Frequently Asked Questions
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Q. I have a drug problem, what do I have to do to attend an NA meeting? A. Narcotics Anonymous meetings are free and open to anyone who thinks he or she might have a drug problem. Please click the meetings link on this web site to find a meeting near you.
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Q. My family member or friend has a drug problem. Do you have meetings for me?
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A. For information about assistance for family members and friends of addicts, please contact at NarAnon Help Line: 1-888-947-8885 or visit their web site naranonfl.org . Although Narcotics Anonymous is not affiliated with Nar-Anon we are providing their phone number as a public service.
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Q. I am a teenager. Are there special meetings for me? A. Anyone may join Narcotics Anonymous, regardless of age, race, sexual identity, creed, religion, or lack of religion. anyone can attend any meeting. Refer to the pamphlet “NA: A Resource in Your Community” ) for more information.
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Q. My family member or friend has a drug problem. How can I get him or her to stop using?
A. Please feel free to make information, including this web site, about Narcotics Anonymous available to anyone you suspect may have a drug problem. Our experience is that an individual has to want to stop using before help will be effective.
Q. I need to get into an inpatient or outpatient treatment facility. Where can I go?
A. Narcotics Anonymous is not affiliated with any treatment facility. If you feel that you may need any form of hospitalization or professional care, please contact your local hospital or consult your phone book. If you are in a state of health emergency, call 911.
Q. Should I attend a “closed” or “open” meeting?
A. Closed Narcotics Anonymous meetings are intended for addicts only or those who feel they may have a drug problem. Open Narcotics Anonymous meetings are open to anyone wishing to experience our Fellowship and all are welcome to attend.
Q. I have heard of sponsorship. What is that?
A. In Narcotics Anonymous, sponsorship is an informal arrangement between new and experienced members to help newer members learn about recovery from addiction. The best way to find a sponsor is through attending NA meetings. In NA, there is no monetary aspect to sponsorship.
Q. I am a professional and I have a drug problem. Are there special meetings for me?
A. No, Narcotics Anonymous does not offer special meetings for any specific occupation. If you are concerned about your personal anonymity, please consider attending a closed Narcotics Anonymous meeting, which is for addicts only, or those who may have a drug problem.
Q. I am a student that was asked to observe a typical recovery meeting. What’s the best way to do this?
A. NA has Open-to-the-Public and Closed-for-addicts-only meetings. You are welcome to attend any meeting that is listed as "O" since it is an open meeting. However, Recording devices and photographic equipment are prohibited at meetings since "we are under no surveillance at any time". Also, most meetings discourage active-note-taking as members notice this as unusual behavior at our meetings. Finally at some point in the meeting everyone will introduce them selves. We ask for your First name only and followed either by Addict, Visitor, Student or Intrested in NA.
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Who are members of NA?
Anyone who wants to stop using drugs may become a member of Narcotics Anonymous. Membership is not limited to addicts using any particular drug. Those who feel they may have a problem with drugs, legal or illegal, including alcohol, are welcome in NA. Recovery in NA focuses on the problem of addiction, not on any particular drug.
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Who is an addict?
Most of us do not have to think twice about this question. We know! Our whole life and thinking was centered in drugs in one form or another – the getting and using and finding ways and means to get more. We lived to use and used to live. Very simply, an addict is a man or woman whose life is controlled by drugs. We are people in the grip of a continuing and progressive illness whose ends are always the same: jails, institutions, and death.
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What is the Narcotics Anonymous program?
NA is a nonprofit fellowship or society of men and women for whom drugs had become a major problem. We are recovering addicts who meet regularly to help each other stay clean. This is a program of complete abstinence from all drugs. There is only one requirement for membership, the desire to stop using. We suggest that you keep an open mind and give yourself a break. Our program is a set of principles written so simply that we can follow them in our daily lives. The most important thing about them is that they work.
There are no strings attached to NA. We are not affiliated with any other organizations, we have no initiation fees or dues, no pledges to sign, no promises to make to anyone. We are not connected with any political, religious, or law enforcement groups, and are under no surveillance at any time. Anyone may join us, regardless of age, race, sexual identity, creed, religion, or lack of religion.
We are not interested in what or how much you used or who your connections were, what you have done in the past, how much or how little you have, but only in what you want to do about your problem and how we can help. The newcomer is the most important person at any meeting, because we can only keep what we have by giving it away. We have learned from our group experience that those who keep coming to our meetings regularly stay clean.
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Why are we here?
Before coming to the Fellowship of NA, we could not manage our own lives. We could not live and enjoy life as other people do. We had to have something different and we thought we had found it in drugs. We placed their use ahead of the welfare of our families, our wives, husbands, and our children. We had to have drugs at all costs. We did many people great harm, but most of all we harmed ourselves. Through our inability to accept personal responsibilities we were actually creating our own problems. We seemed to be incapable of facing life on its own terms.
Most of us realized that in our addiction we were slowly committing suicide, but addiction is such a cunning enemy of life that we had lost the power to do anything about it. Many of us ended up in jail, or sought help through medicine, religion, and psychiatry. None of these methods was sufficient for us. Our disease always resurfaced or continued to progress until, in desperation, we sought help from each other in Narcotics Anonymous.
After coming to NA we realized we were sick people. We suffered from a disease from which there is no known cure. It can, however, be arrested at some point, and recovery is then possible.
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Anonymity
The basic premise of anonymity allows addicts to attend meetings without fear of legal or social repercussions. This is an important consideration for an addict thinking about going to a meeting for the first time. Anonymity also supports an atmosphere of equality in meetings. It helps insure that no individual’s personality or circumstance will be considered more important than the message of recovery shared in NA.
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NA Meetings
NA’s primary approach to recovery is its belief in the therapeutic value of one addict helping another. Members take part in NA meetings by talking about their experiences and recovery from drug addiction. NA meetings are informally structured, held in space rented by the group, and are led by members who take turns opening and closing the meeting. NA meetings and other services are funded entirely from donations by addict members and the sale of recovery literature. Financial contributions from non-members are not accepted.
Most NA meetings are held regularly at the same time and place each week, usually in a public facility. There are two basic types of meetings those which are open to the general public and those closed to the public (for addicts only). Meetings vary widely in format. Some formats are: participation, speaker, question and answer, topic discussion, and some have a combination of these formats. The function of any meeting is always the same: to provide a suitable and reliable environment for personal recovery.
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How does NA work?
Addicts helping each other recover are the foundation of NA. Members meet regularly to talk about their experiences in recovery. More experienced members (known as sponsors) work individually with newer members.
The core of the NA program is the Twelve Steps. These "steps" are a set of guidelines outlining a practical approach to recovery. By following these guidelines and working closely with other members, addicts learn to stop using drugs and face the challenges of daily living.
Narcotics Anonymous is not a religious organization and does not mandate any particular belief system. It does teach basic spiritual principles such as honesty, open-mindedness, faith, willingness, and humility that may be applied in everyday life. The specific practical application of spiritual principles is determined by each individual. Recovery in NA is not a miracle cure that happens within a given period of time. It is a process, ongoing and personal. Members make an individual decision to join and recover at their own pace.
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Rate of growth
Since no attendance records are kept, it is difficult to estimate what percentage of those who come to Narcotics Anonymous ultimately achieve long-term abstinence. The only sure indicator of our success is the rapid growth in the number of Narcotics Anonymous groups over the last several years and the rapid spread of Narcotics Anonymous outside North America.
In 1978, we had fewer than two-hundred registered groups in three countries; in 1982, eleven countries had twelve-hundred groups; as of January 2002, it is estimated that more than 19,743 groups are holding 30,051 weekly meetings in 113 countries.
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