The Day in History:

First Documented Meeting of Narcotics Anonymous (1953)

The original "Jimmy K" logoNarcotics Anonymous (N.A.) is a twelve-step program of recovery from drug addiction, modeled on Alcoholics Anonymous. It describes itself as a nonprofit "fellowship or society of men and women for whom drugs had become a major problem", and it is the second-largest 12-step organization in existence. The program is group-oriented, and is based on the Twelve Steps and the Twelve Traditions, adapted from A.A.

The Narcotics Anonymous programThe only requirement for membership is "a desire to stop using," and members "meet regularly to help each other stay clean," where "clean" is defined as complete abstinence from all mood and mind altering substances (including alcohol). Membership in N.A. is free, and there are no dues or fees. The foundation of the Narcotics Anonymous program is the twelve steps and twelve traditions.

Narcotics Anonymous "has no opinion on outside issues," including those of politics, science, or medicine, and does not endorse any outside organization or institution. The fellowship does not promote itself, but rather attracts new members through public information and outreach. N.A. groups and areas supply outside organizations with factual information regarding the N.A. program, and individual members may carry the N.A. message to hospitals and institutions, such as treatment centers and jails.

The nature of addiction

N.A. describes addiction as a progressive disease with no known cure, which affects every area of an addict's life: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. N.A. suggests that the disease of addiction can be arrested, and recovery is possible through the N.A. twelve-step program. The steps never mention drugs or drug use, rather they refer only to addiction, to indicate that addicts have a disease of which drug use is one symptom. Other symptoms include obsession, compulsion, denial, and self-centered fear.

Addicts often first enter N.A. after reaching a "bottom" in their life, a point at which life feels completely unmanageable, characterized by "unemployability, dereliction and destruction" and centered around the getting and using and finding ways and means to get more drugs. Every N.A. member reaches a different bottom, which can be wherever the addict chooses to stop using. In practice, it is drug use and the extreme consequences associated with its abuse that bring most addicts to their bottom.

MeetingsRegular meetings, hosted by N.A. groups, are the basic unit of the N.A. Fellowship. Meetings are held in a variety of places such as church meeting rooms, libraries, hospitals, community centers, parks, or any other place that can accommodate a meeting.

Members who attend the same meeting on a regular basis to establish a recovery network and reliable routine understand this to be their "Home Group". Group members are able to participate in the group's business, and play an important role in deciding how the group's meetings should be conducted.

Formats

There are two basic types of meetings, "open" and "closed". Anyone is welcome to attend an open meeting, while closed meetings are limited to addicts and to people who think they may have a problem with drugs.

Meeting formats vary, but often include time devoted to the reading of N.A. literature–literature that was written by and for members of N.A. regarding the issues involved in living life clean. Many meetings also include an "open sharing" component, where anyone attending has the opportunity to share. There is usually no direct feedback during the sharing, thus only one person ever speaks at any given time during this portion of the meeting. Some groups choose to host a single speaker (such meetings are usually denoted "speaker meetings") to share for the majority of the meeting time.

 Some meetings are "common needs" (a.k.a. special interest) meetings, supporting a particular group of people based on gender, sexual identity, age, language or other characteristic. These meetings are not exclusionary, as any addict is welcome at any N.A. meeting. NA Communities will often make an effort to have an open meeting run at the same time for members who don't identify with the common needs meeting.

During the meeting, some groups allot time for N.A.-related announcements, and many meetings set aside time to recognize "anniversaries" or "birthdays" of clean time. Individuals are sometimes given an opportunity to announce their clean time to the group. In some meetings, and for certain anniversaries, keytags, and medallions, which denote various amounts of clean time, are distributed to those who have achieved those milestones. In some areas, the addict who is celebrating a "cleaniversary" will be able to have support group members read the readings for the meeting and he or she will have a speaker carry the N.A. message. Then the addict celebrating will have his or her sponsor or a friend or family member, give them a medallion at which time the friend will share some of the celebrating addict's achievements during the last year, or from during the entire course of his or her recovery. Then the addict celebrating can share his or her experience, strength, and hope with the group on how they did it.

"Each group has but one primary purpose--to carry the message to the addict who still suffers" (Narcotics Anonymous' Fifth Tradition). Therefore, the newcomer is considered to be the most important person in any meeting. The message of Narcotics Anonymous is hope: that there is another way to live. The one promise of N.A. is that "an addict, any addict, can stop using, lose the desire to use, and learn a new way of life" (Basic Text). According to the Narcotics Anonymous Basic Text, the "Twelve Steps" are the source of this hope and freedom when worked to the best of one's ability.

ServiceN.A. literature suggests that service work is an essential part of a program of recovery. Service is "doing the right thing for the right reason," and is the best example of Goodwill, which is the basis for the freedom promised by the N.A. program. Service may be as simple as being present in a meeting or answering a phone. Additionally, there are basic, formalized service positions at the group level to help the group perform its function: examples include treasurer, secretary and "Group Service Representative" which represents the group in the larger service structure.

The Narcotics Anonymous service structure operates at area, regional and world levels. These levels of service exist to serve the groups and are directly responsible to those groups, they do not govern. World services is accountable to its member regions, who are in turn responsible to member areas. Area Service Committees directly support member groups and often put on special events, such as dances and picnics. Area service committees also provide special subcommittees to serve the needs of members who may be confined in jails and institutions, and will also provide a public interface to the fellowship.

Literature

Narcotics Anonymous currently has several book length pieces of "Fellowship-approved" literature. These include the following bound books:

It Works: How and Why offers detailed discussion of the twelve steps and traditions.

The Step Working Guides is a workbook with questions on each step.

Just For Today is a book of daily meditations with quotes from the Basic Text and other NA approved literature including the "Information Pamphlets".

Sponsorship is an in-depth discussion of the role of sponsorship in N.A., including the personal experiences of members.

N.A. has also produced dozens of "Informational Pamphlets", or "IP's", of varying length, that cover a wide range of recovery related topics including questionnaires for those who think they may have a drug problem, and information for those addicts trying to stay clean while still inside hospitals or institutions.

Spirituality

Narcotics Anonymous calls itself a spiritual program of recovery from the disease of addiction. The N.A. program places importance on developing a working relationship with a "higher power". The literature suggests that members formulate their own personal understanding of a higher power. The only suggested guidelines are that this power be "loving, caring, and greater than one's self." Members are given freedom in coming to an understanding of a higher power that works for them. Individuals from countless spiritual and religious backgrounds, as well as many atheists and agnostics, have developed a relationship with their own higher power. N.A. also makes frequent use of the word "God" and some members who have difficulty with this term substitute "higher power" or read it as an acronym for "Good Orderly Direction."

The twelve steps of the N.A. program are based upon spiritual principles, three of which are honesty, open-mindedness, and willingness, embodied in the first three steps. According to NA members these principles, when followed to the best of one's ability, allow for a new way of life.

N.A. meetings often close with the Third Step Prayer ("Take my will and my life. Guide me in my recovery. Show me how to live.")

group to the ASC. The alternate GSR assists the GSR and prepares to replace the GSR when need be."

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