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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 is 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

January 14, 2025

A loving God
Page 14
“Our understanding of a Higher Power is up to us…. The only suggested guidelines are that this Power be loving, caring, and greater than ourselves.“
Basic Text, p. 24
We've been told that we can believe in any kind of Higher Power we want as long as it is loving and, of course, greater than ourselves. Some of us, however, have trouble with these requirements. We either believe in nothing but ourselves, or we believe that anything that could be called “God” could only be cold-hearted and unreasonable, sending us bad luck on a whim.

Believing in a loving Power is quite a leap for some of us, for many reasons. The thought of turning our will and lives over to the care of something we think might hurt us is sure to fill us with reluctance. If we come into the program believing that God is judgmental and unforgiving, we must overcome those beliefs before we can be truly comfortable with the Third Step.

Our positive experiences in recovery can help us come to believe in a loving God of our own understanding. We've been given relief from a disease that has afflicted us for a long time. We've found the guidance and support we need to develop a new way of life. We've begun to experience a fullness of spirit where once there was only emptiness. These aspects of our recovery have their source in a loving God, not a harsh, hateful one. And the more we experience recovery, the more we'll trust that loving Higher Power.

Just for Today: I will open my mind and my heart to believe that God is loving, and trust my loving Higher Power to do for me what I cannot do for myself.

A Spiritual Principle a Day

January 14, 2025

Discerning When to Act
Page 14
“We learn where we can use our energy to make a difference and where we need to let go.“
Living Clean, Chapter 3, “Awakening to Our Spirituality”
Life in active addiction for many of us seemed like a battle: picking sides, winners and losers, retreating in fear from all conflict, or bullying to get what we wanted. We tend to bring this mindset with us in recovery. Some of us confront and challenge more than we engage and listen. One member shared, “I brought a sledgehammer to all my relationships. I felt it was my duty to pound my perspective into every discussion. Choosing my battles was a cop-out.”

As we mature in our recovery, examining our behavior through stepwork, most of us will figure out that “we” in NA doesn't really mean “me, plus all who agree with me.” When we say the “we” version of the Serenity Prayer in our service bodies and in business meetings, we're inviting discernment into the proceedings. We ask for courage, acceptance, and wisdom to guide us. Instead of approaching service meetings like gladiator games, we concentrate on cultivating enough humility to appreciate and learn from each other. We gain trust in others and become less invested in getting our way. We apply this newer mindset in all relationships.

We can also tie the Serenity Prayer to discernment in terms of prioritizing our time and energy. We can discern where our efforts would be best focused to change the things we can, accept what we can't, and let go when others want to make a different change than we do. We can ask ourselves whether we're getting too caught up in minor details rather than paying attention to the big picture and where we can make a positive impact.

“Sometimes the most discerning choice is to say nothing, step away, and let others step up,” the member went on. “At other times, honest self-assessment will lead me to choose a particular ‘battle.' But now I try to approach a conflict in my life with spiritual principles in my arsenal and forego the sledgehammer.” This strategy can apply to so many realms within our lives: sponsoring, parenting, romantic relationships, in our jobs, while driving, and, of course, in NA service.
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Not everything is battle-worthy. Where can I apply my energy today so that I am contributing to the well-being of others? What situation can I pull back from that isn't benefiting me or anyone else?

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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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