Wharf Rats

Last updated

Wharf Rats are a group of concert-goers who have chosen to live drug and alcohol-free. They arose out of the environment around the rock group the Grateful Dead and their followers the Deadheads, both of which were rooted in the drugs-embracing counterculture of the 1960s. [1]

Their primary purpose is to support other concert goers who choose to live drug-free, like themselves. They announce their presence with yellow balloons, signs, and the Wharf Rats information table. At a set break during Grateful Dead (and related) concerts they hold self help style meetings but are not affiliated specifically with any 12-Step organization and have no requirement for attendance at one of their meetings besides providing some helpful drug free fellowship. [2] Like Deadheads, members of Wharf Rats come from all walks of life. [3] By 1990, the Wharf Rats mailing list had some 3,000 names. [1]

The Wharf Rats began during the early 1980s [2] as a group of Deadheads under the name "The Wharf Rat Group of Alcoholics Anonymous". The Wharf Rats originally came from a small group of Narcotics Anonymous members who went to a Grateful Dead concert in Philadelphia and located each other by their Yellow balloons with the NA symbol drawn on in Magic Marker. [4] However due to operational differences they soon split off from Narcotics Anonymous, and are not affiliated with them, AA, or any other twelve-step program (though many of members of the Wharf Rats are members of AA, NA or other 12-step programs). The Wharf Rats see themselves as "a group of friends sharing a common bond, providing support, information and some traction in an otherwise slippery environment." The relationship between the Wharf Rats and more traditional such groups has been studied in the academic journal Deviant Behavior . [1]

While the Wharf Rats originated at Grateful Dead concerts, they now have a presence at other concerts as well. Similar groups include The Phellowship for Phish, The Gateway for Widespread Panic, The Jellyfish for The String Cheese Incident, Much Obliged for Umphrey's McGee, Happy Hour Heroes for moe., the Digital Buddhas for The Disco Biscuits, Better Than Before for The Werks, the Hummingbirds for Bassnectar, and the Sunny Bunny Recovery for Ween, Dustie Baggies for Billy Strings and The Hot Tea Party for Goose—all based on the Wharf Rats, which remain the best-known. [2]

The name of this group comes from the 1971 Dead song "Wharf Rat" (written by Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter and appearing on Skull & Roses ), which contains the self-told story of August West, a down-and-out dockside wino. [5] By at least one interpretation, the song was aimed partly at Deadheads. [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alcoholics Anonymous</span> Sobriety-focused mutual help fellowship

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is a global peer-led mutual aid fellowship begun in the United States dedicated to abstinence-based recovery from alcoholism through its spiritually inclined twelve-step program. AA's twelve traditions, besides stressing anonymity, establish it as non-professional, unafiliated, non-denominational and apolitical with a public relations policy of attraction rather than promotion. In 2020 AA estimated a worldwide membership of over two million, with 75% of those in the US and Canada.

Twelve-step programs are international mutual aid programs supporting recovery from substance addictions, behavioral addictions and compulsions. Developed in the 1930s, the first twelve-step program, Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), founded by Bill Wilson and Bob Smith, aided its membership to overcome alcoholism. Since that time dozens of other organizations have been derived from AA's approach to address problems as varied as drug addiction, compulsive gambling, sex, and overeating. All twelve-step programs utilize a version of AA's suggested twelve steps first published in the 1939 book Alcoholics Anonymous: The Story of How More Than One Hundred Men Have Recovered from Alcoholism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Narcotics Anonymous</span> Mutual help 12-Step organization

Narcotics Anonymous (NA), founded in 1953, describes itself as a "nonprofit fellowship or society of men and women for whom drugs had become a major problem." Narcotics Anonymous uses a 12-step model developed for people with varied substance use disorders and is the second-largest 12-step organization, after 12-step pioneer Alcoholics Anonymous.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deadhead</span> Dedicated fan of the Grateful Dead and/or spinoff bands from the Grateful Dead

A Deadhead or Dead head is a fan of the American rock band the Grateful Dead. The Deadhead subculture originated in the 1970s, when a number of fans began traveling to see the Grateful Dead in as many shows or festival venues as they could. As more people began attending live performances and festivals, a community developed. The Deadhead community has since gone on to create slang and idioms unique to them.

The Twelve Traditions of twelve-step programs provide guidelines for relationships between the twelve-step groups, members, other groups, the global fellowship, and society at large. Questions of finance, public relations, donations, and purpose are addressed in the traditions. They were originally written by Bill Wilson after the founding of the first twelve-step group, Alcoholics Anonymous (AA).

James Patrick Kinnon, commonly known as Jimmy Kinnon or "Jimmy K.", was one of the primary founders of Narcotics Anonymous (NA), a worldwide fellowship of recovering addicts. During his lifetime, he was usually referred to as "Jimmy K." due to NA's principle of personal anonymity on the public level. He never referred to himself as a founder of NA, although the record clearly shows that he played a founding role.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cocaine Anonymous</span> Twelve-step program

Cocaine Anonymous (CA) is a twelve-step program formed in 1982 for people who seek recovery from drug addiction. It is patterned very closely after Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), although the two groups are unaffiliated. While many CA members have been addicted to cocaine, crack, speed or similar substances, CA accepts all who desire freedom from "cocaine and all other mind-altering substances" as members.

Pagans in recovery is a phrase, which is frequently used within the recovery community, to describe the collective efforts of Neopagans as well as Indigenous, Hindu, Buddhist, and other like-minded groups, to achieve abstinence or the remission of compulsive/addictive behaviors through twelve-step programs and other programs, such as Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, Overeaters Anonymous, Al-Anon/Alateen, etc. These efforts generally focus on modifying or adapting the twelve steps to accommodate the Pagan world-view as well as creating Pagan-friendly twelve step meetings either as part of a preexisting twelve-step program or as independent entities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neurotics Anonymous</span> Twelve-step program

Neurotics Anonymous (N/A), founded in 1964, is a twelve-step program for recovery from mental and emotional illness. To avoid confusion with Narcotics Anonymous (NA), Neurotics Anonymous is abbreviated N/A or NAIL.

The term Oxford House refers to any house operating under the "Oxford House Model", a community-based approach to addiction recovery, which provides an independent, supportive, and sober living environment. Today there are nearly 3,000 Oxford Houses in the United States and other countries.

<i>Ticket to New Years</i> 1996 American film

Ticket to New Year's is a concert video by the Grateful Dead. It was recorded at the Oakland Coliseum Arena in Oakland, California on December 31, 1987. It was released on VHS video tape and on Laserdisc in 1996, and on DVD in 1998.

Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous (SLAA) is a twelve-step program for people recovering from sex addiction and love addiction. SLAA was founded in Boston, Massachusetts in 1976, by a member of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). Though he had been a member of AA for many years, he repeatedly acted out and was serially unfaithful to his wife. He founded SLAA as an attempt to stop his compulsive sexual and "romantic" behavior. SLAA is also sometimes known as the Augustine Fellowship, because early members saw many of their shared symptoms described by St. Augustine of Hippo in his work Confessions. COSLAA is another twelve-step fellowship created to support the family members and friends of sex and love addicts.

Nicotine Anonymous (NicA) is a twelve-step program founded in 1982 for people desiring to quit smoking and live free of nicotine. As of July 2017, there are over 700 face-to-face meetings in 32 countries worldwide with the majority of these meetings occurring in the United States, Iran, India, Canada, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Australia, Russia and in various online community and social media platforms.. NicA maintains that total abstinence from nicotine is necessary for recovery. NicA defines abstinence as “a state that begins when all use of nicotine ceases.

Drug addiction recovery groups are voluntary associations of people who share a common desire to overcome their drug addiction. Different groups use different methods, ranging from completely secular to explicitly spiritual. Some programs may advocate a reduction in the use of drugs rather than outright abstention. One survey of members found active involvement in any addiction recovery group correlates with higher chances of maintaining sobriety. Although there is not a difference in whether group or individual therapy is better for the patient, studies show that any therapy increases positive outcomes for patients with substance use disorder. The survey found group participation increased when the individual members' beliefs matched those of their primary support group. Analysis of the survey results found a significant positive correlation between the religiosity of members and their participation in twelve-step programs and to a lesser level in non-religious SMART Recovery groups, the correlation factor being three times smaller for SMART Recovery than for twelve-step addiction recovery groups. Religiosity was inversely related to participation in Secular Organizations for Sobriety.

SMART Recovery is an international community of peer support groups that help people recover from addictive and problematic behaviors, using a self-empowering and evidence-informed program. SMART stands for Self-Management and Recovery Training. The SMART approach is secular and research-based. SMART has a global reach, with a presence established in more than 30 countries. SMART Recovery is effective with a range of addictive and problematic behaviors

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LifeRing Secular Recovery</span> Addiction and recovery organization

LifeRing Secular Recovery is a secular, non-profit organization providing peer-run addiction recovery groups. The organization provides support and assistance to people seeking to recover from alcohol and drug addiction, and also assists partners, family members and friends of addicts or alcoholics. It is an abstinence-based recovery program with three fundamental principles: sobriety, secularity and self-empowerment. The motto of LifeRing is "empower your sober self."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shakedown Street (vending area)</span> Area of a jam band parking lot where the vending takes place

Shakedown Street is the area of a jam band parking lot where the vending takes place. It is named after the Grateful Dead song of the same name, and began in the early 1980s in the parking lots at Grateful Dead concerts. Items sold have included food, beverages and alcoholic beverages, clothing and jewelry, among others. Ticket scalping may also occur.

John F. Kelly is an American-based researcher and professor of addiction medicine at Harvard Medical School. He is the Founder and Director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Recovery Research Institute, Associate Director of the MGH Center for Addiction Medicine, and Program Director of the MGH Addiction Recovery Management Service.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Epstein, Jonathon S. and Robert Sardiello. 1990. "The Wharf Rats: A Preliminary Examination of Alcoholics Anonymous and the Grateful Dead Head Phenomena." Deviant Behavior, 11: pp. 245-257.
  2. 1 2 3 "Who are the Wharf Rats" Tim Power, Sobernation.com, March 2015
  3. ↑ "Wharf Rats: A Grateful (Dead) Recovery | The Sober Lawyer". www.soberlawyer.com. Archived from the original on 2015-06-20.
  4. ↑ "Qualities of a Painting Contractor - AC Repair Andrews, Texas - Get Local Air Conditioner Repair in Andrews, TX Fast". August 2021.
  5. 1 2 "Greatest Stories Ever Told" David Dodd, Dead.net
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.