That's good because while the programs help many, they are deeply flawed, not as originally designed, but in the way they have been corrupted into relapse mills with a culture of shame and the success statistics are appalling. Help many because the problem is so large. Success under the mendoza line would not be tolerated as the go to remedy in any other medical field. I published this today. https://marcus17043.medium.com/efficacy-of-12-step-programs-for-addiction-treatment-c111fbffc10a which concludes that the abstinence requirement, which never existed when Bill and Bob developed the program, needs to be removed so that the shaming can stop. I urge anyone who reads my piece to pay even more attention to Holly's works I quote and link.

Two years ago I published this, https://medium.com/illumination/drilling-down-to-the-root-cause-of-addiction-7c57c5a3fd6c , which includes: "Even AA’s self-reported statistics are abysmal. I will write in detail at a later date about how and why a program that preaches humility has such hubris to refuse to alter its ways in the face of lousy success rates. The short answer is a 42 BILLION DOLLAR industry has grown out of AA. The treatment centers preach AA as the only game in town so they keep sending people to AA and doctors keep sending patients to treatment and it’s a never-ending cycle. I am not blaming AA. I blame the centers, which even if not-for-profit, are paying executives what would be profits in salaries; and the doctors with addiction specialties who seem satisfied with results below the Mendoza line (a baseball reference to a batting average under .200).

I blame them for complacency; I blame them for profiteering. I blame the perversion of capitalism that cares more about profit and the resultant concentration of wealth than societal benefit at the expense of the workers and the middle class; in this instance, I blame the system that allows a few to get rich on the backs of the sick."

I agree that spirituality is the key but 12-step programs are now group-think and dogmatic which is the antithesis of spirituality, while the steps themselves are chock full of spiritual wisdom.