Reaching out to suffering addicts
Narcotics Anonymous is a non-profit fellowship or society of men and women for whom drugs have become a major problem.
June is Drug Awareness month in South Africa.
During this time, Narcotics Anonymous South Africa embarks on an intensive drug awareness campaign via different media platforms.
Narcotics Anonymous (NA) is a self-supporting registered NPO that offers a free programme of recovery to any addict or person who feels they may have a drug problem.
The Covid-19 lockdown has proved especially challenging, so all NA meetings have moved online.
NA have more than 100 online meetings weekly, including four after midnight in an effort to assist with data costs.
For more information about online meetings, visit https://na.org.za/online/
About Narcotics Anonymous
Narcotics Anonymous is a non-profit fellowship or society of men and women for whom drugs have become a major problem.
NA provides an interlinked recovery programme and anonymous peer support network.
READ: Is someone you love addicted to over the counter painkillers?
Membership is open to all drug addicts, regardless of particular drug/s or combination of drugs (including alcohol) used, quantities used, and in which circumstances they were used.
NA’s fellowship focus remains on the individual’s identified need for help, and how they can best assist that individual.
Key to NA’s success is the therapeutic value of addicts working with other addicts.
Members share their successes and challenges in overcoming active addiction, and in living drug-free, productive lives by applying the principles contained within the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of NA.
These principles remain the core of the Narcotics Anonymous recovery program.
Narcotics Anonymous itself is a non-religious programme of recovery – each member is encouraged, however, to cultivate an individual understanding (religious or not) of the spiritual principles informing the recovery programme, and to apply these principles in everyday life.
There are no social, religious, economic, racial, ethnic, national, gender or class-status membership restrictions.
There are no dues or fees for membership – many members, however, voluntarily contribute at meetings to help cover expenses incurred (e.g., for the rent of facility space).
Narcotics Anonymous is not affiliated with other organisations, including other 12-step programmes, treatment centres, or correctional facilities.
As an organisation, NA does not employ professional counsellors or therapists, nor does it provide residential facilities or clinics.
Additionally, the fellowship does not offer vocational, legal, financial, psychiatric, or medical services.
Narcotics Anonymous strives to be entirely self-supporting through member contributions, and does not accept financial contributions from non-members.
READ: Understanding substance abuse as a result of trauma
Based on the same principle, groups and service committees are solely administered by NA members for members.
Narcotics Anonymous neither endorses nor opposes any other organisation’s philosophy or methodology.
NA’s primary focus is in providing a safe recovery environment in which drug addicts can share freely their recovery experiences with one another.
By purposely remaining free of possibly controversial distractions, NA can focus all its energy on its particular area of purpose.
For more information, or to refer someone to an NA meeting, contact the helpline on 0861 00 6962, or visit www.na.org.za
Have a story?
Contact the newsroom by emailing: Thelma Koorts (editor) brakpanherald@caxton.co.za
or Stacy Slatter (news editor) stacys@caxton.co.za
or Miné Fourie (journalist) minev@caxton.co.za
Remember to visit the Brakpan Herald on the following social media platforms:
Follow us:
