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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:

Need help for family or a friend?

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

December 23, 2024

New Ideas
Page 373
“We reevaluate our old ideas so we can become acquainted with the new ideas that lead to a new way of life.“
Basic Text, p. 94
Learning to live a new way of life can be difficult. Sometimes, when the going gets especially hard, we're tempted to follow the path of least resistance and live by our old ideas again. We forget that our old ideas were killing us. To live a new way of life, we need to open our minds to new ideas.

Working the steps, attending meetings, sharing with others, trusting a sponsor–these suggestions may meet our resistance, even our rebellion. The NA program requires effort, but each step in the program brings us closer to becoming the kinds of people we truly want to be. We want to change, to grow, to become something more than we are today. To do that, we open our minds, try on the new ideas we've found in NA, and learn to live a new way of life.

Just for Today: I will open my mind to new ideas and learn to live my life in a new way.

A Spiritual Principle a Day

December 23, 2024

Anonymity Gives Us All a Place to Recover
Page 369
“When we treat a member as an icon rather than as another addict seeking recovery, we deprive them of the opportunity to experience the recovery they may desperately need.“
Living Clean, Chapter 6, “Anonymity”
The principle of anonymity is meant to guarantee all of us a place to recover from our addiction today. Though the symptoms of our disease may not be as acute at a given moment, we don't stop needing to participate in our recovery. NA is meant to be free of status or hierarchies that can separate us from one another–or from our connection to our recovery.

But we don't practice anonymity perfectly. We can put our fellow members on various pedestals: wise oldtimer, circuit speaker, service position election winner, sponsor extraordinaire, the one with the perfect relationship or family or money or status outside of NA. Those of us who are subjected to the pedestal may end up sacrificing our needs because we feel like we shouldn't have them anymore. No thoughts of using or acting out on defects! No complacency! Gratitude and service only! We have to maintain the aura of perfection and champion NA at every turn. We don't dare disappoint, so we don't share our pain and doubt. We end up with secrets, and that puts us at risk.

And, honestly, sometimes we give people more credit than they deserve. Cleantime doesn't necessarily equal recovery. Some of us end up believing our own hype and think the rules don't apply. We use our status as a shield or even a bludgeon. But we must resist standing by, perhaps waiting for that huge ego to be brought down a peg. We've watched our fellow members tumble down from their pedestals. Some have lost their lives in that fall.

Sometimes we need to get over ourselves! We don't have to participate in constructing and maintaining our pedestals–or anyone else's. No matter who we are or who others think we are, we need willingness to share honestly, courage to call each other out, and open-mindedness when someone does. We can share pride in our successes, while staying connected to where we came from. We need NA, even when we experience life's gifts, prosperity, and luck.
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No matter what, I'll remember that I need the message and the group. And I'll make space to support any addict, no matter who I think they are or should be.

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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