Flyout Menu

Welcome to Narcotics Anonymous

What is our message? The message is that an addict, any addict, can stop using drugs, lose the desire to use, and find a new way to live. Our message is hope and the promise is freedom.

Learn More
Find NA Near You

Resource of the Month

tooltip2
PSA Overlay

“When new members come to meetings, our sole interest is in their desire for freedom from active addiction and how we can be of help.”

It Works: How and Why, “Third Tradition”

Is NA for me?

This is a question every potential member must answer for themselves. Here are some recommended resources that may be helpful:

Need help for family or a friend?

NA meetings are run by and for addicts. If you're looking for help for a loved one, you can contact Narcotics Anonymous near you. 

Find NA Near You

Subscribe to NAWS Emails

Sign up to receive Just for Today and SPAD daily meditation emails, as well as NAWS News, NAWS Updates, and more.

Click Here

Never before have so many clean addicts, of their own choice and in free society, been able to meet where they please, to maintain their recovery in complete creative freedom.

Basic Text, “We Do Recover”

Recovery Quicklinks:

Service Quicklinks:

Narcotics Anonymous sprang from the Alcoholics Anonymous Program of the late 1940s, with meetings first emerging in the Los Angeles area of California, USA, in the early Fifties. The NA program started as a small US movement that has grown into one of the world's oldest and largest organizations of its type.

Today, Narcotics Anonymous is well established throughout much of the Americas, Western Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. Newly formed groups and NA communities are now scattered throughout the Indian subcontinent, Africa, East Asia, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe. Narcotics Anonymous books and information pamphlets are currently available in 49 languages.

Information About NA

Learn More about NA

Daily Meditations

Just for Today

July 01, 2025

A simple program
Page 191
“The program is simply sharing, working the Twelve Steps, attending meetings, and practicing the principles of the program.“
.
Our complicated lives can be made a lot less complicated if we concentrate on a few simple things–sharing our experience, strength, and hope with others, regular meeting attendance, and practicing the principles of the program in our daily lives.

By sharing our experience, strength, and hope with other addicts, we provide a powerful example for newcomers to follow. The effort we put into helping others also helps keep self-centeredness, the core of our disease, at bay.

Many of us pick one group, a “home group,” whose meetings we attend faithfully. This regularity gives some routine to our lives, and lets others know where they can find us if they need us.

Practicing the Twelve Steps in our daily lives make the difference between a balanced recovery and simply not using. The steps give us some much-needed guidance in managing our everyday affairs.

Yes, we are complex people. But the NA program simplified our lives, enabling us to live a life free from active addiction. Our lives can be filled with serenity and hope when we live by the guidance of the simple principles of our program.
Just for Today: I will remember that, while I am a complex person, NA is the simplest way for me to make my life less complicated.

A Spiritual Principle a Day

July 01, 2025

Love and That NA Hug
Page 189
“We learn that a simple, loving hug can make all the difference in the world when we feel alone.“
Basic Text, Chapter 8: We Do Recover
That awkward moment . . . We shuffle up to the door of our first meeting. Some guy is standing there with a big smile and asks our name. We reach out our hand to shake his, but instead of taking it, he puts his arms around us. “We hug in NA!”

For some of us, that hug is the first show of affection we've received in a very long time. That simple, welcoming action can be reassuring (You're going to be okay), affirming (You are in the right place), even restorative (You are loved and accepted). We hear time and time again, throughout our literature and in meetings, how our self-love tank was on empty when we got to NA. Later, when we inevitably make a mess of things in one way or another, our fellow members tell us with a hug: “You are not alone.” That NA hug is an expression of unconditional support, and it's a distinctive part of our NA culture. It's meant to ignite that slow process of building (or rebuilding) our capacity for compassion, acceptance, forgiveness, and love for ourselves.

For many of us, receiving that love from others is a challenge, in the beginning and even with time clean. The idea of being loved by strangers who expect nothing in return can feel unsettling or outright bizarre, despite our loneliness.

And for others, it's not the love we balk at–it's the hug. We didn't grow up that way, in our families or cultures. Or, being touched is not our thing, period, and we have our reasons for it. Let's be straight-up: Some of us don't want to be hugged, even by those with the best of intentions. Perhaps the most open-minded, accepting, and compassionate way to show that NA love is to watch for the signals others give and follow their lead. As one member commented, “There's only one requirement for membership in NA, after all–and engaging in the NA hug ain't it!” Each of us gets to determine if, when, and how we want to be hugged.
———     ———     ———     ———     ———
No matter my comfort level with hugging, I value being loved and supported by my fellow NA members. How can I help someone else feel less alone today?

Do you need help with a drug problem?

Find NA Near You

“If you’re new to NA or planning to go to a Narcotics Anonymous meeting for the first time, it might be nice to know a little bit about what happens in our meetings. The information here is meant to give you an understanding of what we do when we come together to share recovery…” 

An Introduction to NA Meetings

Subscribe to NAWS Emails

Sign up to receive NAWS Updates and NAWS News emails as well as Just for Today and SPAD daily emails. 

Subscribe

Get the app:

Apple Android

Follow us:

Instagram Facebook Soundcloud Youtube
Copyright 2025 NA World Services, Inc. All rights reserved.