NA Meetings – What Are They, How Can They Help Me & Where Can I Find a Meeting?

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Narcotics Anonymous (NA) is an excellent source of support for addiction recovery. This is a peer recovery system based on the 12-step model that encourages drug-free living and productive lives for those in the throes of addiction. Curious about what these meetings entail, how they work, and how you can get involved? Find out more below.

A Little Bit of History

The first NA meetings were held in the early 1950s, in Los Angeles, California. Progress for the organization was slow at first, but quickly grew with their first publication, the “Basic Textbook,” in 1983. This book helped jumpstart NA and fueled its growth across the world.

By the end of 1983, Narcotics Anonymous had established a following in more than 12 countries and had more than 2,900 active meetings around the globe. Today, the organization has a multilingual and multicultural following. Worldwide, there are around 63,000 meetings each week, interspersed across 132 countries. You can also find informative pamphlets and publications about NA in 45 languages.

The Mission of NA

In support groups like NA, people help each other cope with addiction while helping themselves do the same.

Members of NA commonly reference “The White Booklet.” This was one of the organization’s earliest pamphlets and includes a section that summarizes its mission.

“NA is a nonprofit fellowship or society of men and women for whom drugs have become a major problem. We … meet regularly to help each other stay clean. … We are not interested in what or how much you used … but only in what you want to do about your problem and how we can help.”

What’s It All About?

The basic 12-step principles of NA were adapted from those held by Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). For the First Step, NA changed the word “alcohol” to the word “addiction” in an effort to remove drug-specific language and focus more on the disease of addiction itself.

Narcotics Anonymous Membership is available to everyone who is addicted to drugs, regardless of:

• The specific type of drug addiction
• The number of addictions present
• The status of the addiction
• Time devoted to the addiction

NA meetings are held by individuals who are in recovery from addiction themselves. Group leaders are responsible for making sure each meeting follows the principles and philosophies of NA. These meetings are held in various venues across the U.S. and in several other countries. Attendance at these meetings is the responsibility of the individual, and “roll” is not taken. There are no fees associated with membership.

Designated individuals will be in charge of running the meeting, and any set-up or clean-up needed usually falls to volunteers. Narcotics Anonymous does not employ a staff of professional counselors, therapists, or physicians. The group also doesn’t maintain or provide facilities or clinics.

When you enter an NA meeting, you’ll be in a judgment-free environment, surrounded by a group of peers who have been through and survived experiences similar to yours. The meeting will center on helping you abstain from drugs and face the challenges presented in everyday life with the goal of recovery in sight. Membership status is not dependent upon gender, race, ethnicity, social class, or religion.

According to Narcotics Anonymous, “The primary service provided by Narcotics Anonymous is the NA group meeting.”

How Can They Help Me?

The philosophies and principles that form the cornerstone of beliefs held by Narcotics Anonymous can be found in the “Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of NA.” In the road to recovery with Narcotics Anonymous, this is the mantra. Talking about these ups and downs in a room full of peers has shown to increase the chances of recovery and stave off relapse.

Narcotics Anonymous has built its organization around these twelve steps:

Twelve Steps of Narcotics Anonymous

1. We admitted that we were powerless over our addiction, that our lives had become unmanageable.
2. We came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
3. We made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
4. We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5. We admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
6. We were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
7. We humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
8. We made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
9. We made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
10. We continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
11. We sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to addicts, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

According to a recent survey of nearly 30,000 NA members, individuals who had used a wide variety of primary drugs in the past reported being continuously sober for an average of 11.4 years thanks to their invovlement in the organization. Moreover, 85% of members report being sober for at least five years.

How Do I Find a Meeting?

Finding an NA meeting near you can be an easy task. Go here to find a meeting near you! Our comprehensive database breaks down local meetings by city and state. You can easily filter results by meeting day, time, and type.

While drug addiction can be a lifelong battle and is affected by heredity and environmental factors, it is nice to know that help is just around the corner. Finding the support you need to help you regain a healthy life, free from the bondage of drug addiction, is imperative to your recovery. Narcotics Anonymous can be there for you, and we can help.

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