Frequently Asked Questions

“NA 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.

There are no strings attached to NA. We are not affiliated with any other organizations, we have no initiation fees or dues, no pledges to sign, no promises to make to anyone. We are not connected with any political, religious or law enforcement groups, and are under no surveillance at any time. Anyone may join us, regardless of age, race, sexual identity, creed, religion or lack of religion.

We are not interested in what or how much you used or who your connections were, what you have done in the past, how much or how little you have, but only in what you want to do about your problem and how we can help. The newcomer is the most important person at any meeting, because we can only keep what we have by giving it away. We have learned from our group experience that those who keep coming to our meetings regularly stay clean.”

–Narcotics Anonymous Basic Text, 6th Ed. p. 9

According to AA literature, “only those with a drinking problem may attend closed meetings.”  Narcotics Anonymous offers hope to people who are addicted to any and all drugs, including alcohol.

Additional differences

NA meetings are not classes. We do not teach lessons or provide counseling. We simply share our personal experiences with addiction and recovery.

NA meetings are not group therapy sessions. We do not teach lessons or provide counseling. We simply share our personal experiences with addiction and recovery.

Yes you can. An “open” meeting is a meeting that welcomes anyone to attend, including interested non-addicts. A “closed” meeting is a meeting for addict or those who may have a drug problem.

Groups often mark or sign attendance sheets or court cards as a courtesy to people who request it, but some groups and members choose not to do so. If needed, it is best to ask how the group handles this before the meeting begins.

Addicts returning home from treatment or an incarnation reentry program are particularly vulnerable to relapse.  Recognizing this risky time for the newly clean, Narcotics Anonymous offers a Temporary Sponsor program.  With the help and support of a temporary sponsor the newly clean attends a local NA meeting where s/he’s introduced to other NA members and to the tools needed to enjoy a new, drug free life.

No. We encourage anyone wondering if s/he is an addict to do a self-assessment using our Information Pamphlet: Am I an Addict?

Please be our guest and download and print as many of these posters as you like.  Newcomers to recovery need to have as many resources as possible to stay clean.  The more frequently they are reminded that Narcotics Anonymous is there to help, the more likely they are to reach out and have a chance a new way of life for years to come.

We have three posters that have been approved for local use in Minnesota, the one shown below and two others with tear-off phone numbers. Feel free to download them and place them in an appropriate place.

Download – Drug Problem? We Can Help Posters

NA does not offer drug treatment or have treatment centers. We do not teach lessons or provide counseling. We simply share our personal experiences with addiction and recovery.

You can contact the local service committee near you directly and make the request, or you use the general contact link and we will forward your request to the appropriate local committee.

You have a few options if you wish to contact an NA member:

• You can attend an NA meeting near you. To find a meeting schedule, click here.

• At that meeting, raise your hand and ask for help, or approach an NA member before or after the meeting.

• Get phone numbers and literature. Make contact with other addicts in recovery.

• You also can call the Minnesota Helpline for Narcotics Anonymous: (877) 767-7676

If none of those options are sufficient, please contact us at: info@naminnesota.org

Groups often mark or sign attendance sheets or court cards as a courtesy to people who request it, but some groups and members choose not to do so. If needed, it is best to ask how the group handles this before the meeting begins.

Because no attendance records are kept, it is impossible to estimate what percentages of those who come to Narcotics Anonymous remain active in NA over time. The only sure indicator of the program’s success is the rapid growth in the number of registered Narcotics Anonymous meetings in recent decades and the rapid spread of Narcotics Anonymous outside North America.

• In 1978, there were fewer than 200 registered groups in three countries.
• In 1983, more than a dozen countries had 2,966 meetings.
• In 1993, 60 countries had over 13,000 groups holding over 19,000 meetings.
• In 2002, 108 countries had 20,000 groups holding over 30,000 meetings.
• In 2005, 116 countries had over 21,500 groups holding over 33,500 weekly meetings.
• In 2007, there are over 25,065 groups holding over 43,900 weekly meetings in 127 countries.

NA members have a mean average of 9.1 years clean.  This can be compared to NA’s 2003 membership survey, which showed members with a mean average of 7.4 years clean.

The 2007 membership survey marks the first time that members were asked to assess areas of their lives that have improved with NA attendance.  The two areas that received overwhelming improvement were family relationships where 90% of our members stated enrichment, and social connectedness was realized by 83% of the respondents.  NA literature states that active addiction is marked by increased isolation and destruction of relationships.  Recovery in NA has helped surveyed respondents to repair the damage in their lives from drug addiction.

Read more . . . Resources for professionals

To offer some general, informal observations about the nature of NA membership and the effectiveness of the program, the following observations are believed to be reasonably accurate.

The socioeconomic strata represented by the NA membership vary from country to country. Usually, members of one particular social or economic class start and sustain most developing NA communities worldwide, but as their fellowship development activities become more effective, the membership becomes more broadly representative of all ethnic, religious and socioeconomic backgrounds.

Narcotics Anonymous 2015 Membership Survey

1. We admitted that we were powerless over our addiction, that our lives had become unmanageable.
2. We came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
3. We made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
4. We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5. We admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
6. We were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
7. We humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
8. We made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.
9. We made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
10. We continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
11. We sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to addicts, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

Twelve Steps reprinted for adaptation by permission of AA World Services, Inc. 
Reprinted by permission of NA World Services, Inc. from Narcotics Anonymous, Fifth Edition © 1988 by NA World Services, Inc. All rights reserved.

1. Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends on NA unity.
2. For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority — a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern.
3. The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop using.
4. Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or NA as a whole.
5. Each group has but one primary purpose — to carry the message to the addict who still suffers.
6. An NA group ought never endorse, finance, or lend the NA name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property, or prestige divert us from our primary purpose.
7. Every NA group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions.
8. Narcotics Anonymous should remain forever nonprofessional, but our service centers may employ special workers.
9. NA, as such, ought never be organized, but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve.
10. Narcotics Anonymous has no opinion on outside issues; hence the NA name ought never be drawn into public controversy.
11. Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio, and films.
12. Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our Traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.

Twelve Traditions reprinted for adaptation by permission of AA World Services, Inc. 
Reprinted by permission of NA World Services, Inc. from Narcotics Anonymous, Fifth Edition © 1988 by NA World Services, Inc. All rights reserved.

NA meetings are located in most areas within Minnesota.

Find a meeting

Meeting Lists

Request an updated meeting list to be emailed to you every month.

Meetings are often held in churches, treatment centers, or other facilities, because these places tend to be affordable, available, or convenient. NA is not a part of or connected to any other group, organization, or institution.

All of our literature can be purchased online from www.na.org.

Much of our literature can be downloaded for free in PDF format.

Not all literature is available in all languages.  Literature is available in the following languages: