By every form of self-deception and experimentation, they will try to prove themselves exceptions to the rule, therefore non-alcoholic.
In AA, we stay sober, or at least that is the aim of most of us. We, or at least most of us, also stay clear of other mind- and mood-altering substances. That shouldn't be complicated, but apparently it is.
Maybe others can handle substances that change how they feel or how they think, their baseline perception of the world, that smooth out the ups and down, help them sleep, or give them spiritual insights. Maybe others can be clear-headed and under the influence of substance at the same time, in actual reality whilst artificially altering their perception of reality, confident that their feelings are an accurate reflection of their response to life whilst flooding the brain with neurotransmitters that produce emotional states. I certainly cannot. If you can, my hat, had I one, would be wholeheartedly off to you. What you stick inside your body is your business, not mine. Fair play to you, now.
Are there exceptions to the rule? Sure, there are, apparently, occasional exceptions.
The main thing for me to know is that I am not one of them.
And I don't need to be. Reality is fine. God is more than enough. The Steps are more than enough. AA is more than enough.
And, boy, is the road of happy destiny littered to the left and right with the bodies of people who also thought they were exceptions to the rule, therefore non-alcoholic, and were proven wrong.
Reality is implacable. It is not amenable to clever arguments.
I'm no longer exceptional, thank God, and no longer seek to be.
I am going to get to bed tonight without a drink or a drug and without acting out, with God's help.