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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 49 languages.

Information About NA

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Daily Meditations

Just for Today

November 17, 2025

Walking through the pain
Page 335
“We never have to use again, no matter how we feel. All feelings will eventually pass.“
Basic Text, p. 82
It hurts like never before. You get out of bed after a sleepless night, talk to God, and still don't feel any better. “It will pass,” a little voice tells you. “When?” you wonder, as you pace and mutter and get on with your day.

You sob in your car and turn the radio all the way up so you can't hear your own thoughts. But you go straight to work, and don't even think about using drugs.

Your insides feel as though they've been torched. Just when the pain becomes unbearable, you go numb and silent. You go to a meeting and wish you were as happy as other members seem to be. But you don't relapse.

You cry some more and call your sponsor. You drive to a friend's house and don't even notice the beautiful scenery because your inner landscape is so bleak. You may not feel any better after visiting your friend–but at least you didn't visit the connection instead.

You listen to a Fifth Step. You share at a meeting. You look at the calendar and realize you've gotten through another day clean.

Then one day you wake up, look outside, and realize it's a beautiful day. The sun is shining. The sky is blue. You take a deep breath, smile again, and know that it really does pass.

Just for Today: No matter how I feel today, I'll go on with my recovery.

A Spiritual Principle a Day

November 17, 2025

Affirming Our Step-Three Surrender
Page 332
“Striving to maintain and build on our surrender, we are better able to live and enjoy life in the moment.“
It Works, Step Three
Before recovery, we had one primary strategy to help us deal with life\'s stressors: feeding our addiction. Drugs helped us escape from an abusive household or the feelings of loneliness from our partner\'s death. They soothed the anxiety caused by our job, our rent, or the fact that we had neither. We fled from the anguish of raising teenagers or the loss of a pregnancy. However well this strategy worked at first, ultimately, it was not sustainable. The drugs stopped working, the money ran out, incarceration, overdose, degradation. . . . We know the drill. In recovery, we are shown new approaches to handle life\'s challenges–and even our successes. We learn to surrender our uncomfortable feelings, to accept the outcome of the day\'s events, to cope with the grimmest of tragedies just to be in the current moment. Practicing the Third Step daily, from the moment we open our eyes, helps many of us to deal with life on life\'s terms. We \”turn it over\” by whatever method or ritual we find works for us–praying, meditating, sending a gratitude list to our network, calling a fellow addict who\'s struggling, or just taking a moment to acknowledge Whatever\'s Out There or Within Here. We affirm our Step Three decision and surrender just for today, every day. We find that the practice of a daily surrender is sustainable. This process of surrender is a muscle that we build so that we can rely on it during our toughest moments. Just as critically, surrendering makes space for us to thrive. Turning over our will is metaphorically taking out the trash, clearing the cobwebs, airing out the sheets. It\'s washing the windows not merely to see out but to get out there and make our mark on the world.
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Today I will use the Third Step as a strategy to engage with life right here, right now. I can deal with the hardships of this moment–and the good stuff, too.

Do you need help with a drug problem?

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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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