Meetings
A Narcotics Anonymous group is any meeting of two or more recovering addicts who meet regularly at a specific time and place for the purpose of recovery from the disease of addiction.
All Narcotics Anonymous groups are bound by the principles of the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of NA. Each group has but one primary purpose—to carry the message of recovery to the addict who still suffers.
It is important to remember our primary purpose so that addicts who come to their first meeting can relate and identify with others at the meeting. One responsibility of the group is to provide an atmosphere of recovery for the newcomer who has a desire to stop using as well as existing members. We want to make the newcomer feel welcome. We can all remember how frightened and apprehensive we were when we first came to NA. We welcomed that initial smile and learned a simple loving hug could make all the difference in the world when we felt alone. We needed to find others like ourselves who had been through what we had and would understand our feelings and experiences. From the very start we found that any addict could stay clean by following the example of others who were clean and living the NA program. The group is the most powerful vehicle of carrying the message of hope and the promise of freedom from active addiction. Any addict can stop using, lose the desire to use, and find a new and better way to live. In meetings we hear other addicts share their experience, strength, and hope in order to stay clean themselves and help others to stay clean. We have found that the therapeutic value of one addict helping another is without parallel.
It has been our experience that when we attend meetings regularly the feelings that used to haunt us start to leave. They are replaced by feelings of hope, joy, and gratitude for the new way of life we have found through Narcotics Anonymous. And most importantly, those who keep coming to our meetings regularly stay clean.
