Development Membership is open to all drug addicts, regard- personal growth. NA as a whole has no opinion on These regional committees handle services within Narcotics Anonymous sprang from the less of the particular drug or combination of drugs outside issues, including prescribed medications. their larger geographical boundaries while the lo- Alcoholics Anonymous Program of the late 1940s, used. When adapting AA’s First Step, the word “ad- Use of psychiatric medication and other medically cal/area committees operate local services. with NA meetings first emerging in the Los Angeles diction” was substituted for “alcohol,” thus removing indicated drugs prescribed by a physician and taken An international delegate assembly known as area of California, USA, in the early 1950s. The NA drug-specific language and reflecting the “disease under medical supervision is not seen as compro- the World Service Conference provides guidance program started as a small US organization that has concept” of addiction. Narcotics Anonymous pro- mising a person’s recovery in NA. on issues affecting the entire organization. Primary grown into one of the world’s oldest and largest in- vides a recovery process and peer support network among the priorities of NA’s world services are ternational organizations of its type. For many years, that are linked together. One of the keys to NA’s Service Organization activities that support emerging and developing NA grew very slowly, spreading from Los Angeles success is the therapeutic value of addicts working The primary service provided by Narcotics NA communities and the translation of Narcotics to other major North American cities and Australia with other addicts. Members share their successes Anonymous is the NA group meeting. Each group Anonymous literature. For additional information, in the early 1970s. Within a few years, groups had and challenges in overcoming active addiction runs itself based on principles common to the contact the World Service Office headquarters in formed in Brazil, Colombia, Germany, India, Ireland, and living drug-free, productive lives through the entire organization, which is expressed in NA’s lit- Los Angeles, California. The mailing address, tele- Japan, New Zealand, and Great Britain. In 1983, application of the principles contained within the erature. phone number, fax number, and website address Narcotics Anonymous published its self-titled Basic Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of NA. These Most groups rent space for their meetings in appear at the end of this pamphlet. Text book, which contributed to NA’s tremendous principles are the core of the Narcotics Anonymous buildings run by public, religious, or civic organiza- growth; by year’s end, NA had grown to have a pres- recovery program. Narcotics Anonymous itself is a tions. Individual members lead the NA meetings Organizational Philosophy ence in more than a dozen countries and had 2,966 non-religious program of recovery; each member is while other members participate by sharing about In order to maintain its focus, Narcotics meetings worldwide. encouraged to cultivate an individual understand- their experiences in recovering from drug addiction. Anonymous has established a tradition of non- Today, Narcotics Anonymous is well established ing—religious or not—of the spiritual principles Group members also work together to perform the endorsement and does not take positions on throughout much of North and South America, and apply these principles to everyday life. activities associated with running a meeting. anything outside its own specific sphere of activity. Europe, Australia, the Middle East, New Zealand, There are no social, religious, economic, racial, In a country where Narcotics Anonymous is a rel- Narcotics Anonymous does not express opinions— and Russia. Groups and NA communities continue ethnic, national, gender, or class-status membership atively new and emerging fellowship, the NA group either pro or con—on civil, social, medical, legal, or to grow and evolve throughout the Indian sub- restrictions. There are no dues or fees for member- is the only level of organization. In places where a religious issues. Additionally, it does not take stands continent, Africa, and Asia. Today the organization ship; most members regularly contribute in meet- number of Narcotics Anonymous groups have had on addiction-related issues such as criminality, law is truly a worldwide multilingual, multicultural fel- ings to help cover the expenses incurred for the the chance to develop and stabilize, groups elect enforcement, drug legalization or penalties, prosti- lowship with more than 63,000 weekly meetings rent of facility space. representatives to form a local service committee. tution, HIV/HCV infection, or syringe programs. in 132 countries. Narcotics Anonymous books and Narcotics Anonymous is not affiliated with other These local committees usually offer a number of Narcotics Anonymous strives to be entirely information pamphlets are currently available in organizations, including other twelve step pro- services. Included among them are: self-supporting through member contributions grams, treatment centers, or correctional facilities. 45 languages, with translations in process for 16  distribution of NA literature; and does not accept financial contributions from As an organization, NA does not employ profes- non-members. Based on the same principle, groups languages.*  helpline information services; sional counselors or therapists nor does it provide and service committees are administered by NA Program residential facilities or clinics. Additionally, the fel-  presentations for treatment and healthcare members, for members. lowship does not offer vocational, legal, financial, staff, civic organizations, government agencies, Narcotics Anonymous neither endorses nor op- NA’s earliest self-titled pamphlet, known among psychiatric, or medical services. NA has only one and schools; members as “The White Booklet,” describes Narcotics poses any other organization’s philosophy or meth- mission: to provide an environment in which ad-  Anonymous this way: presentations to acquaint treatment or correc- odology. NA’s primary focus is in providing a recov- dicts can help one another stop using drugs and tional facility clients with the NA program; and ery environment whereby drug addicts can share find a new way to live. “NA is a nonprofit fellowship or society of men and  maintaining NA meeting directories for individ- their recovery experiences with one another. By In Narcotics Anonymous, membership is based women for whom drugs had become a major ual information and for any interested person. remaining free from the distraction of controversy, problem. We … meet regularly to help each other on a desire to stop using drugs including alcohol NA is able to focus all of its energy on its particular stay clean. ... We are not interested in what or how and has as a foundation, the principle of complete In some countries, especially the larger coun- area of purpose. much you used ... but only in what you want to do abstinence. It has been the experience of NA mem- tries or those where Narcotics Anonymous is well about your problem and how we can help.” bers that complete and continuous abstinence established, a number of local/area committees provides the best foundation for recovery and have come together to create regional committees. *As of May 2014 Cooperating with Narcotics Anonymous membership. There are, however, some objective Quality of Life Improvement Areas Although certain traditions guide its relations measures that can be shared based on data ob- Multiple answers were allowed. with other organizations, Narcotics Anonymous tained from members attending one of our world 92% welcomes the cooperation of those in government, conventions; the diversity of our membership, espe- 88% 100% 81% ® the clergy, treatment and healthcare professions, cially ethnic background, seems to be representa- 76% tive of the geographic location of the survey. The 90% 72% criminal justice organizations and private voluntary 80% following demographic information was gathered organizations. NA’s nonaddict friends have been in- 70% 55% from a survey completed by approximately 16,750 strumental in getting Narcotics Anonymous started 60% NA members. The survey was made available at in many countries and helping NA grow worldwide. 50% the 2013 World Convention of NA in Philadelphia, NA strives to cooperate with others interested in 40% Narcotics Anonymous. Our more common coopera- Pennsylvania in our international journal, The NA 30% Way Magazine, and on our website: tion approaches are: providing contact information, 20% Information disseminating recovery literature, and sharing infor-  Gender: 57% male, 43% female. 10% mation about recovery. Additionally, NA members  Age: 1% 20 years old and under, 12% 21–30 0% about NA are often available to provide presentations for years old, 18% 31–40 years old, 28% 41–50 Narcotics Anonymous is an international, treatment centers and correctional facilities, offering years old, 31% 51-60 years old, and 10% over Education Employment community-based association of recovering Advancement information about the NA program to the profes- 60 years old. Stable Housing Hobbies/Interest drug addicts with more than 63,000 weekly sional staff and sharing with addicts otherwise un- Social Connection  Ethnicity: 76% Caucasian, 13% African- Family Relationships meetings in 132 countries worldwide. able to attend community-based meetings. American, 5% Hispanic, and 6% other. In 2013 the two areas that received overwhelm- ing improvement with NA attendance were family Membership Demographics  Employment status: 59% employed full-time, 12% employed part-time, 11% unemployed, relationship, where 92% of our members stated en- To offer some general informal observations 9% retired, 6% students, and 4% homemakers. richment; and social connection, which was realized about the nature of the membership, and the effec- by 88% of the respondents. NA literature states that tiveness of the program, the following observations Years Drug-Free active addiction is marked by increased isolation are believed to be reasonably accurate. and destruction with relationships. Recovery in NA The socioeconomic strata represented by the NA <1 Year has helped survey respondents to repair the dam- 9% membership vary from country to country. Usually, >20 Years age in their lives from drug addiction. members of one particular social or economic class 19% 16–20 Years start and sustain most developing NA communities 11% worldwide, but as their fellowship development activities become more effective, the membership becomes more broadly representative of all socio- 1–5 Years 33% economic backgrounds. 11–15 Years All ethnic and religious backgrounds are repre- 11% 6–10 Years sented among NA members. Once a developing 17% Copyright © 2006–2014 by NA community reaches a certain level of maturity, NA members have an average of 11.07 years Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc. its membership generally reflects the diversity or clean. This can be compared to NA’s last survey, All Rights Reserved homogeneity of the background culture. which was the 2011 Membership Survey, showed Membership in Narcotics Anonymous is vol- NA World Services, Inc. Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc. members with an average of 10.87 years clean. PO Box 9999 PO Box 9999 – Van Nuys, CA 91409 USA untary; no attendance records are kept either for Van Nuys, CA 91409-9099 USA Tel. +1/818.773.9999 Fax +1/818. 700.0700 Website: www.na.org NA’s own purposes or for others. Because of this, Tel: +1/818.773.9999 Fax: +1/818.700.0700 World Service Office–EUROPE World Service Office–CANADA World Service Office–IRAN B-1050 Brussels, Belgium Mississauga, Ontario Tehran, Iran it is sometimes difficult to provide interested par- Website: www.na.org Tel. +32/2/646-6012 Tel. +1 905.507.0100 Tel. +98/21/8868 1652 ties with comprehensive information about NA Item No. ZPR001002 www.na-iran.org