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FROM. Goneral Service Office of
Narcotics. Anonymous •
.Por the. first time in the long,. somet.imes glorious, sometimes
.disAstrous his.tory of man,tho.tsegme;nt of humnnity,:t;he true minori;ty
g~~~p,the most shunned and misunderstooa. of all,smotiomally imbalanced
'Peo,ple,the most frustrat.ed. failur~ in the business of,l~ving,the' most
f~endish. in the created image presen~ed to,society at large and the
one most likely to, succeed in terminating life at an early age; the
, a;ddlct,noS' stands in a ne" dimension. Only in raro and exceptional
aases,a~~e addict ever recover before,even then ~e do not know
whether this change lasted a' lifetime or. ~o~. Nowhowever the cas:toff
theory in the prognosis of addiotion is no lopger tenable~ ~e old
sayit'.gttOnce an addict .al'1\"ay~ an addict" is ,no longer true .•" :Attempts
have: often been made in the past to help re~~bilitate addicted peo~e
but· most often .. these have been made more as a sop to the conscierc e " .,-. '.' ...
of·society,than a serious effort to help the addict as a person. Our
Judeo~Christian and constitutional teachings kept us from removing the
addict fr.o.m society in &;' d~cisive manner., al though, this. T' aB ani still is
advocated by many sinoerely ignorant people. If the pinpointing of
the·problem of addiction today,brings"us.~ll -(;0 a..deeper a.we.reness
of tho Dlnoos and e. more desperate Deed for'.a.ction in this social
h~althfield, then per~a.ps it may also b1:"ing a mnr '1\"illingness to try
a. neiT' approach. ~'e,believe we havo this, in ·Narcotics Anonymous.
Sinoe I963 when a small group,~fad~icts and alooholics; both
men a.',nd women,me't. i'.n... the, little town of Sun Valley,in the. San Fernando
Val;ey of Cal~fornia,a new and encouraging page in the history of'f!~~
reco,~ery ior the adc!li~t bege.n to be' wri tteD. This first ooromitiee
believ?d they knew the way to help other addicts through a valid
sP1:ri tual pr8l!ram:,.~ich they knew as A~~oholics Anonymous,The.ir recove~
wa.s due to the u..~iliza.tiol1. of that program for ~hoir Dew way of ,I i£e.
A .£e~ a~dictlJ(inolJtl!. in So Calif.) wer~ ~in~ing s.ome surce~~e and help
:fr~m alcohol.i7:s, ~n A.A. groups, scattered here and' t~ere t~r~~ghout ~he
oountry. HO"il'over,mor~ often than not,primary lack of, identification
at the level thn:t· would· be most beneficial ''WIlS we.nting. Also A.A.' s
prim~, ~ ~U~~OS9 .. is to help the alcoholic· w'h.o. s~ill suffers from aloo- - ~ .. ,
holism to recover, since the ,key to sobriety lies ~n the understanding
and, empathy.of one ~coholio, for another~'maD.Ya,ddicts, 'W'ere,.l,ost .and
continued the old 'Wayof solf destruction, incarceration and death.
2 •.
The· Tr~dl t10UB o:r A.A.alBD make· It ImpolJlJ1t.i6 'oft. ~1tA" B&6i6t, ..
to ally itself Y1th any other ca~ses,no matter ho. worthYJalthough they
always oooperate wen possible. Violation of the.1rTradiiion.s could
yell· do·stroy th·&t·yondertu1 Fello"ship,Tbich itself' in It'lf exper:\j)n~.
h~8 ~i·'tteri.& ney prtge ot hope tor those as hopelessly bound to ~le~
hol as we ~ere add!ctott to drugs. Since no· affilIation here Yt1sQQiis."'b"1&
we had to stBI1d as· a distinct and seperate movement,knoYn noy a~;N.~\1-'<Hi-t.
fCB AnoDymous,this could Yell be described as ~ rebirth of A.A. In ~
are~ needing so much .bat they had to offer .and ~ich they so fr~~~
gave to us at our birth as a Pellowship.
Let us· ,as briefly &8 p08sible,sta.te wbat N.A.is.1rhrlbit is not
is impo~tant only to the addict himself.
Narcotics Anonymo\\s is B non-profit fello."..shipofmeuand·women
for Yhomdrugs had become a m~jor pro~lem.We are rocovered addic~s who
meet regularly. to obtain and maintain a yay ot life th~ ~&kes drugs
un-necceSSA.ry in facing everyday living. Ours is' a program· of complete
!tbstinenco from alF drugs. Thore is only· "one" requirement for membershi'P,
the honest desire to stop using drugs. There are· no musts· in:N.A.
but Te'~uggest to· the addict to keep an open mind and give themsolves
r1 bre41c. Our program is a' set o::f".·principles,'19:1"istot·esnimply that 'Ye
can· follow them in· our ·da.ilylives. TIre· most· iInportant th:ulg abou1; them
is that· "They do York".
There are no strings a.ttached to N.A. We are not affiliated with
any other organizutions,we have no leaders in the usual senfte of the
word,~o initiation fees or dues,no pledges to sign,no pro~i8es to make
~o ~yone. We ar~ not connected to any ~olitica.l,religi~us·or law enforcement
· groups and are under no surveillance at any time. Anyone may join
us,,,,howants this program, regardless or age ,ra.ce,color,creed,religion
~r l&ck of religion. We are no~ inter~sted in the &ddi~ts past but only
in Yhat he vanta to do &bout his or her problem and hoy y~ can help.
The newcomer ·is the.·most importa.nt person at any meeting, because we can
only IteQJ? wbe.t ye ho.ve by giving it a', .. ay. Our group experience has
taught us tha.t·those yho k·eep coming back to our meeting.· :stay 'olean t.
B0fore coming to the Fellowship of N.A. ~e could no~· mnnage· our
·0'111 lives,1re could not ·live and· enjoy lif'e &'s·other peopl. do.: W. had to
have somet.hing different and we thought we had found it in .drugs. tOe
pl&cedtheir use· ahead of the welfare of our famil1e8,our~i~es,our hu ••
bands' and our children. We had to have drugs At all cost •• J'8' did many
people great ba.rm but most' ot ~l lre harm6t1 cUl'Dolvog. 'lfhrough 'our
inability ,to accept personal t"esponsibilities ,ye ~ere' ~otua1fy creatin,t
our O'1m problems. 1'e seemed'to be" inca:pable of 'facing '~i:te on its
01t1lterms •.
Most o~ ~s ,re~lizedttbat in our addict~ons~we:Yere slowly
. 'co.m...mitting suicide, but such cunni.ng enemies of tife' are narcotics and
~edation that,ye had iost th~ po~er 'to do 'anything about it. Ja~i' did
not help us a.t all. Medicine ,~eligion and Psychia.try seemod to ha.ve
no 8JlsJf!3r~ fo.r u~ that Y9 cou).d use • .All othe~ method~' having failed
~or:~~,fn desperation,ye sought help'from ..each other in~arco:f:,ic8
.Ano~ymous~
Aft~r, coming to N.A. ye realized ye were' sick p.ople -ho
suffered from s disease like Alcoh·o~ism"Di8.betes. or Tuberculosis.
There is no kn01t1l 'Cure' for these --all howevvr,c~ b~ ~rested at
some point and 'Recovery' is then possible.
, The follo~ing,taken from our N.A. boo~le.'(, ',113' .~~ ]?TOP"'~ ~s
we present it to the newcomer.
HOW IT WORKS.
If you, 'W'an~ what ve havA to' offer"and arc. willing to make, the
effort t'o get' it, the. you are ready to take certttin !It,aps. Thes.a s.ra
suggested ,only,but ,theynare.the prin~iples that made our recovery po
.possible •... ' ,
I •. n: admitted ,,-e ,,-ere po"erless over our addiction,that our lives
had become unmanageable.
2. 'WE came to believe tbat 8. power grea.tor than ourselves could res
restore us to snnity.
3 1~ m~de a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the
care of GOd,AS i'E ~DERSTOOD HIM.
4. ~~,made a searching and foarless moral inventory of ourselves •
. . ' .. '1-~ ..
5., '. ~'E admitted to 'God,to ourselves nnd{\lmother humsn.,being the exa.c·
nature,of, our wrongs.
6. ~ were entirely. ready to h~e God.remove a~l these defects of
chare;cter.
7. ~Ehumbly asked Him to reroov~ our ~h~rtcoroings.
8. Ve.made a list of all persons we had harmed,and bte~e willing , .. . ' ..
to make nmends to tpem 811.:
9. 'f.~ made di~eot amends to auc~ people wherO~61'po••!blA.AX~9pt
when· to do so you14 injure them or others.
4.
I~. ~. ~ontinuod to take p~rsonRl inventory,and yhen ye yere Trong
promp~ly ~dmittedit.
II. n sought thro:ugh p~ayer and .med!tation,to im:prove .our ·ccinsoious
contact "ith God,AS· WEUND~STOOD HIM,praying only for kno"ledge·' of Ris
".i1l for us nnd the poyer to carry ·:thnt out.
12. Having had a spiritual a~akening as a result of thole stepst~
t~ied to carry this message to add~cts and to practice these pri~ipLe4
ins!! our affairs •
. This sounds like n ·big order, and ire orin't do it altat onca·; ~
didn't become addicted in ono d~y,so remember tF~SY DOES ·IT'
'there is one thing more than anything else tha.t ".ill def'ea.ct..a~
in our r,ecovery~thi~ i. an. attitude of· indiierence or in-toleranc4 ..
to'1l"a.rds spiritu&l principles. Although there are· no musts in N~A.
there ~e ·throQ things that seem indispensible,thoso aro.80NESTY,
OPENMiNDEDNESS and the WILLINGNESS TO TRY~'Withthese ye Ue yell on
our' yay.
rQ ·fec1 t~at ~ur a~pronch to the problem of addiction is complet),
ly· realistic, for the thor8:~eutic vs.lue of ono nddict helping another·
is. without ~arallel¥~e feel that our ys.y is p~actica1,fo~.Dne addiot
can best understand. and help another' addict. 1i'f't beliavG that,tho;
sooner ~c face. our problems ~ithin our socioty,in overyday 1iving,just
that much faster do "Q Dacome a.ccciptable,responsi'bla ana. productive
memb~rs of that society.
The oniynway to keep from getting'or· c·ontinuing a. habit is not to
take· that first fix pill or drirut. If you ar~ like us you knOY that
on.G ts toom~y and 1\ thousend.never enoursh. ""B .put great emphasis .on
this for ye knOY th~t 'Whenye use drugs ~n any form,or ~stitute one
..tor 'anothor,ye release our a.ddiction all over again or create. ~ n·ew one
'rhe substitution 01 alcohol has ca.used a great many acldicts ·to
. form a. na" a.ddiotion pattern,wh.ich. in. its· progression br1Ugs as m'e.ny
problems as be,£ore. We seem· to forget that ~lcohol is on·, of.the oldest
known drugs. It "Irould appe~ ~ha.t YO .a.::re .p~ople with· eddiotive p~rsonitios
who ar~ strongly susceptible to a~coholia ·addiction. :
In the la.st three and onehalf"~.ears, some .great. he~ted peop~e
ha.ve ·helped us on our ,,'ay, 'WeItno"~ iha.t ih()s·e menhe.d to· base their
decision to e.sflist us on :princ~.ple rather than on kno'Wlec1ge,they did
.no-b know what -to 9~ect of groups ot ad~icts and .we kno'W':that a little
tear for the outoome of ·iheir decis!ons,musi have worried·them' even
".ith their faith. They opened the doors ·of· their' meeting:rooms:to .8,
, 5.
on our terms that we in some way YO mUlt. bo .olf.luppor'tlnth Thoy ft.skftd
nothing but that we help ourselv~8 to a better ~ay of'iit. and the!r
trust helped us immeasureably. 'Weknow that it has been b-neficial" for. , '
us, el though we hllvo no accu~ate count in number ot r~coverie8. 'As &'
movement ,ye keep no record of individuals .but ye kno~ tha~ 'in California,
and especially, in the ci -ty of Los Angole4 and the southern ar.0f:'-
of the state,we noy number in the hundreds ."ith more Qom1ng daily'and
more st~~ing with the diff9rent gr~ups. More groups are being s~t up
at the present time and the finO:l structure, ot:. our movemeni is form~ng.
The non-addict Trustees of' our'Fello'~'sl1ip, both proposedan4 aocepted,
are the people .•h..o gavous an op:portun~ty to stand on oU%'01m. fe~t
."ithns~lf re,sppct. That the first of these Trustees is a man of
Religion and personal integrity, who placed his trust in princip1a and
in people such ,ItS , 'W'ey,i th no ties on u's, a-dds oniy to the' respect mn.ny
of us feol for men such ss these i~ t~e field of Relig10nJe~en though
many of us, stiil and ma.y well continue t~ be, non or irreligious.
Our program is a means to an end a.nd 1"ot ~ end in 1~8elf •. The
~.A.principles become tools ~e use, in liyiri~'and not answers on which
to rest. Principle in a.ction is th"c c",tllly~:t, that changes ~ur li~as
and «1ters our chBra.cter. Our best. 'ld.eas, must; be trAnslated into doing
before they have any value. 'Ire are. not' cru~Eide,r.s trying t,t\ change the.
'World,oDly our small ,pa~t Dr it,1I"e, d() these things primarily for
ource1vas to regain e.nd mai,nta.in Jur" uersonal and crea.tive i'ree{iom, and
then tbroughnattraction,hope:th~t those like u's maynfind'the yay a
little less difficult.
This is a. simple but not an easy program for the addi~t,it t~es
courage to fD.ce our O"l\'ll roa1'i ty, ~"1d mo~t of us are fearful 1,)oople but
, if 'Wehad never known fear ~hB.t value 'Would there be in courA.ge,. '-'e do
not· claim perfection in our lives,only. spiritua:l progress,nor do ye ..
cle.i~ to have all ~he nns~ors or the l&stword in ma~tersof addiction,
but our. experienca counts :for Bocotbing.' 1~eoome to balioTs not only
in ourselves and N.A. but in 1its itself, 'lrhi,c~ has become 'good,not
only to us but for us,and Bo,self-destruction has ended and self~
unification bas, begun.
G•.
A~ time goes on,we find more adnicts facing calamity'with serenijy
and here is one .of the sur.est signs. of a valid recovery.'
""e know that this' Fellowship can pr.ovide,if accept.4,th. me~s to
a life ~ree from drugs or even tho need for them and thi. is the t~ue
miracle. the release. from our obsesoion. N(lroot!~8 Anonymousmust .
.continue :to. eX~Bt.and' grcnr, if w:...en~~ em the progruam. yish to survive,'
If ".8 fail to do this,then onlynthose fe-w,veryfew, "i11 8ti1~jt!.lx
R8i«x.xi~yth.xaiKt~x~1~~x ~~cover, the rest roill surely,as befo~e
in tho... history of man ,go do~n the rond of desperation,calaaity and
death. ~---~---------

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