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:

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

Daily Meditations

Just for Today

August 02, 2025

Practicing honesty

Page 224

“When we feel trapped or pressured, it takes great spiritual and emotional strength to be honest.“

Basic Text, p. 85

Many of us try to wiggle out of a difficult spot by being dishonest, only to have to humble ourselves later and tell the truth. Some of us twist our stories as a matter of course, even when we could just as easily tell the plain truth. Every time we try to avoid being honest, it backfires on us. Honesty may be uncomfortable, but the trouble we have to endure when we are dishonest is usually far worse than the discomfort of telling the truth.

Honesty is one of the fundamental principles of recovery. We apply this principle right from the beginning of our recovery when we finally admit our powerlessness and unmanageability. We continue to apply the principle of honesty each time we are faced with the option of either living in fantasy or living life on its own terms. Learning to be honest isn't always easy, especially after the covering up and deception so many of us practiced in our addiction. Our voices may shake as we test our newfound honesty. But before long, the sound of the truth coming from our own mouths settles any doubts: Honesty feels good! It's easier living the truth than living a lie.

Just for Today: Today I will honestly embrace life, with all its pressures and demands. I will practice honesty, even when it is awkward to do so. Honesty will help, not hurt, my efforts to live clean and recover.

A Spiritual Principle a Day

August 02, 2025

With Independence Comes Responsibility

Page 222

“Learning to make decisions for ourselves also means accepting responsibility for those decisions.“

Living Clean, Chapter 6, “Finding Our Place in the World”

We aren't alone, and we can't recover alone. But our commitment to mutual support doesn't negate our independence or the responsibility that attaining it–and sustaining it–demands. Even with all the apt suggestions we provide each other, our decisions about how we live are our own. And learning to live with those choices is its own beast!

Some members define responsibility as the willingness to accept the consequences of our actions. Even clean, we have to keep learning the lesson that our choices aren't made in a vacuum. They affect those around us. When we find ourselves thinking once again, I'm only hurting myself, it's time for a closer look. We may want to exercise freedom of choice with more awareness and care.

And other members say, “Careful what you pray for–you just might get it.” Often when we do get what we want, it's a whole other world of responsibility that is ours to manage. A romantic partnership, getting our kids back, a career, property, a new puppy–all of these are gifts we must care for in order to sustain. “We keep what we have only with vigilance”–and also with commitment, discipline, patience, acceptance, passion, and a lot of love.

Another aspect of taking responsibility for our independence is when, inevitably, we are faced with other people's opinions about a new direction we choose. At times that “I told you so” reaction we get makes us defensively dig ourselves further into a bad choice–or someone else's response spurs us to run from a good one. Blaming others gets us nowhere. Practicing independence requires an honest assessment of our choices in the face of others' reactions. We've also heard members say, “The more I make new mistakes rather than repeating old ones, the more I know I'm making headway in my life.”

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I'm doing the best I can at living fully and owning my independence. I can live with my choices, and, if not, I can make different ones!

Do you need help with a drug problem?

“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…”

Welcome to Narcotics Anonymous

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It Works: How and Why, “Third Tradition”

Is NA for me?

Need help for family or a friend?

Subscribe to NAWS Emails

Basic Text, “We Do Recover”

Recovery Quicklinks:

Service Quicklinks:

Information About NA

Daily Meditations

Just for Today

August 02, 2025

Practicing honesty

A Spiritual Principle a Day

August 02, 2025

With Independence Comes Responsibility

Do you need help with a drug problem?

Subscribe to NAWS Emails