Friends who need to help themselves

If it were me, I would simply express to them my sympathy and let them know that I am always there for support. I would offer to help and take them to AA as you have. I would also paint a very vivid picture for them of how they look, what they are doing to themselves and those who love them, etc. Other than that, I'd say there's not much that you can do for them. If you believe in God, pray with them and for them. I also commend you for refusing to give them money.

I used to have friends like this. I used to work with guys who were this type of person when I first left school. They were massive drinkers and they groomed me well. I have since seen the light and do not do that any more, but I was also a big drinker from my late teens right through to my early thirties. These guys did not have licenses at the time as they had lost them for many years due to multiple drink driving offences. They would live from pay cheque to pay cheque. They were in this viscous cycle at the time where they would have spent their pay by the end of the weekend so they would borrow some of their next weeks pay each Monday to get them through until pay day. Then they would only get a half weeks wage which would only last them the weekend again. I used to hang out with these guys and drink with them, but I never got into that habit. I was ripped off by a few of them too. One guy borrowed money off me which I never saw again and his brother borrowed a travel bag off me which I never saw again. I stopped hanging out with them after that, but there were more people just like them who kept coming into my life. It took me years to get out of that type of scene. I guess I just had to grow up and move on or I would have been consumed by it all eventually.

The problem is that they are BOTH like that, neither of them is the sensible one and they enable each other to keep drinking. As soon as one gets the resolve to do something the other one will sabotage their efforts. This is quite common with addicts who hang around with other addicts. Until they split up - either voluntarily or because something happens to one of them - they'll both be like that.