Why do we say “AA kills”?  Alcoholics Anonymous and its “12 step” program is typically applauded for saving lives.  Doctors routinely instruct patients with alcohol problems to get themselves to a 12 step program.  Courts order people to go to AA.  85% of rehab centers in the US utilize the 12 step program.  Yet studies show that the program is effective for only about 5% of participants!  That leaves 95% suffering from addiction, losing their jobs, their families, their homes, their dignity.  And yes, thousands dead:  About 1.5 million Americans over the last decade from alcoholism and drug overdoses!  We explore alternatives so that America can quit its addiction to AA.