Homepage of Friends Chennai NA

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We keep what we have only with vigilance, and just as freedom for the individual comes from the Twelve Steps, so freedom for the group springs from our traditions.

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 I. 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 centres may employ special workers.

9. NA, as such, ought never be organised, 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.

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Welcome to your first NA meeting. NA offers addicts a way to live drug;free. If you are not sure you’re an addict, don’t worry about it; just keep coming to our meetings.

You will have all the time you need to make up your own mind. If you are like many of us when we attended our first NA meeting, you may be feeling pretty nervous and think that everyone at the meeting is focusing on you.

If so, you are not the only one. Many of us have felt the same way. It has been said, “If your stomach’s all tied up in knots, you’re probably in the right place”. We often say that no one comes through the doors of NA by mistake.
Non addicted people don’t spend their time wondering if they’re addicts. They don’t even think about it. If you’re wondering whether or not you’re an addict, you might be one.

Just allow yourself the time to listen to us share about what it has been like for us. Perhaps you will hear something that sounds familiar to you. It does not matter whether or not you have used the same drugs others mention.

 It is not important which drugs you used; you’re welcome here if you want to stop using. Most addicts experience very similar feelings, and it is in focusing on our similarities, ratherthan our differences, that we are helpful to one another.

You may be feeling hopeless and afraid. You may think that this programme, like other things you have tried, will not work. Or you may think that it will work for someone else but not for you because you feel you are different from us. Most of us felt like that when we first came to NA.


Somehow we knew that we couldn’t go on using drugs, but we didn’t know how to stop or stay clean. We were all afraid to let go of something that had become so important to us. It is a relief to discover that the only requirement for membership in NA is a desire to stop using.

 At first, most of us were mistrustful and fearful of trying a new way of doing things. About the only thing we were sure of was that our old ways were not working at all. Even after getting clean, things didn’t change right away. Often, even our usual activities such as driving a car or using the telephone seemed frightening and strange, as if we had become someone we didn’t recognise.

This is where the fellowship and support of other clean addicts really helps, and we begin to rely on others for the reassurance we so desperately need. You may already be thinking: “Yes, but...” or, “What if...?” However, even if you have doubts, you can use these simple suggestions for starters: Attend as many NA meetings as you can and collect a list of NA phone numbers to use regularly, especially when the urge for drugs is strong.

The temptation is not restricted to the days and hours that meetings occur. We are clean today because we reached out for help. What helped us can help you. So don’t be afraid to call another recovering addict. The only way to keep from returning to active addiction is not to take that first drug. The most natural thing for an addict to do is to use drugs.

In order for most of us to abstain from using mood-altering, mind changing chemicals, we have had to undergo drastic changes physically, emotionally, and spiritually. The Twelve Steps of NA offer us a way to change. As someone said: “You can probably get clean by just coming to meetings, however, if you want to stay clean and experience recovery, you will need to practise the Twelve Steps”. This is more than we can do alone.

 In the NA Fellowship, we support one another in our efforts to learn and practise a new way of living that keeps us healthy and drug free. At your first meeting, you will meet people with various lengths of clean time. You may wonder how they could remain clean for that period of time.

If you keep coming to NA meetings and stay clean, you will come to understand how it works. There is a mutual respect and caring among clean addicts because we’ve all had to overcome the misery of addiction. We love and support each other in our recovery.

The Programme of NA comprises spiritual principles which we have found help us remain clean. Nothing will be demanded of you, but you will receive many suggestions. This Fellowship provides the opportunity for us to give you what we have found: A clean way of living. We know that we have to “give it away in order to keep it”. So, welcome! We are glad that you have made it here, and hope that you decide to stay.

 It is important for you to know that you will hear God mentioned at NA meetings. What we are referring to is a Power greater than ourselves that makes possible what seems impossible. We found that Power here, in NA, in the programme, in the meetings, and in the people.

This is the spiritual principle that has worked for us to live drug free a day at a time; and whenever a day is too long, then five minutes at a time. We can do together what we could not do alone. We invite you to use our strength and our hope until you have found some of your own.

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Only you can answer this question. This may not be an easy thing to do. All through our using, we told ourselves, “I can handle it.” Even if this was true in the beginning, it is not so now.

The drugs handled us. We lived to use and used to live. Very simply, an addict is a person whose life is controlled by drugs. Perhaps you admit you have a problem with drugs, but you don’t consider yourself an addict.

 All of us have preconceived ideas about what an addict is. There is nothing shameful about being an addict once you begin to take positive action. If you can identify with our problems, you may be able to identify with our solution.

The following questions were written by recovering addicts in Narcotics Anonymous. If you have doubts about whether or not you’re an addict, take a few moments to read the questions below and answer them as honestly as you can.

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1. Do you ever use alone? [Yes] [ No]

2. Have you ever substituted one drug for another, thinking that one particular drug was the problem? [Yes] [ No]

 3. Have you ever manipulated or lied to a doctor to obtain prescription drugs? [Yes] [ No]

4. Have you ever stolen drugs or stolen to obtain drugs? [Yes] [ No]

5. Do you regularly use a drug when you wake up or when you go to bed? [Yes] [ No]

 6. Have you ever taken one drug to overcome the effects of another? [Yes] [ No]

7. Do you avoid people or places that do not approve of you using drugs? [Yes] [ No]

 8. Have you ever used a drug without knowing what it was or what it would do to you? [Yes] [ No]

9. Has your job or school performance ever suffered from the effects of your drug use? [Yes] [ No]


 10. Have you ever been arrested as a result of using drugs? [Yes] [ No]

11. Have you ever lied about what or how much you use? [Yes] [ No]

12. Do you put the purchase of drugs ahead of your financial responsibilities? [Yes] [ No]

13. Have you ever tried to stop or control your using? [Yes] [ No]

14. Have you ever been in a jail, hospital or drug rehabilitation centre because of your using? [Yes] [ No]

15. Does using interfere with your sleeping or eating? [Yes] [ No]

16. Does the thought of running out of drugs terrify you? [Yes] [ No]

17. Do you feel it is impossible for you to live without drugs? [Yes] [ No]

18. Do you ever question your own sanity? [Yes] [ No]

19. Is your drug use making life at home unhappy? [Yes] [ No]

20. Have you ever thought you couldn’t fit in or have a good time without drugs? [Yes] [ No]

 21. Have you ever felt defensive, guilty or ashamed about your using? [Yes] [ No]

22. Do you think a lot about drugs? [Yes] [ No] 23. Have you had irrational or indefinable fears? [Yes] [ No]
24. Has using affected your sexual relationship? [Yes] [ No]

25. Have you ever taken drugs you didn’t prefer? [Yes] [ No]

 26. Have you ever used drugs because of emotional pain or stress? [Yes] [ No]

27. Have you ever overdosed on any drugs? [Yes] [ No]

28. Do you continue to use despite negative consequences? [Yes] [ No]

29. Do you think that you have a drug problem? [Yes] [ No]

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