by Robert Zimmerman

About the author: Robert Zimmerman is a writer who specializes in alcohol and drug topics and is editor of the quarterly Prevention File.

Editor’s note: This viewpoint was published on June 25, 1995, just prior to the 60th anniversary convention of Alcoholics Anonymous in San Diego, California.

Members of Alcoholics Anonymous coming to San Diego this week are calling their international convention a celebration. Most of all they’ll be celebrating their own sobriety. Recovery from alcoholism—a day at a time, as they say in AA—deserves a celebration. But this year is also the 60th anniversary of the founding of AA, and that’s something the whole world can celebrate.

AA is a unique made-in-USA creation that has been able to take root and thrive in other countries and cultures. The...