What is Narcotics Anonymous?
N.A. is a nonprofit fellowship or society of men and women for whom drugs had become a major problem. We are recovering addicts who meet regularly to help each other stay clean. This is a program of complete abstinence from all drugs. There is only one requirement for membership, the desire to stop using. We suggest that you keep an open mind and give yourself a break. Our program is a set of principles written so simply that we can follow them in our daily lives. The most important thing about them is that they work. We have learned from our group experience that those who keep coming to our meetings regularly stay clean.
For Professionals
Narcotics Anonymous is an international, community-based, association of recovering addicts who meet regularly to help each other stay clean. We have over 70,000 weekly meetings in over 144 countries worldwide.
For Newcomers
The simple message of Narcotics Anonymous is… “That an addict, any addict, can stop using drugs, lose the desire to use and find a new way to live”
Connecticut NA History Project
Explore the history of Narcotics Anonymous in Connecticut. This captivating history project sheds light on the transformative journey of addiction recovery in Connecticut.
Just for Today
Recovery gives many of us relationships that are closer and more intimate than any we've had before. As time passes, we find ourselves gravitating toward those who eventually become our friends, our sponsor, and our partners in life. Shared laughter, tears, and struggles bring shared respect and lasting empathy.
What, then, do we do when we find that we don't agree with our friends on everything? We may discover that we don't share the same taste in music as our dearest friend, or that we don't agree with our spouse about how the furniture should be arranged, or even find ourselves voting differently than our sponsor at a service committee meeting. Does conflict mean that the friendship, the marriage, or the sponsorship is over? No!
These types of conflict are not only to be expected in any long-lasting relationship but are actually an indication that both people are emotionally healthy and honest individuals. In any relationship where both people agree on absolutely everything, chances are that only one person is doing the thinking. If we sacrifice our honesty and integrity to avoid conflicts or disagreements, we give away the best of what we bring to our relationships. We experience the full measure of partnership with another human being when we are fully honest.
Spiritual Principle a Day
For many of us, our lives get so much better so quickly in the early years of recovery that it's only natural to think we've found the key to happiness, unencumbered by life's difficulties. It's nice while it lasts, but ultimately, as one member puts it, "Life is more than killing time between meetings, and I eventually experienced hardships despite working a pretty good program." Life is not always fair--that's a fact. Sometimes we lose loved ones, homes, and relationships even when we're spiritually centered.
The results of day-to-day life are not always what we would have hoped for. Nevertheless, we learn how to walk through situations by living according to spiritual principles. If we don't get the job we wanted or a long-term relationship comes to an end, we hold on and stay clean. Our world may still be thrown out of balance from time to time but, as long as we stay clean, we can survive sadness, disappointment, and uncertainty and return to balance again and again. We experience the full range of human emotions and marvel at the strength of our spiritual foundation.
Life is in session, and we get to choose how we want to participate.
