core Resource: Alcohol Use Disorder, From Risk to Diagnosis to Recovery
• 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
• SAMHSA National Helpline
• SAMHSA FindTreatment.gov
• SmarterRecovery meetings page (public meeting search; listings are not verified)
• SmarterRecovery about page (calling is free to the caller)

Common Questions