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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.
  • 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 Gate.
  • 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

  1. How can I find NA meetings?
  2. How can I get NA literature?
  3. Do you speak at events and conferences?
  4. I believe in NA and want to help NA. What can I do?
  5. How are you funded?
  6. How can I get someone to stop using drugs?
  7. What’s the difference between NA and drug treatment centers? NA and psychotherapy?
  8. If a person is under the influence of drugs, can they participate in NA meetings?
  9. How do you deal with the mentally ill addicts?
  10. NA operate any treatment centers or detoxification units?
  11. Are your meetings confidential? Is that legal?
  12. I’m not an addict, but can I attend your meetings?
  13. Does NA support harm minimization?
  14. Is NA only for addicts who use narcotics?
  15. 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; it's up-dated daily and where possible contains a link to a map of the area. The meetings list is designed to print well, however meeting's 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 3366]
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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 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 pi@ukna.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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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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