Narcotics Anonymous

Narcotics Anonymous (NA) was founded in 1953 in the Los Angeles, California, area by Jimmy Kinnon and other individuals who had previously found recovery from addiction through the Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) program. The founders of NA developed a program that is based on the Twelve Steps of AA but takes a broader view toward recovery from substance use disorders than does the AA program. AA granted the early members of NA the permission to adapt the Twelve Steps of AA to deal with all forms of chemical dependency as opposed to simply alcoholism. However, the NA founders were not granted the permission to use the Alcoholics Anonymous name, and subsequently, the group's name was changed to Narcotics Anonymous. The program began as a small U.S. movement, but currently, NA is the second largest Twelve-Step recovery program of its kind.

The NA program inextricably links together a recovery process and support network, and a key component of NAs approach to recovery is the therapeutic value of one addict helping another. The program is a nonprofit, independent organization of recovering addicts. Narcotics Anonymous is not linked to political, religious, law enforcement, or other organizations—including other Twelve-Step programs, treatment, or correction facilities—and the program completely self-supporting. That is, although NA members are not required to pay any fees, most members contribute small sums of money to their NA group to help cover the expenses of meetings, and the NA groups operate solely on members' funds, not accepting donations from outside sources.

The NA program is open to any person who feels that he or she has a problem with any substance (whether legal or illegal, including alcohol) and wants to stop using. NA is not concerned with what substance or combination of substances one has used. To be a member, no one is required to pay dues or fees, sign pledges, make promises, or follow any regulations. Members are not required to sign attendance sheets and are under no surveillance at any time. Anyone is allowed to join NA regardless of his or her age, race, sexual identity, creed, political persuasion, religion, or lack of religion. The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop using a substance or substances, including alcohol.

The basic unit of NAs recovery program is the NA group meeting. NA groups usually hold meetings at the same time and in the same place each week, and usually groups rent space in buildings run by public, religious, or civic organizations. Group members share the responsibilities of chairing, opening, running, sharing at, and closing group meetings as well as caring for the space that the group rents for meetings. NA meetings follow an informal format, which varies from group to group, but all meetings are based on principles shared by the entire NA organization (found in NA literature). Although meetings may follow many formats (participation, speaker, question and answer, topic discussion, literature study, or any combination thereof), there are two basic forms of meetings: open meetings, which are open to the general public (anyone interested in the program and its form of recovery); and closed, which are closed to the general public (open only to addicts). The primary function of all NA group meetings is to provide a safe and consistent environment for personal recovery.

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