Public Information

This page is for any member of the PUBLIC or MEDIA interested in more information about Narcotics Anonymous

Narcotics Anonymous is a global, community-based organization with a multi-lingual and multicultural membership. NA was founded in 1953, and our membership growth was minimal during our initial twenty years as an organization. Since the publication of our Basic Text in 1983, the number of members and meetings has increased dramatically. Today, NA members hold more than 58,000 meetings weekly in 131 countries. We offer recovery from the effects of addiction through working a twelve-step program, including regular attendance at group meetings. The group atmosphere provides help from peers and offers an ongoing support network for addicts who wish to pursue and maintain a drug-free lifestyle. Our name, Narcotics Anonymous, is not meant to imply a focus on any particular drug; NA’s approach makes no distinction between drugs including alcohol. Membership is free, and we have no affiliation with any organizations outside of NA including governments, religions, law enforcement groups, or medical and psychiatric associations. Through all of our service efforts and our cooperation with others seeking to help addicts, we strive to reach a day when every addict in the world has an opportunity to experience our message of recovery in his or her own language and culture.

NA’s earliest self-titled pamphlet, known among members as “the White Booklet” describes Narcotics Anonymous this way: “NA is a nonprofit fellowship or society of men and women for whom drugs had become a major problem. We … meet regularly to help each other stay clean. … We are not interested in what or how much you used … but only in what you want to do about your problem and how we can help.”

The following Information Pamphlets are available for the Public or Media:

For more information on how Narcotics Anonymous as a resource in your community: NA Resource in Your Community-1 PDF

For more in depth information about Narcotics Anonymous: Information_about_NA PDF

For more information about Narcotics Anonymous in Manhattan, please call (646) 389-5519 OR email publicinformation@nycna.org

Thank you for taking the time to learn more about our program of recovery; WE ARE HERE TO HELP!