[RookyNumbas]

> total abstinence isn't necessarily the goal that everyone who has a drinking problem is aiming for

I guess you're technically right. But statements like these make me chuckle. They are very common, and a dead giveaway that you are not very familiar with addiction. Switch out drinking for shooting heroine or smoking crack, and see if the statement still makes sense.

The rest of your comment is dead on though. The studies are very bad at making any sort of distinctions like you mentioned. They also ignore the astounding costs of some of these other programs, whether a person is there by choice or not, whether they are trying to quit for the first time or 20th, types and severity of relapses, and many other factors.