These are questions every potential member must answer for themselves. It may help to read some of our informational pamphlets starting with Am I an Addict, Welcome to Narcotics Anonymous, and For the Newcomer.
If you’re planning to attend your first meeting, you may also be interested in IP #29, An Introduction to NA Meetings.
IF YOU'RE AN ADDICT, NA CAN HELP.
Narcotics Anonymous offers recovery to addicts around the world. We focus on the disease of addiction rather than any particular drug. Our message is broad enough to attract addicts from any social class or nationality. When new members come to meetings, our sole interest is in their desire for freedom from active addiction and how we can be of help. It Works: How and Why, Narcotics Anonymous
A DESIRE TO STOP IS ALL IT TAKES
Desire is our only requirement. Addiction does not discriminate. This tradition ensures that any addict, regardless of drugs used, race, religious beliefs, sex, sexual preference, or financial condition is free to practice the NA way of life. With “a desire to stop using” as the only requirement for membership, one addict is never superior to another. All addicted persons are welcome and equal in obtaining the relief that they are seeking from their addiction; every addict can recover in this program on an equal basis. Basic Text: Narcotics Anonymous
Sharing with fellow addicts is a basic tool in our program. This help can only come from another addict. It is this help that says, “I have had something like that happen to me, and I did this …” For anyone who wants our way of life, we share experience, strength, and hope instead of preaching and judging. If sharing the experience of our pain helps just one person, it was worth the suffering. We strengthen our own recovery when we share it with others who ask for help. If we keep what we have to share, we lose it. Words mean nothing until we put them into action. Basic Text: Narcotics Anonymous