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Welcome to Narcotics Anonymous

What is our message? The message is that an addict, any addict, can stop using drugs, lose the desire to use, and find a new way to live. Our message is hope and the promise of freedom.

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“When new members come to meetings, our sole interest is in their desire for freedom from active addiction and how we can be of help.”

It Works: How and Why, “Third Tradition”

Is NA for me?

This is a question every potential member must answer for themselves. Here are some recommended resources that may be helpful:

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NA meetings are run by and for addicts. If you’re looking for help for a loved one, you can contact Narcotics Anonymous near you. 

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Never before have so many clean addicts, of their own choice and in free society, been able to meet where they please, to maintain their recovery in complete creative freedom.

Basic Text, “We Do Recover”

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Narcotics Anonymous sprang from the Alcoholics Anonymous Program of the late 1940s, with meetings first emerging in the Los Angeles area of California, USA, in the early Fifties. The NA program started as a small US movement that has grown into one of the world’s oldest and largest organizations of its type.

Today, Narcotics Anonymous is well established throughout much of the Americas, Western Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. Newly formed groups and NA communities are now scattered throughout the Indian subcontinent, Africa, East Asia, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe. Narcotics Anonymous books and information pamphlets are currently available in 61 languages.

Information About NA

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Daily Meditations

Just for Today

November 03, 2026

No matter what
Page 321
“We eventually have to stand on our own feet and face life on its own terms, so why not from the start.“
Basic Text, p. 88
Some of us feel that we should protect newcomers by telling them that, while everything used to be horrible, now we’re in recovery it’s all wonderful. We feel that we might scare someone away if we speak of pain or difficulties, broken marriages, being robbed, and the like. In a sincere and well-intentioned desire to carry the message, we tend to talk glowingly only about what’s going well in our lives.

But most newcomers already suspect the truth, even if they’ve only been clean for a few days. Chances are that the “life on life’s terms” the average newcomer is experiencing is quite a bit more stressful than what the average oldtimer deals with each day. If we do manage to convince a newcomer that everything becomes rosy in recovery, we had better make sure we are there to support that newcomer when something goes wrong in his or her life.

Perhaps we simply need to share realistically about how we use the resources of Narcotics Anonymous to accept “life on life’s terms,” whatever those terms may be on any given day. Recovery, and life itself, contain equal parts of pain and joy. It is important to share both so the newcomer can know that we stay clean no matter what.

Just for Today: I will be honest with the newcomers I share with and let them know that, no matter what life brings, we never have to use drugs again.

A Spiritual Principle a Day

November 04, 2026

Intimacy Is Complicated but Worth It
Page 319
“For those of us who used sex as a way to move through the world, it may take quite some time to figure out the difference between being sexual and being intimate.“
Living Clean, Chapter 4, “Sex”
“Wait, so . . . sex and intimacy are not the same thing?” This is news to many of us.

What isn’t news is the complex and often contradictory relationship at play when it comes to our sexual behavior, our addiction, and our capacity for intimacy. For many of us, sex has been a useful tool, a bargaining chip. We’ve used it as a shield to deflect intimacy rather than experience it.

Sex can be so intricately entwined with our use of substances that we may need to learn how to have sex without using. Will we be able to perform? Will we even enjoy it? How can we fulfill our sexual desires without taking advantage of others or putting ourselves at risk for the same?

Learning how to have sex clean is one thing. Being intimate with others in a nonsexual context is another. True intimacy requires mutual honesty and willingness from all involved parties quite literally, baring our souls instead of baring our bodies.

How on earth do we approach this? It’s overwhelming, and who says we even want intimacy, anyway? Is that a requirement for staying clean?

We approach this jumbled human mess with patience for ourselves, no matter how long we have clean. We approach it with some resolve to understand and communicate our desires and our truths. And, if possible, we approach it with the understanding that our relationship to sex and intimacy will continue to evolve as we mature in our recovery–and grow older.
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Intimacy is complicated, and I can’t possibly figure it out today. Instead, I will focus on getting to know myself and being considerate of others. I’ll aim to practice spiritual principles in my sexual affairs, too.

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“If you’re new to NA or planning to go to a Narcotics Anonymous meeting for the first time, it might be nice to know a little bit about what happens in our meetings. The information here is meant to give you an understanding of what we do when we come together to share recovery…” 

An Introduction to NA Meetings

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