About the fellowship
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Narcotics Anonymous, or NA, is a free, anonymous fellowship of people who help each other stop using drugs and stay clean, one day at a time. It is open to anyone with a drug problem, whatever the drug, with meetings across the UK every day of the week, in person and online.
There are no fees, no referrals, and no waiting lists. The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop using.
NA is for anyone who feels their drug use has become a problem. It does not matter which drug, how much, or for how long, and NA makes no distinction between drugs, including alcohol. You do not have to be sure you are an addict, and you do not have to have stopped using before you come. If part of you wonders whether using has stopped being a choice, that is reason enough to walk in and listen.
NA talks about being clean rather than sober, and about a desire to stop rather than a promise. Many members arrive still using and simply keep coming back.
A meeting usually lasts about an hour. Someone chairs it, reads a short opening, and members share from their own experience of using and recovery. You will not be called on or made to speak, and most people just listen for their first few meetings. What is said in the room stays in the room, and a first name is all anyone uses.
NA grew out of Alcoholics Anonymous, and the first meeting under the Narcotics Anonymous name was held in California in 1953. The fellowship adapted AA's twelve steps so they spoke about addiction rather than alcohol alone, and its main book, known as the Basic Text, was first published in the early 1980s.
NA reached the UK in 1980, when the first London meeting opened with a handful of members. It is now in towns and cities across the country and runs in person, online, and as hybrids.