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For Professionals

Narcotics Anonymous: A Brief History

The non-profit fellowship of Narcotics Anonymous (NA), sprang from the Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) Program of the late 1940s, to light a path to recovery from the horrors of drug addiction. Narcotics Anonymous started in July 1953 with its first meeting in Southern California. Within a few years, NA groups had formed in Brazil, Colombia, Germany, India, the Irish Republic, Japan, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.

 

Today NA is well established throughout much of North and South America, Western Europe, Australia, the Middle East, New Zealand and Eastern Europe. Narcotics Anonymous books and information pamphlets in over 60 languages. Today there are more than 77,000 weekly meetings in over 145 countries.

If you would like to arrange a presentation or speak to someone in more detail about the services we offer please contact the Public Relations Workgroup.

Information for Professionals

Includes facts about the history of NA, organizational philosophy, and membership demographics.

Offers a welcoming introduction, and explains practices unfamiliar to those at their first meetings, and provides tips for groups to preserve an atmosphere of recovery.

This pamphlet provides information about local NA services that may be available such as public service announcements, phonelines, literature sales, and NA presentations for health fairs, schools and professional conferences.

Contains the results of the First APF membership Survey 2018-2019, conducted by the PR & FD WorkGroups.

In this pamphlet, we offer some suggestions and a basic plan of action to help recovering addicts in the transition from treatment, to continuing recovery in Narcotics Anonymous.

This relied-upon booklet was recently revised to reflect members’ experiences with challenges such as mental health issues, chronic illness and pain, and supporting members with illnesses. It includes section summaries in the table of contents.

This pamphlet was developed by young members of Narcotics Anonymous to illustrate the fact that young addicts around the world, speaking many different languages, are getting and staying clean in NA.

Our Twelve Traditions remind us that medication use is a member’s personal decision, and is an outside issue for NA groups. This piece is intended for groups as they consider this issue. It does not address members’ personal decisions, nor does it try to change members’ opinions about medication. Groups are often better able to carry the message and welcome everyone when members come together to discuss this issue.

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