What is N.A.?
Narcotics Anonymous is a global, community-based organization with a multi-lingual and multicultural membership. N.A. was founded in 1953, and our membership growth was minimal during our initial twenty years as an organization. Since the publication of our Basic Text in 1983, the number of members and meetings has increased dramatically.
As of 2016, there were over 67,000 weekly meetings in 139 countries worldwide with N.A. literature translated into 53 different languages. We offer recovery from the effects of addiction through working the N.A. twelve-step program, including regular attendance at N.A. group meetings.
The group atmosphere provides help from peers and offers an ongoing support network for addicts who wish to pursue and maintain a drug-free lifestyle. Our name, Narcotics Anonymous, is not meant to imply a focus on any particular drug; N.A.’s approach makes no distinction between drugs including alcohol.
Membership is free, and we have no affiliation with any organizations outside of N.A. including governments, religions, law enforcement groups, or medical and psychiatric associations. Through all of our service efforts and our cooperation with others seeking to help addicts, we strive to reach a day when every addict in the world has an opportunity to experience our message of recovery in his or her own language and culture.
The N.A. program is a set of principles applied to daily life. There are no strings attached to the NA Fellowship and N.A. is not affiliated with any other organizations. There are no initiation fees or dues, no pledges to sign, no promises to make to anyone. N.A. is not connected with any political, religious, or law enforcement groups, and are under no surveillance at any time.
Any addict may join N.A., regardless of age, race, sexual identity, creed, religion, or lack of religion. N.A. is not interested in what or how much someone uses or who their connections were, what they have done in the past, how much or how little they have, but only in what they want to do about their problem and how we can help.
N.A. is based on spiritual principles that are not associated with any particular religion. Although our steps call for finding and believing in a "power greater than oneself", this is a personal decision for each and every member to make. Experience of our members has shown that our spiritual principles work for all members, from the devoutly religious to the atheist and agnostic.
Contact us with any questions or use the following links for much more information about the Narcotics Anonymous Fellowship:
Membership Survey: Contains the results of a biennial survey of 22,803 NA members
Information about NA: Includes facts about the history of NA, organizational philosophy and membership demographics
An Introduction to NA Meetings: A great overview with all you need to know about our meetings
Video of NA’s Growth: NA Fellowship Growth and Development from 1953 - 2016
Global Meeting Map: Regions around the world with 67,000 weekly meetings worldwide
N.A. Literature: Literature and other N.A. products
N.A. World Services: The Service Office of the N.A. Fellowship
