Public Information
Information for Professionals
This section of the site is for people who are not themselves addicts, but who have contact with addicts: family members; the treatment community; and professionals in healthcare, criminal justice, education, police, probation, social services, media and government. We are not affiliated with any outside agencies or third parties, but we are keen to cooperate with all groups to carry the message that recovery is possible in Narcotics Anonymous.
Narcotics Anonymous in the UK
Narcotics Anonymous (NA) is a non-profit fellowship or society of men and women for whom drugs have become a major problem; we are recovering addicts who meet regularly to help each other stay clean.
Key facts about NA in the UK
- Started in 1953 in the USA and is one of the oldest organisations of its type in the world.
- The first meeting held in the UK was in Chelsea, London, in 1980.
- Published its self-titled ‘Basic Text’ in 1982 and since then the fellowship has grown dramatically.
- Exists in approximately 135 countries with over 49,000 groups holding weekly meetings.
- There are approximately 770 weekly meetings in the UK.
NA Hospitals and Institutions
The NA Hospitals and Institutions local area committees run over 500 meetings within the UK and are expanding rapidly. We have meetings in:
- 142 Treatment or Detox units
- 24 Hospitals
- 13 Young Offender Institutions and Secure Units
- 240 Prisons - including Brixton, Pentonville, Wormwood Scrubs, Holloway, Strangeways, Downview, Camp Hill, Styal, Wandsworth and Lancaster Castle.
The NA Helpline
- The NA National Helpline fields over 20,000 telephone calls each year.
- The UK Service Office of NA opened in 1986 and fields 4,000 telephone calls each year. It processes approximately 1,260 literature orders each year to the fellowship and to professionals.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How can I find NA meetings?
- How can I get NA literature?
- Do you speak at events and conferences?
- I believe in NA and want to help NA. What can I do?
- How are you funded?
- How can I get someone to stop using drugs?
- What’s the difference between NA and drug treatment centers? NA and psychotherapy?
- If a person is under the influence of drugs, can they participate in NA meetings?
- How do you deal with the mentally ill addicts?
- NA operate any treatment centers or detoxification units?
- Are your meetings confidential? Is that legal?
- I’m not an addict, but can I attend your meetings?
- Does NA support harm minimization?
- Is NA only for addicts who use narcotics?
- NA, AA, CA, OA… aren’t they all the same? What’s the difference?
Where can I find information on NA meetings?
The meetings list on this website is the
best place to find NA
meetings in Hampshire; it is up-dated on a monthly basis. The meetings list is designed to print
well, however meeting details do change so we would always advise
checking the site. If you cannot find what you are looking for, please
call our Helpline on 0845 FREEDOM [0845 373 336
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How can I get NA literature?
Literature is available for sale through our Service Office.
Call 020 7251 4007 or visit this part of the UKNA website
for more information
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Do you speak at events and conferences?
We are very happy to do so. Contact us at info@hampshirena.org or call the Helpline
and ask for your number to be passed on to the Public Information
(PI) representative.
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I believe in NA and want to help NA. What can I do?
Your positive remarks to others about our Fellowship are a beginning. We do not accept
outside contributions nor do we have non-addict volunteers in our Fellowship. The best thing you
can do to help us is to advise a person with drug problems is NA is here, that there is no cost to join
us, and that we might be able to help that person.
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How are you funded?
We are fully self-supporting. Each meeting asks for
contributions to help pay for rent, tea & literature, but this is
not mandatory. Anything left over is passed to other areas of the
fellowship to help
carry the message to the addict who still suffers. We do not accept
outside contributions.
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How can I get someone to stop using drugs?
From our personal experiences, you can’t stop a drug addict from using. The addict will only
stop when there is a desire to stop using and seek help. If you know somebody who is using, you
may wish to give them some of our literature and a meeting schedule so that they can come to one
of our meetings to see if NA can help them stop. NA does not do so-called drug “interventions” nor
do we give advise to family members, friends or employers in how to deal with a using addicts.
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What’s the difference between NA and drug treatment centres? NA and psychotherapy?
Narcotics Anonymous is a non-profit organization, which charges no fees or dues to its
members. We do not have medical staff or professional counsellors to treat or advise our members.
We do not present ourselves as professionals to the addicts that come to us seeking recovery. We
offer ourselves as addicts, the same as them, who have learned how to stop using drugs, lost the
desire to use drugs and have found a new way to live. [For the psychotherapy question] Our
meetings are not conducted like a psychotherapy session. We do not allow cross talking nor do we
have professionally trained facilitators.
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If a person is under the influence of drugs, can they participate in NA meetings?
We do not exclude addicts who may be under the influence of drugs at our meetings. Our
Third Tradition states the only requirement for membership is the desire to stop using. However some of our
groups do not allow using addicts active participation in their meetings, such as sharing or holding a
position of service at the meeting. To keep our message in meetings clear, most groups ask that if a
person has used within the last 24 hours that they refrain from sharing and that they speak to
someone after the meeting if they need to talk. We also suggest that those under the influence not
be volunteers in service such as the members you see here today.
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How do you deal with the mentally ill addicts?
We do not exclude addicts from our meetings because of their health issues, whether physical
or mental. Our Third Tradition states the only requirement for membership is the desire to stop
using.
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Do NA operate any treatment centres or detoxification units?
No, NA does not run any treatment
centre or detoxification services to addicts.
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Are your meetings confidential? Is that legal?
We try our best to be confidential and respectful of anonymity. However we cannot fully
guarantee confidentiality or full anonymity in the community nor do we have a legal right to
confidentiality such as a doctor or an attorney has.
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I’m not an addict, but can I attend your meetings?
We have meetings that are open to the public and are listed as such on our meeting schedule.
We do ask that you respect our closed meetings, which are for addicts and for those who believe
that they have a problem with using drugs.
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Does NA support harm minimization?
NA has no opinion on the harm minimization concept. NA has its place in the area of
recovery from drug addiction. NA does not participate with other organizations to promote harm
minimization or any other addiction related philosophies.
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Is NA only for addicts who use narcotics?
We believe our problem is not the use of any specific drug or group of drugs. Our
problem is the disease of addiction, and our program is one of abstinence from all drugs.
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NA, AA, CA, OA… aren’t they all the same? What’s the difference?
The similarities of all these Fellowships are the 12 Steps, the
core of our programs. The difference is our first step, in which we state that we are "powerless over our addiction",
whereas other Fellowships address other drugs specifically. We have our own literature and
program, which makes us what we are, and that is what makes us attractive to the addict
seeking recovery.
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Further Information
- 2008 Membership Survey (pdf)
- Key Facts About NA (MS PowerPoint)
- Public Relations Statement (MS Word)
Enquiries
For enquiries from professionals, press and/or media please email info@hampshirena.org We would ask that you respect our tradition of anonymity
NA Links
- UK NA
- NAWS
- NA in Northern Ireland