CAR Report

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World Service Conference
Mission Statement
The World Service Conference brings all elements of NA
world services together to further the common welfare of
NA. The WSC’s mission is to unify NA worldwide by
providing an event at which:
 Participants propose and gain fellowship consensus
on initiatives that further the NA World Services
vision;
 The fellowship, through an exchange of experience,
strength, and hope, collectively expresses itself on
matters affecting Narcotics Anonymous as a whole;
 NA groups have a mechanism to guide and direct
the activities of NA World Services;
 Participants ensure that the various elements of NA
World Services are ultimately responsible to the
groups they serve;
 Participants are inspired with the joy of selfless
service, and the knowledge that our efforts make a
difference.
ach element of our service structure, from the group
to the world, has its own role to play; all, however,
serve together as a team, striving toward a common goal
“that no addict seeking recovery need die without having
the chance to find a new way of life.”
Concept Twelve Essay
Conference Agenda Report
WSC 2010
25 April – 1 May
Woodland Hills, California
e
2010 Conference Agenda Report
World Service Conference of Narcotics Anonymous
World Service Office
PO Box 9999
Van Nuys CA, 91409 USA
Tel: (818) 773-9999
Fax: (818) 700-0700
Website: www.na.org
World Service Office–EUROPE
48 Rue de l’Été
B-1050 Brussels, Belgium
Tel: +32/2/646-6012
Fax: +32/2/649-9239
World Service Office–CANADA
150 Britannia Rd E, Unit 21
Mississauga, Ontario, L4Z 2A4, Canada
Tel: (905) 507-0100
Fax: (905) 507-0101
World Service Office–IRAN
PO Box 14665-3115
Tehran, Iran
Tel: +021/2207 7295
Fax: +21/8845 9671
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions adapted and reprinted by permission of
Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Narcotics Anonymous ®
The name “Narcotics Anonymous,” the stylized initials “NA” alone or within a double circle
, the four-sided diamond enclosed in a circle ®, and the Original NA Group Logo
are registered trademarks and service marks of Narcotics Anonymous World Services,
Incorporated.
The NA Way is a registered trademark of Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Incorporated,
for its periodical publication.
Twelve Concepts for NA Service copyright © 1989, 1990, 1991 by Narcotics Anonymous
World Services, Inc. All rights reserved. The Twelve Concepts for NA Service were modeled on
AA’s Twelve Concepts for World Service, published by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services,
Inc., and have evolved specific to the needs of Narcotics Anonymous.
ISBN 978-1-55776-725-7 WSO Catalog Item No. EN-9140 11/09
Table of Contents
World Board Report .................................................. .................................................. ................... 1
Preparing for WSC 2010 .................................................. .................................................1
What’s Under the Hood? .................................................. .....................................2
A Discussion-based Conference .................................................. .........................3
Conference Sessions .................................................. ...........................................4
Conference Approval Track and Other Material.......................................... .........5
Service System............................................ .................................................. .....................8
Revising the NAWS Vision Statement......................................... ........................12
WSC Seating—An Uncomfortable Perch .................................................. ...........15
NAWS Resources—Money................................... .................................................. ...........17
Literature .................................................. .................................................. ......................22
Self-Support........................................... .................................................. .............22
In Times of Illness .................................................. ..............................................24
“Living Clean” .................................................. .................................................. ...26
Literature Development Process—Where We’ve Been
and Where We’d Like to Go................................................ .........................28
Issue Discussion Topics .................................................. ................................................33
Leadership........................................ .................................................. ..................33
Communication..................................... .................................................. .............33
Our Freedom, Our Responsibility .................................................. ......................34
Looking Ahead............................................. .................................................. ...................34
Regional Motions .................................................. .................................................. .....................36
WSC 2010 Summary Sheet: Motions and Other Issues to Be Discussed ...............................49
World Pool Information Form .................................................. .................................................. ..51
Glossary .................................................. .................................................. ...................................53
Addendum A — Money Matters: Self-Support in NA Approval Draft .........................................59
Addendum B — Funding NA Services Approval Draft .................................................. ..............65
Addendum C — In Times Of Illness Approval Draft .................................................. ..................69
Addendum D — IP #24, “Hey! What’s The Basket For?” & 25, Self-Support:
Principle and Practice 1988 & 1998 Versions.......................................... ....................93
Addendum E — In Times of Illness 1992 Version .................................................. ................. 105

2010 CAR 1
World Board Report
Greetings from your World Board. We are writing this report in anticipation of the 30th
World Service Conference, to be held from 25 April through 1 May 2010, in Woodland
Hills, California, USA. To honor this landmark conference, the theme for WSC 2010 is
Our Vision, Our Future. As is typically the case, the strides we have made toward
achieving our vision lead us to looking toward the work that remains ahead. We have
published the Sixth Edition Basic Text, which WSC 2008 approved unanimously. We
held a World Convention in Barcelona, Spain, with members attending from 65
countries. We implemented new strategies for public relations, and worked on four
new literature pieces, three of which you will see in this CAR. We attended scores of
events and zonal forums around the world, and continued to support service bodies
and groups in their efforts to carry the message. And that is only some of the work of
world services. We know that local service bodies around the globe are working hard to
carry the message. Truly, as a result of all of our efforts, many more addicts today have
the chance to experience the NA message in their own language and culture than was
possible even two years ago. We look forward to the opportunity to come together at
the conference and imagine what we’ll be able to accomplish in service of our vision in
the future.
At WSC 2010 we will talk with delegates about alternative ways to organize our service
system (see page 8). We will strategize about how to use our resources more
effectively (see page 17). We will vote on several new pieces of literature (see pages
22 and 24) and talk more holistically about how to improve our literature development
system (see page 28). Perhaps it is appropriate that so much of our 30th World
Service Conference will be devoted to thinking through how we might improve and
evolve, how we can plan for the future and not just rush headfirst into change. The
conference is in its thirties now. Perhaps we are growing up.
According to our Conference Mission Statement,
The World Service Conference brings all elements of NA world services together to
further the common welfare of NA. The WSC’s mission is to unify NA worldwide by
providing an event at which:
 Participants propose and gain fellowship consensus on initiatives that
further the NA World Services vision.
Our vision may be lofty and ambitious, but the work we do together at the WSC and
throughout the two-year cycle brings us closer every conference. We are the stewards
of our future, and the ability to realize our vision rests with us. Together we can.
Preparing for WSC 2010
We distribute copies of the Conference Agenda Report, at our cost, to all conference
participants and regional service committees. Any NA member, group, or committee
can purchase copies of the CAR from the World Service Office for US $8.00, including
shipping and handling, or download the document from our website, http://www.na.
org/conference. In order to post the CAR in one location, including the approval drafts
of recovery literature, this location is password protected. The username and password
have remained the same this entire cycle and are both still WSC2010. The CAR is
2  2010 CAR
published in English, French, German, Portuguese, Spanish, and Swedish. Translated
versions will be published 25 December 2009. We would like to see the CAR
distributed as widely as possible among NA members and service bodies, which is why
we make it available for free as a download.
If this is your first time reading the Conference Agenda Report, welcome. Some might say
that the CAR is a hybrid (though sadly not the sort that will save us gas money): It’s partly a
holdover from the years when the conference was filled with long days of formal business
sessions and “motion sickness,” and it’s
partly a vehicle to build consensus for
our current, mostly discussion-based
conference. It continues to evolve and
we continue to do our best to make it an
informative and relevant report.
For those who do not attend the WSC,
the Conference Agenda Report is a
window into the world of the
conference—the decisions that will be
made and the conversations that will
happen. There is a sense of pride when
we can see the results of discussions
and decisions after reading the CAR. When we see a particular piece of literature on the
rack at our meetings and we can say to ourselves, “I voted on that piece!” we feel
connected to NA in a way that we may not have felt before. It is our chance to be part of
that “collective expression” our Mission Statement talks about.
We continue to try to make this a more useful document just as we continue to make
changes to the conference itself. We know we aren’t “there” yet. We know, for
instance, that it is still challenging to use the CAR as a vehicle for fellowshipwide
discussion. We may have gotten better at putting together a friendlier and more
accessible document so it’s easier for all members—not just the service-savvy—to read
the CAR and understand the issues that will be talked about at the conference. But we
struggle with knowing how to improve communication between members, service
committees, and world services. Honestly, we don’t have all of the answers. We
welcome your ideas about how to facilitate those discussions and help to gather a
conscience.
What’s Under the Hood?
Much of this first main section of the CAR, “Preparing for WSC 2010,” is geared toward
the conference participants themselves. This section talks about conference sessions,
how to prepare for the conference, the Conference Approval Track mailing, CAR
workshops, and these kinds of conference-prep matters. The rest of the CAR is
focused on the business and discussions of the conference. The “Service System”
section touches on the origins of that project and the work so far, including a motion to
revise the NAWS Vision Statement and discussions that will be framed for the
conference about alternative options for service delivery. The “NAWS Resources”
section talks about the challenges we face delivering services in these times where
most of us are trying to do more with less, including the question of what changes, if
any, to make to NAWS periodicals. The “Literature” section contains motions to
The World Service Conference
provides an event at which:
 The fellowship, through an
exchange of experience,
strength, and hope, collectively
expresses itself on matters
affecting Narcotics Anonymous
as a whole
2010 CAR 3
approve the two new self-support IPs, Money Matters: Self-Support in NA and Funding
NA Services, as well as a motion to approve a revision to In Times of Illness. This
section also updates you on the progress of the Living Clean project and frames a
discussion we hope to have at the conference about literature development in general.
The “IDTs” section talks about each of the Issue Discussion Topics for the 2008–2010
conference cycle: Our Freedom, Our Responsibility; Leadership; and Communication.
The last section of the Board Report, “Looking Ahead,” glances at the cycle in front of
us. The “Regional Motions” section of the CAR contains ten regional motions, which
are grouped together by related topic.
As we do in every CAR, we have included a summary sheet that contains all of the
motions. We do not have any discussion questions this year, but we are trying
something new and including a sentence or two summarizing some other topics that
will be discussed at the conference on this summary sheet. A World Pool Information
Form and a glossary follow the summary sheet. The last items in the CAR are the
addenda, which include three pieces of literature that will come before the conference:
two IPs on self-support—Funding NA Services, a short, graphical piece intended for
groups, and Money Matters, a longer text-based piece for members—and a revision of
In Times of Illness. We do not translate these approval draft pieces, but some local
communities may choose to do so.
A Discussion-based Conference
In the last CAR we wrote about the progress we have made in transforming the
conference into a discussion-based forum, as well as the challenges we still face in
connecting those discussions to the conversations happening in local NA communities.
We are still working on ways to best build a CAR that will stimulate discussion and help
delegates carry the results of those discussions to the conference. As effective as a
discussion-based format has been at the WSC, we still have work to do to close the
divide between local NA communities and the World Service Conference. We remain
optimistic, though. After all, we have come such a long way, and the conference has
embraced discussion sessions and consensus-building as a valuable way to move
toward our vision.
Though it has become easier and easier to think of the conference as a place where
we talk together about issues of importance, build consensus, and come to decisions
about how to move forward, we are really still largely in the same place that we were in
2008. Having discussion sessions before formal business has made those business
sessions more effective, and we have been able to talk about things like the process
for developing service pamphlets or the nominations process for world service
positions and to make decisions on how to improve those processes. But we hope to
find more effective ways of hearing the views of local members and service bodies in
these conversations.
At this conference we hope to talk about alternatives to our current service system and
the literature development process, two weighty topics indeed. Our ability to have open
discussion, whether in small groups or as a whole conference, represents real
progress for the World Service Conference. There was a time when most of the
discussion at the conference was driven by motions and thus had to come in the form
of “Are you for this or against it?” If the body did determine to have open discussion,
that discussion often took place only after protracted debate over the decision of
4  2010 CAR
whether or not to open the floor to such a discussion. It’s hard to imagine how debate
over particular motions could be effective at this point where we are attempting to
discuss such potentially complex questions as “Are there more effective alternatives to
our service system that are just as guided by our spiritual principles as our current
system?” Being able to talk openly about what would best serve the fellowship, what
makes us uncomfortable, what excites us, what we feel nervous about, and so on,
gives us useful feedback that can help guide our work over the next two years.
Similarly, even when we are discussing an issue perhaps less highly charged, such as
the production and distribution of NAWS publications, it helps us to be able to have a
discussion about how we can carry our message most effectively and, frankly, use our
resources most wisely. We don’t feel ready to make motions about some of these
issues. We know we need to make changes, but we would much rather talk together
about what makes sense. The current conference, with its emphasis on discussion
sessions, makes that possible. Ideally these discussions would take place at the local
level, in CAR workshops and other workshops throughout the cycle, so that the
conference becomes a place to bring together a fellowship conscience in a discussionbased
format. The word “conscience” makes much more sense in this context than it
does when an entire range of ideas and concerns must become distilled into a simple
vote on a particular motion. The conference then becomes a place for building and
developing consensus about the way forward, not just measuring that consensus.
As we reported in 2008, however, the Conference Agenda Report hasn’t entirely
caught up with the progress we have made at the conference. We have tried including
discussion questions in the CAR to limited effect. Without a better idea of how to
collect the results of those discussions, it is usually difficult for delegates to translate
the discussions they have on a local level into information that can be useful at the
conference. We seem to have better luck with questions that ask for specific feedback,
such as “What sort of new service tools would you like to see?” or “What piece of
targeted literature should we work on next?” For this CAR we have tried to include a
capsule summary of some of the topics we know we will discuss at this conference
(see page 49). We hope that this will guide input for those workshopping or reading
the CAR. If you have any ideas on how we can provide better tools to make the
Conference Agenda Report more effective, we welcome them!
Conference Sessions
The Conference Report, which comes out in March 2010, will give a detailed
description of the conference week including a day-to-day schedule. We write the CAR
in October and November, still five or six months before the conference, so we are in
preliminary planning as far as conference sessions. We also have an online survey
posted until the end of November so that delegates can tell us what sort of sessions
they would like to have at the conference. Though details of the week are still
undefined at this point, many of the sessions remain consistent from conference to
conference. The list below outlines the sessions we typically include during conference
week:
 Orientation, giving an overview of what to expect for the week
 Welcome session with introductions
 NAWS report
 HRP report
2010 CAR 5
 Strategic plan small group session
 Public relations presentation
 Fellowship development presentation
 Zonal forum reports (space will be provided for zonal forum meetings
during the week)
 Old and new business, with each business session preceded by a
discussion session
 Presentation of proposed budget and project plans for the cycle ahead (to
be voted on in new business)
 Presentation of regions to be considered for conference seating at WSC
2012
 Elections for World Board, HRP, and WSC cofacilitators
We also know we will discuss the service system, the literature development process,
and issues surrounding self-support at some point during the week—whether or not
these topics have specific sessions devoted to them. We will also talk about the Issue
Discussion Topics for the 2008–2010 cycle—Leadership, Communication, and Our
Freedom, Our Responsibility—as well as those for the upcoming cycle.
There is a lot to discuss and decide upon at the conference, and the sheer volume of
information can be overwhelming. Because of this, we do build in time for fun as well.
For three conferences in a row we have had spent a midweek afternoon at a nearby
ranch, and everyone has enjoyed the break from business to have lunch, play games
(or not), socialize, listen to music, and have a meeting. It’s hard to spend an entire
week in a conference room, and a change of scenery and a chance to get to know
each other in a different setting helps the work go more smoothly. Those of us lucky
enough to attend a World Service Conference never forget our experiences there, and
some of the friends we meet become friends for life.
It has become one our reporting clichés to talk about how this conference (or
convention, or fiscal year, or planning cycle) is “one of a kind.” The honest truth is that
each conference is special. The last point of our conference mission statement
describes the conference as an event at which “participants are inspired with the joy
of selfless service, and the knowledge that our efforts make a difference.” It is our
hope that everyone reading the CAR will be able to touch that inspiration in some
fashion or another.
Conference Approval Track and Other Material
In addition to the Conference Agenda Report, some of the service-related, strategic
plan, and budgetary material we will discuss at the conference will be mailed to
conference participants in January. Once upon a time, all of that material would be
included in the CAR (well, except the strategic plan because we didn’t have a strategic
plan then). But the CAR was unwieldy and many, many groups complained because
much of the material seemed beyond their purpose and concern. They would try to
workshop it and their members would complain that this was not material they cared
about and it didn’t seem to have much to do with their experience of NA. Couldn’t we
make the CAR more relevant to their needs, they asked?
In response to this request, we created a separate mailing: the Conference Approval
Track, where we include the NAWS budget and project plans, the strategic plan for the
6  2010 CAR
upcoming cycle, any revisions to A Guide to World Services in NA, and other service
materials. Creating this separate mailing allowed us to move up the mailing of the CAR
to earlier than ever before, as well. We used to mail the CAR 90 days before the
conference. Now, because there are fewer items we need to get ready for the CAR and
with a two-year conference cycle, we can mail it 150 days prior to the conference.
Making these mailings separate means that the groups who wish to do so can more
easily delegate decisions about the items in the CAT. But we also know there are
groups and members who want to read and talk about that material, so in 2008 we
started giving an overview of the CAT here and making sure those who are interested
know how to access it. This year, we will also try including motions for the material that
will require motions at the conference. We welcome your feedback on whether or not
this additional material helps or whether it detracts from items such as the strategic
plan, which are extremely important but do not require a motion.
The CAT always includes the NAWS Strategic Plan, and those of you who are
particularly interested in the workings of world services may want to pay special
attention to the plan. It sets the course for change in our organization over the next
two years. The plan consists of our broad objectives and the goals we strive to reach.
The project plans for each cycle stem from the goals that we prioritize in the plan.
Without bogging you down with the detail and terminology of the plan, what we can say
briefly here is that implementing a strategic planning process has really changed the
way we approach our service work on a world level. While more and more areas and
regions are beginning to utilize some sort of planning, we know that we have a long
way to go before NA can be said to have a real culture of planning. We recognize that
planning still hasn’t worked its way into local practices in most communities and that
we tend to take a scattershot approach to service. We hope to have some tools to
share with delegates at the conference to make planning easier on a local level.
In the meantime, if you want to take a look at the NAWS Strategic Plan or any of the
other Conference Approval Track material, the CAT will be accessible online. The
material is password protected so that only NA members will have access to our
proposed budget and the other materials included. Clicking on the link on the
conference page (http://www.na.org/conference) will take you through the process to
get a password. Alternatively, you can purchase the Conference Approval Track
material just as you can purchase the CAR.
Other Conference Preparations
The CAR and the CAT can be a lot to wade through, we know, and if you are in a
position where you are asked to gather the conscience of a group, area, or region, it
can seem overwhelming. We welcome any ideas you have on how to make the task
easier or any tools we could develop to help when having a workshop. All of the items
related to WSC 2010 will be accessible from the conference webpage, which will be
updated as materials are made available: http://www.na.org/conference.
One of the other responsibilities delegates have when preparing for the conference is
to submit a report about your region. Over the past several conferences we have used
an online form to give you a template to follow, and this has been a great success.
Most delegates find this a relatively easy way to submit their report. Plus, having
standardized information across all regions helps us collate the data and put together
2010 CAR 7
a summary of reports for you that includes regional averages and summaries and, this
year, may attempt to trend certain figures such as numbers of meetings.
Of course, you need not use the online form. You can download the form and mail it in,
or you can send us a report in a different format if you’d prefer. Whatever form you
choose, the deadline for regional reports will be 15 February 2010. If you can get us
your report by then, you can ensure that the information from your region is included in
the summary we compile.
That summary, plus all of the regional reports we receive in time, will be included in
the Conference Report, which comes out in March. The CR will also summarize the
Issue Discussion Topic input and give a day-by-day description of the conference
sessions.
We know that’s a lot of reading. If you’re feeling the need for support or you have
questions that come up in the course of preparing for the conference, one place to
look is the WSC participants’ discussion forum: http://www.naws.org/wsc-forum/. This
is a great spot to “talk” to other conference participants and get their take on the
issues and advice about workshops or conference preparations. If you have a success
story of any kind, we hope you will share it here. Seeing the potential of the WSC
participant board led us to start a bulletin board devoted to NA service at all levels:
http://disc.na.org/servdisc/. If you haven’t had a chance to log on and check it out,
do. Members share experience and ask questions about every aspect of NA service
here.
We’re no strangers to helping each other. It’s what we do in NA, whether it’s with a
newcomer in our homegroups or in working together at service meetings. We know the
power of coming together to carry NA’s message. We know it takes each addict’s
unique voice and strength. We can only realize our vision if we all work together. Our
future depends on it. It’s Our Vision, Our Future.
8  2010 CAR
Service System
Our vision statement lays out an inspiring view of what our services are striving to
accomplish. However, realizing our vision isn’t like being on the Starship Enterprise
and being able to just say, “Make it so!” If it were just a matter of desire or hard work,
we would be there already. We addicts are certainly dogged in the pursuit of our goals.
Our service structure was created so that groups can
focus on their primary purpose to carry the message to
the addict who still suffers, while our service bodies
come together to build public relations, carry meetings
into institutions, produce literature, and perform other
services that support the groups. As you have shared
with us in numerous forums and workshops, however,
our current service system can, at times, almost seem
to make things harder rather than easier.
Our First Tradition talks of the unity needed in NA
groups to fulfill our primary purpose, while our First
Concept talks of groups coming together to create a
service system to better achieve this common aim.
But the reality of our current system is often far from
those ideals. For many years we have heard from delegates and members about
problems with the current service system. Finding enough members to be of service
and the atmosphere we encounter when we do serve are just two examples of some of
those challenges. We have discussed these issues as a fellowship with topics like
Infrastructure and Our Service System over the last few conference cycles in an effort
to move forward. Reviewing the history of the development of our system shows us
that we have been working on building ways to more effectively carry the message
almost since our inception as a fellowship.
A Brief History of the Service System
This may be a God-given program, but our service structure was surely human-made.
Like the LA freeway system, NA’s service system was created to meet the needs of a
fellowship very different from the NA of today. It has been added onto and changed as
our fellowship has grown and our needs have changed, but the system as a whole
hasn’t necessarily adapted in the most effective ways. We have, in a sense, always
paved this road as we’ve driven on it.
Where We Came From—A Vision of a Global Fellowship
Our service structure really began about 40 years ago with the creation of the World
Service Office by Jimmy K and Sylvia W. The office operated from Jimmy’s home and
served as a phoneline, literature creation and distribution point, and fellowship
development resource. It was intended to be a concrete way to fulfill Jimmy’s vision of
a worldwide fellowship. By 1963 discussions were underway to create some form of
service body to continue ensuring the growth of NA. These discussions resulted in the
1964 formation of the Board of Trustees, consisting of two addicts and two nonaddicts.
The trustees’ role was loosely defined as providing guidance to the growing
fellowship and creating new literature.
Concept One:
To fulfill our primary
purpose, the NA groups
have joined together to
create a structure which
develops, coordinates,
and maintains services
on behalf of NA as a
whole.
2010 CAR 9
The idea of a Parent General Service Organization grew from discussions among our
earliest members and was presented to the trustees in early 1969. This GSO provided
for monthly meetings with group representatives, the establishment of a central office
and a public relations committee, and the re-formation of the trustees as the General
Service Board of Trustees.
Following a business meeting at the first world convention in November 1971, the first
actual WSO was opened in 1972. Also around this time, NA “intergroups” began to
appear, following the AA service structure model, with a focus on sharing experience
and resources to better carry the message. These were initially in Northern California
and Philadelphia. By 1973 the new chairman of the GSO, Greg P, had formulated
plans to create a new level of service between the groups and the GSO called the area
service committee. This idea was born from the problems that groups in Southern
California encountered due to the geographical distance between them. As the
fellowship grew, it became increasingly impractical for groups to travel many miles for
a monthly business meeting with the parent GSO. The ASC would allow for groups to
band together and send one representative to the business meeting. The San
Fernando Valley Area was the first to embrace this idea and began holding its own
monthly meeting and sending a single area representative to the monthly GSO
meetings. After some resistance, other areas began to form similar bodies, and the
existing intergroups re-formed as ASCs.
The first World Service Conference was held in conjunction with the sixth World
Convention in 1976. It was here that the trustees presented our first service manual,
The NA Tree, created by Greg and Jimmy the previous year and adopted by the
trustees after much discussion. The NA Tree included the concept of levels of service—
group, area, and region—with each level sending a representative on to the next, and it
contained the first publication of the NA service symbol.
Where We Went—Creation of the TWGSS
At the 1982 WSC, the local section of the Service Manual of Narcotics Anonymous was
approved, but the world services section was rejected. A motion was passed to “compile
from previously approved actions, all of the information that would comprise the
Structure of NA.” This led to the 1983 creation of A Temporary Working Guide to our
Service Structure (TWGSS), which consisted of the various descriptions of the service
structure that had been approved at different meetings over the previous three years.
The WSC Policy Committee was instructed “to rewrite the service structure for approval
by the WSC.” The TWGSS was revised as motions were passed and the changes they
mandated were incorporated into the manual on a year-by-year basis. At the 1984 WSC
the Select Committee was formed to continue developing a guide to service. They
achieved little over the next two years and eventually decided to start from scratch in
1986. At the 1987 WSC, they presented a draft of A Guide to Service in Narcotics
Anonymous for review and input. This manual contained material on the previously
untouched subject of group conscience and the trusted servant. The next six years saw
deadline extensions, a name change to the Ad Hoc Committee on NA Service, and the
realization that NA needed a foundational piece on the principles of service.
Initially, ideas for this foundational piece revolved around the subject of delegation
and responsibility when it came to trusted servants and the groups they represented,
but the piece grew to become the Twelve Concepts for NA Service. Much of the
committee’s work between 1988 and 1992 focused on the material that became The
10  2010 CAR
Group Booklet (approved in 1990) and the concepts (approved in 1992), and led to
several changes to world services’ procedures and guidelines. Both the WSC Policy
Committee and the WSC Literature Committee were also involved in this work.
The TWGSS contained material on the basics of a group and its trusted servants, and
the purpose and structure of the ASC, RSC, and NAWS. The section on world services
constituted over half of the guide and contained detailed procedural guidelines. These
guidelines would be the focus of much of the conference’s energy over the next few
years, with most of the changes to the document over the next several years
addressing the internal workings of world services’ various boards and committees,
along with the conference itself, but with no significant changes being proposed to the
local service structure at any level.
The efforts of the Ad Hoc NAS, the Policy Committee, and the Literature Committee
finally led to the approval of A Guide to Local Services in 1997. (The remaining
material from the TWGSS on world services was published as A Temporary Working
Guide to our World Service Structure, also in 1997.) The GLS contained material not
previously included in the TWGSS. The main additions were:
 The Twelve Concepts for NA Service in the body of the manual
 A section on developing NA communities
 A section on dividing ASCs
 A section on metros
 Material on rural communities
 A sample Rules of Order for business meetings
 The section on the group, its trusted servants, and their responsibilities was enlarged.
The six points of what constituted an NA group were included for the first time.
 The sections on the ASC and the RSC were also expanded. The Area and Regional
Service Representative positions were renamed Regional Committee Member and
Regional Delegate to reflect the ideas on delegation and participation contained in the
concepts.
A summary of the service structure was added as a result of a motion at the 2002
WSC, but there have been no other significant changes to our primary local service
manual since its adoption thirteen years ago.
Reshaping NAWS—Inventory, Resolution, and Transition
World services, on the other hand, was fundamentally restructured during the same
time period. The difficulties with world services in the 1980s (and early 1990s) were
summarized in this extract from the WSC Ad Hoc Committee on NA Service report to
the 1990 WSC:
“One body – the group of conference committees – has large responsibilities for
developing and maintaining services, and highly detailed guidelines describing the
degree of accountability they are to be held to. Yet the conference committees have
almost no authority when it comes to making decisions concerning allocation of the
resources necessary for fulfilling those services. A second body – the World Service
Office Board of Directors – also has large responsibilities, but its fiscal authority far
exceeds those responsibilities. WSO directors, despite their substantial responsibilities
and authority, are the most distant from the World Service Conference of the three
service arms. Only one member of the board – its chairperson – is a conference
2010 CAR 11
participant, and only three of its twelve members are directly elected by the conference.
The third world service body, the World Service Board of Trustees, has only the most
vaguely defined responsibilities, and no authority whatsoever. Yet all the trustees are
voting members of the World Service Conference, and all are elected by the conference,
as if the conference believed them to be in positions requiring substantial participation
and accountability.”
The rapid growth of NA following the publication of the Basic Text, dissatisfaction with
the process of the WSC meeting itself, and the widespread duplication and inefficiency
of world service efforts finally led to the world services inventory, which was approved
by conference action in 1993.
The two-year inventory process identified several main problems:
 Lack of vision for WSO, WSC, and the World Convention Corporation
 Lack of a strategic plan
 Incorrectly sized committees and boards
 No integration of management techniques to world services
 Inefficiently bringing the message of hope to the suffering addict
In response to these problems, the Resolution Group was formed at the 1995 WSC.
The group developed four goals that they believed, if accomplished, would make a
significant contribution toward developing and implementing specific solutions to
these problems. These goals were:
 To write a vision statement for NA World Services
 To write a mission statement for the World Service Conference
 To create proposals for structural change of NA World Services
 To create proposals for future work
They presented a NAWS Vision Statement, a WSC Mission Statement, and a series of
eight resolutions to the conference in 1996, of which six were adopted.
 Resolution A proposed, in principle, a change in participation at the WSC. Its intention
was to reduce the number of representatives, ensure an equal representation from
all geographic entities, and move the conference toward consensus-based decisionmaking.
 Resolution B proposed, in principle, the adoption of a World Board to replace the
BOT, BOD, and WSC Admin committees.
 Resolution C2 proposed, in principle, a significantly downsized WSC standing
committee structure that would be responsible to the Board.
 Resolution E proposed, in principle, the adoption of a unified NAWS budget.
 Resolution F proposed, in principle, the adoption of the World Pool.
 Resolution G proposed, in principle, the adoption of the Human Resource Panel.
From 1996 to 1998 the Transition Group worked on a series of proposals to present to
the conference. Motions resulting from these led to the creation of the World Board,
HRP, World Pool, and a unified budget for NAWS. Resolution A was the only resolution
adopted that didn’t result in any specific proposals being accepted by the WSC at that
time, although subsequent conference action has led to some of the elements being
adopted, for example, the funding of delegates from all seated regions and the
adoption of CBDM guidelines at WSC 2008.
12  2010 CAR
Creation of the Service System Project
Part of our process with this project was to understand how we got the service
structure we have today and to review fellowship input about what’s working and
what’s not working within this structure. We’ve gathered input on this topic in various
forms over the past years—in the Issue Discussion Topics Our Service System and
Infrastructure, as well as from idea trees and general conversations at worldwide
workshops and zonal forums around the world. And now we are moving forward to
build on our strengths and try to resolve our weaknesses.
At the 2008 WSC, participants approved the Service System Project in an effort to take
a holistic look at how we can better provide services in a fellowship that has come so
far and changed so much over the years. We have seen tremendous positive benefit
from the changes in world services, but we have yet to take a similar holistic look at
local services. Since we have continued to evolve and look at processes at the world
service level, we wanted to focus this project on the other levels of our service system.
The Service System Project was created to begin imagining changes on a local level to
move the reality of our service provision closer to our ideal. After talking for years
together as a fellowship about “what’s working and what’s not working,” we
determined the only way to really address the fundamental issues with the service
system was through a project devoted to the system as a whole.
The project grew from this approach in the 2006–2008 NAWS Strategic Plan:
“Develop a vision for all NA service efforts and begin to explore best practices and
options for local service delivery. This project will be rooted in an analysis of the
success factors that work across our service structure, as well as allow for
flexibility in meeting unique local needs. This will ultimately result in a rewrite of A
Guide to Local Services in NA. We expect that the first cycle of this project will be
focused on gathering options and presenting them for discussion in the
fellowship.”
Of course, before we can bring the real closer to the ideal, we need to make sure we
are all focused on the same set of ideals, that we share a common vision. As the
approach in our strategic plan spells out, we were tasked with developing a vision for
NA service efforts.
Revising the NAWS Vision Statement
After some discussion we decided to widen the focus of the existing NAWS Vision
Statement to make it “A Vision for NA Service.” The NAWS vision is already embraced
by many groups, service bodies, and members, but it really is the NAWS vision. We
hope, with some relatively minor revisions, to be able to broaden the scope.
The draft vision included here for your consideration contains several changes. First,
we have tweaked the language in general so that it is more clearly a vision statement
for all NA services, not just for world services. Then we added a second bullet that
speaks to the joy and spiritual growth that come from service. We felt that adding the
new bullet in the second spot makes for a logical and elegant progression from a
bullet focused on addicts, to one on members, to one on NA communities, and finally
to one on the world at large.
2010 CAR 13
The next change, to the third bullet, was perhaps the most difficult for us. There was
much discussion about how to phrase the idea of systemic or lateral cooperation
throughout NA service, not just between world services and NA communities. After
several revisions, we think we captured the idea of interconnectivity that we were
trying to emphasize.
The final changes are to the closing paragraph. Again, these changes resulted after
much discussion. Our goal was to shorten the length of this paragraph but retain the
references to honesty, trust, goodwill, and a loving Higher Power.
From a technical policy standpoint, we actually do not need to include this motion in
the CAR as it is service material and we typically include service material in the
Conference Approval Track mailing. We included it here in the CAR, however, because
we believe it is fundamental to our primary purpose and will benefit from as wide an
exposure as possible. Our hope is that by creating a common vision for all of us to
work toward, we will be able to better focus our service efforts toward the ideal image
of the future we wish to create.

Motion 1: To approve “A Vision for NA Service” stated below to replace the existing
“NA World Services Vision Statement”.
A Vision for NA Service
All of the efforts of Narcotics Anonymous are inspired by the primary purpose of our
groups. Upon this common ground we stand committed.
Our vision is that one day:
 Every addict in the world has the chance to experience our message in his or
her own language and culture and find the opportunity for a new way of life;
 Every member, inspired by the gift of recovery, experiences spiritual growth
and fulfillment through service;
 NA service bodies worldwide work together in a spirit of unity and cooperation
to support the groups in carrying our message of recovery;
 Narcotics Anonymous has universal recognition and respect as a viable
program of recovery.
Honesty, trust, and goodwill are the foundation of our service efforts, all of which rely
upon the guidance of a loving Higher Power.
Intent: To replace the NAWS Vision Statement with a vision statement for all NA services.
Financial Impact: The cost of creating this material has already been incurred as agreed to
by passing the service system project plan at WSC 2008. The production and
translations costs associated with replacing the vision statement in the material
where it is printed would be minimal because these revisions would occur when there
are new printings.
Policy Affected: This motion would replace the current NA World Services Vision Statement:
All of the efforts of Narcotics Anonymous World Services are inspired by the primary purpose
of the groups we serve. Upon this common ground we stand committed.
Our vision is that one day:
14  2010 CAR
 Every addict in the world has the chance to experience our message in his or her own
language and culture and find the opportunity for a new way of life;
 NA communities worldwide and NA World Services work together in a spirit of unity
and cooperation to carry our message of recovery;
 Narcotics Anonymous has universal recognition and respect as a viable program of
recovery.
As our commonly held sense of the highest aspirations that set our course, our vision is our
touchstone, our reference point, inspiring all that we do. Honesty, trust, and goodwill are the
foundation of these ideals. In all our service efforts, we rely upon the guidance of a loving
Higher Power.
Options for Change—Opportunities for Growth
Working on a vision statement was only one small part of the work of the Service
System Project. We have spent most of our time preparing to develop “options for local
service delivery.” One of the first things we began to wrap our heads around was that
structure is just one part of a service system. In addition to structure, a system
includes people, processes, and resources. We cannot focus on any one of these
components to the exclusion of the others.
In order to begin thinking about alternative options for service delivery, we went
through a protracted process of defining and refining a series of essentials before we
began to frame more concrete ideas. What we wanted was to think very carefully
about our principles and the purposes of a service system before we began focusing
on practical implementation of those principles. Guided by the maxim “form follows
function,” we first created a long list of all the needs we expect our system to fulfill.
Some of these are very basic, like “an addict needs to be able to find a meeting,” while
others are more complex, like “treatment facilities need to understand who NA is, what
it does, and how it is relevant.”
After exhaustive brainstorming about the needs the service system was created to
meet, we began to compile more lists. At times this felt like a “list-fest,” as they got
longer and more numerous. We created a list of functions that any system would have
to include, such as PR/external relations, information management, and community
2010 CAR 15
development and support. From here we moved on to delivery vehicles like “meeting
directories” or “PR roundtables/focus groups.” We tended to think of the functions as
the “what” of the system and the delivery vehicles as the “how.” Our final stop was to
think about “who” is to fulfill these functions by creating a list of roles. As we worked
through the process we continually referred back to our initial needs document to
ensure we were covering these necessities.
In addition to this we spent a lot of time talking about the ideals of a service system.
We compiled a list of essential elements and principles that a system must embody
and a list of the many variables for which it should account. These tools will help us
“means-test” options as we design them; in other words, any models we come up with
can be held up to these essentials and variables to make sure it accounts for them all.
Throughout this part of the process we avoided any discussion of structure, as it
seems that many of our difficulties are rooted in our overemphasis on structure alone.
Clearly, issues like poor communication have as much to do with processes and
people as they do with structure. The most efficient structure possible will not work
unless we have sufficiently trained members in key positions. Accordingly, we are
approaching the task of framing options for service delivery as a systemic task and
focusing on each of the four components listed above: structure, process, people, and
resources.
We look forward to discussing these options with delegates at the conference. Keep a
lookout for more material from the project before the WSC in the Conference Report.
WSC Seating—An Uncomfortable Perch
Any discussion of our service system inevitably crosses paths with the topic of WSC
seating. Changes we make to one component of the structure directly influence the
other. As many of you know, the 2008 conference elected to institute a moratorium on
the conference policy on seating new regions until 2012. As we have reported
repeatedly over the years, the policy we were using, adopted in 2000, had proven itself
ineffective by 2006. The criteria did not provide a method for evaluation of either the
conference’s or the region’s needs, but sought to apply a rigid set of criteria across all
cases. What’s more, that policy did not address the desire to stem the growth of US
regions or regions resulting from a split. The 2008 Conference Approval Track material
explained this difficulty:
“The conference has discussed its own growth and how to deal with issues related to
representation for years without coming to consensus. We all agree that the growth of NA
is a positive thing, but we haven’t yet come to an agreement about how to reconcile our
growth as a fellowship with the need to conduct business effectively at the conference.”
And so, while the Service System Workgroup has been doing the background work for
us to begin thinking about alternative options for service delivery, the board has been
talking about models for seating at the World Service Conference. Any effective seating
model has to satisfy both the needs of the fellowship in ensuring clear communication
and participation, and the needs of the conference in terms of size, diversity, and
financial viability.
At times we have found ourselves stuck between deciding which comes first, local
service delivery or WSC seating. We spent a great deal of time talking about the basic
principles underpinning the seating issue, much as we did with the service system. We
16  2010 CAR
asked ourselves, “What is the conference for?” Decision making, training, sharing
experience, receiving direction from the fellowship, and the “magic” of coming
together as a global fellowship were all key points brought up in our discussion and
reflected in GWSNA. From here it isn’t hard to agree in principle on what we want to
see at an ideal WSC. We want the diversity of our fellowship to be represented, but we
want to not be so large that we are prohibitively expensive or unwieldy in our
discussions and decision making. We want our newer communities to participate, but
we want to retain the experience of our older communities as well. We want the
“magic” of worldwide NA to be felt broadly throughout our fellowship, but we are not
certain whether that must occur through WSC representation or through other means.
We are beginning to try to translate those ideals into something more concrete that we
can look at together at the conference. Although we do not plan to focus on world
services per se, world services and conference seating in particular have to be
considered as part of any proposed system.
The service system is a four-year project, and the seating moratorium extends for two
more years as well. We expect there will be many discussions about these topics over
the next two years. We will use this conference to talk together—board and delegates—
about the ideas generated from the board and workgroup so far. As we get closer to
the conference, preparatory materials like the Conference Report will have more
information. This will set the stage for the ideas and work the fellowship will be
discussing over the next two years.
2010 CAR 17
NAWS Resources—Money
As we mentioned in the service system essay above, resources is one of the four main
components of a service system, and while we in NA are well accustomed to working
with limited resources, recent years have presented us with financial challenges above
and beyond the usual “trying to do more with less.”
We started to report on our fiscal stability, our trends, our challenges, and our financial
changes beginning with the September–November 2008 NAWS News. As a fellowship,
we generally do not like to discuss money matters. We seem to think money is not
spiritual, but money and spirituality do have a positive association when we consider
the principles of abundance and generosity. These principles afford us the ability to
fulfill our primary purpose. The theme of this conference is Our Vision, Our Future, and
those of you who have been reading about our resource crunch understand that, while
we are ever-hopeful for the future, our present isn’t that bright. NAWS’ ability to realize
our vision has been affected this conference cycle with a marked decrease in
contributions from the fellowship. We have also had an increase in requests to discuss
funding at workshops and know that this is not something that only affects world
services. We felt providing fiscal updates in NAWS News was one way we could
respond responsibly to our fiscal difficulties. We communicated our challenges, we
asked the fellowship for support and input, and we have decreased expenses where
possible. This is the first time we have brought up the subject of money so centrally in
the Conference Agenda Report, but again, to do so seems like the most responsible
action. By presenting a frank overview of our position, we hope interested members
will be better able to get a picture of NAWS’ financial straits.
NAWS is approaching a critical point where the level of service that we provide on
behalf of the fellowship has been affected. We have operated at a loss for the last two
fiscal years. This means that it is costing us more money to operate than the income
we are taking in, and we are making up the shortfall by spending our reserves. It is not
that our income is unexpectedly low in all areas, though our donations have
decreased, but that our costs are rising to a level that is not sustainable.
To give a close-up picture, we will recap what we have previously reported in NAWS
News. For the fiscal year that ended 30 June 2008, we exceeded budget in the areas
of developmental literature, translations, fellowship development and workshops, WSC
publications, shipping, public relations, and the meeting of the World Service
Conference. There has been a cost increase of more than $100,000 with the
conference from 2006 to 2008, and we expect this increase to continue for WSC
2010. We thought that in our partnerships with regions, and since we are now fully
funding delegates to the conferences, regions would make contributions to NAWS to
offset WSC expenses. This has yet to be our reality. Our reliance on the sales of
recovery literature to fund services to our worldwide fellowship needs to be balanced
with membership contributions.
For our part, we have been looking at four main areas to save money: travel/fellowship
development, publications, convention, and literature distribution. We cut our travel
costs in half last year, as compared to the year before, though we won’t be able to
have this dramatic of a cut again this year because it is a CAR year. We are looking for
anywhere that we can save money with as little impact as possible to the services we
provide. For instance, we have been trying to send board members who are closest to
18  2010 CAR
a given event when board members travel. We might not have done that in the past
because we like to use trips to give board members exposure to communities they
might not otherwise get to visit/experience, but given our current situation, it’s a
prudent choice.
We have also decreased our attendance at professional events, reduced literature
subsidies for cooperative public relations events with local NA communities, and
begun taking steps to change criteria for considering requests for fellowship
developmental trips and workshops—yet, at what cost? We have made substantial
strides through public relations to help professionals view NA as a credible program of
recovery, yet we are acutely aware from our attendance at a medical residence
conference that many still have not heard of Narcotics Anonymous. We believe these
continued cuts in public relations efforts will affect an addict’s ability to find recovery
in NA.
Workshops, developmental trips, and cooperative public relations activities generate
enthusiasm in communities and strengthen our infrastructure. A decrease in these
activities affects our ability to carry the message to the addict who still suffers. NAWS
is at a critical juncture. We have steadily grown to the point where hundreds of
thousands addicts now find freedom from addiction worldwide, and now we find
ourselves wondering whether we will be able to continue to provide these services to
ensure no addict seeking recovery need perish.
Another place we have instituted changes is in our shipping costs (the first such
changes in ten years). We have been losing money on shipping for years, and given our
current financial state, it seemed only responsible to raise shipping charges. We aimed
this increase, which took effect 1 April 2009, to have shipping charges and shipping
revenue break even, and we are starting to see the benefit of this change already.
We are also looking very closely at publications and thinking about how we can cut
costs there. We have been studying Reaching Out, NAWS News, and The NA Way
Magazine and seeking ways to eliminate costs. We reported a 25 percent increase in
costs from 2006 to 2008 for conference publications, which is primarily due to
translations and distribution costs. For 2009 we were able to reduce our expenses for
NAWS News, but still spent more than budgeted for The NA Way as distribution
charges continue to climb. NAWS has been advocating for electronic distribution of
publications for a conference cycle, yet many members and groups seem reluctant to
give up the paper copy. We are also reviewing our production and distribution policies
to see if we can economize. For instance, we distribute an average of 42,000 paper
copies of The NA Way each issue. We are mandated by policy to send one copy to each
registered group, but we are questioning if such a mandate is a responsible use of our
funds. Do members read the publication? Is the envelope opened, or is a publication
placed on a literature table that many members ignore? Does the paper copy ever
make it past the ASC PO boxes where so many of these copies are mailed? We do not
have the answers for all groups in all countries, but we know that in many cases, these
issues go unread. Many never reach the group at all. These are the types of questions
that we ask ourselves as we consider publications and distribution practices.
And, with the 40 percent for translations and distribution of non-US NA Ways, we
wonder whether our efforts are valued and what languages really need to be
translated. We have not reviewed this particular aspect of publications in over a
2010 CAR 19
decade, and now seems like an optimum time to examine our publication practices.
We plan to discuss these types of publications issues at the conference. We would like
permission to see if we can cut costs by making
some changes to our automatic distribution
policy, for instance, before making hard and fast
alterations to policy. It’s possible we may have
more ideas by the time the conference comes or
that we may think of other things we can try after
WSC 2010. We will open this conversation with
conference participants so that we can make
sure the conference agrees with this direction
before moving ahead. We are doing what we can
and we need members’, areas’, and regions’
contributions to quell this downward spiral.
One of the more controversial ways we have
made changes to recoup our expenses was to
institute a change in pricing at WSO–Europe.
Years ago we set our literature prices based on the dollar-euro exchange rates each
month to ensure the availability of literature in Europe. This practice no longer makes
sense; all expenses at the European office are in euros, and there are additional
expenses in Europe with the VAT (value added tax), which is not incurred by NAWS in
the US. We should have changed our policy when the majority of WSO–Europe
customers moved to the euro but we did not, primarily because we had the financial
means to not have to consider this change. After listening to European members and
communities, we modified our initial proposal so that what took effect on 1 July 2009
represents a less dramatic increase than our initial plan. We want to see the effect of
this change before pursuing the idea of standardized pricing in Europe any further. We
have kept the discount policy for WSO–Europe that is much more advantageous to
small customers than our policy in North America. We can no longer operate on a
faulty business premise; we realize our decision was not popular, but it was one that
was long overdue and needed to be made.
Another money-related topic that has generated some buzz in the fellowship is the
world convention and losses we incurred. For members who have no information and
have not formed an opinion, we would like to recap how San Antonio incurred a loss
and how we projected a loss for Barcelona. Our past practice has always been to
estimate (“guesstimate,” even) the number of attendees at a convention; in other
words, we planned for members who did not pre-register. The number of members
who did pre-register was taken into account, and we would estimate for a percentage
increase onsite. We were sadly mistaken in our estimates for San Antonio. By the time
we realized that this convention was not going to include as many members as
projected, we could not get out of contracts that had been signed years in advance.
The substantial loss in San Antonio was a rude awakening, one that has us moving
toward pre-registered attendees only. To predict unknown quantities is irresponsible;
we can no longer afford this practice. We understand that some members tend to wait
to purchase registration onsite, yet San Antonio taught us the hard way that planning
is the key to success.
How do we stem the
rising costs of NA Way
distribution? Should we
discontinue automatic
distribution of paper
copies of The NA Way to
groups? What else
should we try?
20  2010 CAR
As we have previously reported in NAWS News, Barcelona was a different story. We
projected our expenses would exceed our income from the outset for that convention;
in fact, we have operated on that premise for all world conventions outside the US. We
are a worldwide fellowship, which was clearly demonstrated in the geographic
countdown in Barcelona; yet the thousands of members who usually travel to world
conventions in the “lower 48” US states were absent. We have no idea what affect the
global economic downturn had on attendance in Barcelona, but we can reasonably
speculate that it may have had some effect. We are happy to report that WCNA 33 was
actually very close to the financial picture forecasted and approved at WSC 2008. We
will have more detailed figures available soon.
The fact is that these tough economic times present a particular kind of challenge for
us. We are in a different position from many organizations or companies. NAWS has a
spiritual mission to fulfill and is governed by principles in line with that mission; we
cannot simply offer products or cut services to generate revenue with every downturn.
We need to review business practices because we function in a business environment
with production of literature, shipping those goods, and renting facilities and
distribution centers; yet our mission is spiritual.
We are always motivated by the desire to more successfully carry the message to the
addict who still suffers. To fulfill that spiritual mission, we rely on the contributions of
members, addicts who have found freedom and who are living productive, responsible
lives. Through self-support, we are free to focus on our singleness of purpose. But selfsupport
means more than just supporting your meeting or even your area; it means
supporting NA, helping those most in need, including those hardest hit by the
economic downturn. We have an expectation that those who have resources will help
support those who do not; that’s in line with our spiritual principles. Carrying the
message through literature, for example, is easier in some parts of the world than
others. The number of people and communities who don’t have resources has
increased, placing more pressure on those who do have them. More and more
demand is coming from communities that have limited resources, compelling those of
us who do have resources to give more.
In keeping with our mission to support the fellowship’s primary purpose, we have
continued to provide free and subsidized literature. Many of us recall how receiving our
first Basic Text inspired us to believe that recovery was now possible. Similarly, those
communities that received literature donations have more hope for recovery and are
better able to carry the message. NAWS has provided over $750,000 in free or
reduced literature in the 2009 fiscal year alone. That figure is an all-time high for
NAWS, in part because we gave away the Fifth Edition Basic Texts we still had in stock
after the release of the Sixth Edition. We expect we will not drastically reduce this
literature figure in the upcoming fiscal year, but will help to keep it from further
escalating with the expansion of local printing efforts.
We are continuing to seek ways to decrease costs. Yet, when all the excess is
trimmed—up-to-date, sound business practices implemented and day-to-day costs
contained—we are threadbare. It’s hard to find any more places to cut. With such a
gloomy picture, you may be wondering: Where is the hope? Fortunately, hope is one
principle that we always have a supply of in NA. Hope lies within each and every one of
us. We came into NA hopeless; our lives were unmanageable. In our process of
recovery, we came to believe that there is hope for us as long as we do not pick up
2010 CAR 21
that first drug. And there is hope for our fellowship and service efforts, too! Together
we can get through any tough time and prevail. We know this from our personal
experience. Even with scant resources, when we unite our efforts, we can carry our
message of freedom from active addiction to the farthest, most desolate corner of the
world—so that one day, in our future, every addict in the world has the chance to
experience our message in his or her own language and culture.
22  2010 CAR
Literature
Given the economic situation that confronts so many of us at all levels of the service
structure, it’s perhaps an apt time to present two new pieces of literature about selfsupport.
This CAR also includes a revision to In Times of Illness, and an update on our
ongoing literature project, “Living Clean”. There continues to be much going on in
literature development at world services, and as the regional motions evidence, not
everyone is satisfied with the process as it currently exists. After the updates about our
various literature projects, this section of the CAR closes with an essay about literature
development. It is past time to talk together about how to improve the methods and
timetables we use to put together literature. We may never come up with a system that
satisfies everyone, but we surely can come up with a system that improves upon what
we have.
Self-Support
This project was developed in response to the fact that our existing materials on the
topic of self-support haven’t shown a great deal of success in affecting the ways
members participate in funding NA services. The two current informational pamphlets,
IP#24, “Hey! What’s the Basket For?” (initially published in 1988) and IP#25, Self-
Support: Principle and Practice (initially published in 1998), have consistently been
among the least distributed of all our informational pamphlets, which would suggest
that they aren’t very useful to members. Many members continue to contribute the
same amount of money in each meeting that they gave years or even decades ago,
and most groups are still unaware of the fund flow model suggested in IP#25 that
involves contributing directly to each level of service.
Ensuring a consistent flow of funds to all levels of the NA service system has rarely
been easy for us as a fellowship. All of us as members can tell stories of service bodies
that are unable or challenged to do some of the things they would like to do to more
effectively carry the message, whether that is hanging bus posters, bringing books to
institutions, or sending a delegate to a zonal forum. For as long as we have been
engaging in the process of fellowship issue discussions, communities worldwide have
pointed out funding services as an issue of ongoing concern. It isn’t clear whether this
is because members simply make minimal contributions as a function of habit, or
because they do not see value in the services provided by the NA service system, or
more recently, because of changing economic times. Our hope is that these new selfsupport
pamphlets, Funding NA Services and Money Matters: Self-Support in NA, will
help to change the way the average member thinks about self-support and individual
contributions, and to encourage groups to contribute directly to each level of service
for a more stable fund flow that better covers the cost of services.
Work This Cycle
The board put together the Self-Support Workgroup not long after the last conference.
The group was small but diverse—and effective—with six members from three
continents. This was the first time we had a workgroup member from Africa (Egypt) and
the first time we used a nonboard member as point person (a member of our Business
Plan Workgroup), an “experiment” we consider very successful. The group met three
times, twice in 2008, to work on drafts of the pamphlets.
2010 CAR 23
The review and input period for this project took place in early 2009, and we received
sixty-nine pieces of input in response. Among the known sources, we received input
from nineteen states in the US, and from a total of five countries outside the US:
Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, and Turkey. The input numbers were a
bit lower than we might have hoped for, but we know that plenty of people did read the
drafts. Funding NA Services was downloaded a total of 644 times, and Money Matters:
Self-Support in NA 432 times. Perhaps unsurprisingly, a small segment of the input
seemed to reject the principle behind the drafts altogether. It seems some of our
members still consider it “wrong” or unprincipled to focus on the financial aspects of
self-support. This sentiment was relatively limited, and largely the input contained
information that helped to improve the pieces. The workgroup met a final time in 2009
to incorporate the fellowship input, and we are confident the approval drafts are
significantly improved.
What’s in the Approval Drafts
There are two IP approval drafts included as addenda to this CAR. The first, Funding
NA Services, which is focused around four main graphics, is meant primarily as a
short, easily understandable resource for groups. This pamphlet aims to reach groups
with the message that contributing directly to each level of service is necessary for the
stability and long-term viability of NA services. In support of that message, the graphics
illustrate some of the services that are supported by contributions to each level of
service. If groups change their contribution methods, they can help to bolster efforts in
each of these areas.
One of the graphics is a pie chart that illustrates a model for group contributions to
each level of service. Those of you who are familiar with the existing IP#25, Self-
Support: Principle and Practice, may notice that this chart depicts one of the three
models proposed in that IP: the 50/25/25 model. We talked about possible fund flow
models quite a lot in both the board meeting and the workgroup meeting, and after
much discussion, the 50/25/25 model seemed like the best ideal. In terms of the
percentage donated to NAWS, this is still a bit more conservative than in other twelvestep
organizations; most of the twelve-step organizations we looked at suggest at least
a 30 percent contribution to their world levels of service. We did make sure to clarify
that this model is simply one possible method by including text to that effect alongside
the graphic.
The other approval draft is a longer, textual piece entitled Money Matters: Self-Support
in NA. As the title suggests, this piece is not meant to be a comprehensive examination
of our Seventh Tradition or of the principle of self-support in NA, but instead deals with
the topic of how we fund the services that help us to carry our message. The piece also
points out that individual contributions from members are not the only source of
funding for NA services, but they are the primary focus of the piece. There are other
places in our recovery literature and service materials that we can go to for information
about the Seventh Tradition and other related topics. The purpose of this pamphlet is
to raise awareness and understanding of each member’s personal role in supporting
NA services, including some discussion of how doing so enriches our recovery.
24  2010 CAR

Motion 2: To approve the draft contained in Addendum A, Money Matters: Self-
Support in NA, to replace the existing IPs #24 “Hey! What’s the Basket For?” and
#25 Self-Support: Principle & Practice.
Intent: To replace the existing informational pamphlets, IP#24 and 25, with an updated
pamphlet on self-support.
Financial Impact: The cost of creating this material has already been incurred as agreed to
by passage of the self-support project plan at WSC 2008. The only additional costs
that will be incurred by adopting this motion are production and translations costs.
Policy Affected: This motion would replace the existing IPs #24 & 25 contained in Addendum D.

Motion 3: To approve the draft contained in Addendum B, Funding NA Services, as
a Conference Approved pamphlet.
Intent: To have a pamphlet that helps groups understand their contributions and
participation in the NA fund flow.
Financial Impact: The cost of creating this material has already been incurred as agreed to
by passage of the self-support project plan at WSC 2008. The only additional costs
that will be incurred by adopting this motion are production and translations costs for
the new pamphlet.
Policy Affected: None. This pamphlet would be Conference Approved material, making it
easier to change graphics or update numbers as necessary and easier for local
language communities to make any changes they need to as they do translations.
In Times of Illness
Targeted literature continues to be a priority for us, and this cycle our work in that area
focused on a revision of In Times of Illness (ITOI), a project approved at the 2008
World Service Conference. In Times of Illness is published in eight languages
(Castilian, English, Farsi, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, and Portuguese) and has
been distributed at meetings all over the world since its original publication in 1993.
Thousands of our members have utilized this as a resource when faced with an illness
or injury in recovery. Seventeen years is a long time, however, and we’ve known for
some time (and heard from plenty of you) that the booklet has needed updating to
better address the issues confronting many of our members today.
In the many world service workshops focused on medication and illness in recovery
since ITOI’s publication, the overwhelming sentiment has been that the booklet no
longer adequately reflects the experience of our members and the challenges they
face with mental health issues, chronic illness, and medication in recovery. With this in
mind, we offered a project at WSC 2008 to revise the In Times of Illness booklet.
Work This Cycle
After the conference, we carefully selected an eight-person workgroup. These members
from the US, Greece, Canada, and Ireland have a wide range of experiences with illness
and injury in NA, including living with these challenges in long-term recovery.
2010 CAR 25
The workgroup met a total of three times. There was a ninety-day review and input
period from 1 March through 31 May 2009, and the workgroup considered ninetythree
pieces of input received from regions, areas, groups, and individual members.
While the amount of input was relatively thin, the review draft was downloaded 1,057
times, so we know plenty of people read it. We even received input from a few
nonaddict medical professionals who work with addicts. The input was overwhelmingly
positive, and the ideas and experiences collected from the fellowship input helped
further improve the draft.
What’s in the Approval Draft
The revised booklet was drafted using the original as a framework. Nothing was
removed; things were only shifted and updated. Like the original, the revised ITOI is
divided into sections to assist the member who has a specific challenge. Some points
are restated throughout the booklet because we know some will want to read one
section exclusively, while others will read the booklet in its entirety. We have included
new sections that specifically address mental health issues, chronic illness, chronic
pain, terminal illness, and supporting members with an illness. Additionally, the
booklet has updated and expanded material in the sections devoted to members’
informing healthcare professionals of their addiction, medication in recovery, and
emergency care. To support the experience contained within these sections, we added
quotes from members and from the Basic Text and It Works: How and Why.
Illness and injury are a fact of life in recovery, and this resource needs to remain
current in order to be viable and reach the addict who still suffers. Suggestions in this
booklet are based on a wide range of experiences of many addicts who are recovering
in NA. It is not intended as a substitute for medical advice, or as an alternative to
working with a sponsor.
Our hope is that this piece will become a more useful supplement to the relationships
that support us in recovery: a sponsor, informed medical professionals, an NA support
group, and a Higher Power of our own understanding. Health problems are personal
and each situation will differ depending on the individual. What we offer here is simply
the experience, strength, and hope of many members who have faced illness and
injury during their recovery in Narcotics Anonymous. We are pleased to present a
revision that we feel meets the current needs of the fellowship, while honoring the
timeless message of recovery found through the Twelve Steps of NA.

Motion 4: To approve the revisions to In Times of Illness contained in Addendum C.
Intent: To revise and update In Times of Illness to better reflect our current experience.
Financial Impact: The cost of creating this material has already been incurred as agreed to
by passage of the targeted literature project plan at WSC 2008. The only additional
costs that will be incurred by adopting this motion are production and translation
costs of the revised booklet.
Policy Affected: This motion would replace the existing version of In Times of Illness
contained in Addendum E.
26  2010 CAR
“Living Clean”
“Living Clean” is one of the four-year projects approved at the last conference (Service
System being the other). And so, as of this writing, we are a bit past the midpoint for
this project and will be giving a progress report here in the CAR and talking about
some of the new ways we’ve tried to engage the fellowship in creating this piece.
The idea for a book of this nature was on the WSC Literature Committee’s work list for
many years prior to the restructuring of NAWS in 1998, and subsequently the idea
remained on the “to do” list. Fellowship response to literature surveys in 1999 and
2002, as well as the input received during the revision of the Basic Text, made it clear
there was an ongoing need for a book that focuses on just that—living clean, our daily
lives as recovering addicts. As we reported in the 2008 CAR: “This kind of project [can]
enable us to address many of the topics members have asked for literature about:
relationships, grief, parenting, working, and so on.”
One of the objectives in our strategic plan is to “make the NA message available and
relevant to a widely diverse membership and potential membership.” The “Living
Clean” Project attempts to meet that objective by creating a book that speaks about
the many varied aspects of our lives in recovery—from dealing with our physical selves
to living spiritually. As the Basic Text points out, “Our disease involved much more than
just using drugs, so our recovery must involve much more than simple abstinence.”
Some members have described this book as picking up from Chapter Ten in the Basic
Text, “More Will Be Revealed.” At this point in the recovery experience of our
fellowship, more has been revealed, and it’s time we offered that experience to our
members.
Work This Cycle
After WSC 2008, we formed a workgroup comprised of ten members representing a wide
cross section of experience, cleantime, and geography. By the time the WSC 2010 is in
session, the workgroup will have met eight times. Our initial meetings helped to draft the
outline for the book and established the topics to be covered in each of the chapters. Since
then we have gotten to work drafting the chapters, and we are excited about the results so
far. Those of you who have seen the outline know that we hope to cover many topics that
have been on the fellowship “wish list” for literature for a long time: relationships with
others, our own relationship with success, aging, and the journey of recovery.
In June 2009 we released the outline, Chapter One, and Chapter Two for fellowship
review and input for 90 days. We distributed more than 1,100 copies of the drafts
(830 downloads and 367 mailed), and we received 103 responses ranging from word
choices (change “but” to “and”) to conceptual concerns regarding the use of jokes or
anecdotes within the material. We belatedly realized that our presentation of the
outline was potentially misleading to some people—we intended it as a list of topics to
be covered in each chapter, not necessarily in order. Even so, the input we received
was useful, and we have reorganized the chapters as a result. Thank you to those who
took the time and energy to read the material and give input. You have helped to make
a book that is more reflective of us.
Innovations
That said, the best time to affect the contents of a new piece of literature is in the
beginning stages of a project, before the draft has been written and before the review
2010 CAR 27
period. Recognizing that, we have attempted a variety of ways to gather more input for
“Living Clean” in these early stages. We have tried to open the doors as wide as
possible to any member who wishes to contribute material to the book, and we’ve
made regular announcements in NAWS News and The NA Way Magazine highlighting
the opportunity for involvement.
At the beginning of the project we distributed an announcement that invited members
to contribute to the project by sharing with us about three general topics: Turning
Points, Obstacles, and Growing in Recovery. This was sent out in The NA Way and also
as an email that was forwarded to members who might not otherwise come across the
announcement. We tried something new and set up an online survey system members
could use to respond and share their experience, strength, and hope with us. All told,
we received 947 responses (888 in English and 59 in Spanish). This material provided
a springboard for the drafting of the book, and we are still using some of the
experiences shared through that online survey as source material.
In addition to the online survey, we have been utilizing a discussion board, open to any
member of the fellowship, to generate source material for the drafting of the text. You can
access the board from the link on the project page: http://www.na.org/?ID=Living
_Clean_Project. The discussion board went live in February, and by the end of September
we had over 460 members, with more still joining the board. The topic outline is posted at
the discussion board so that members can share about the subjects we are planning to
cover in each chapter. At times discussion has been lively regarding particular topics.
Perhaps predictably, the relationships chapter has been the most lively, covering topics
including parenting, dealing with aging parents, marriage, friendship, commitment, and
more. The discussion board will remain open throughout the course of the project. We
encourage everyone to join the discussion there so that the book can best reflect our
common experience of living clean.
What’s Next?
We have two more rounds of review and input for this project. The next review and
input period will take place in early 2010 (most likely April). This release will include
three chapters tentatively titled “Living Spiritually,” “Our Physical Selves,” and
“Relationships.” The final round of review and input will occur later in the year and will
contain the final two chapters and the introduction. The project plan calls for a
minimum of 90 days for the review and input process, and this was the timeframe
spelled out in the project plan at WSC 2008.
All of the revisions need to be completed so that the book can be released in approval
form in April of 2011, as called for in the literature approval process in A Guide to
World Services in NA. The 2006 World Service Conference passed a motion to release
book-length pieces at least a year prior to their being voted on at the conference, and
we have taken that necessity into account for this project. But the need to examine the
process by which we create literature, including the timelines mandated by our
policies, is clear—more on this topic in the pages following.
28  2010 CAR
Literature Development Process—Where We’ve Been
and Where We’d Like to Go
There are countless differing opinions about how to improve our literature
development processes in NA. It may be that the only thing we can all agree on is that
we have not yet found the ideal system. We have come a long way in our fifty-plus
years as a fellowship, but we know that there is plenty of room for improvement.
Over the years, there have been a number of attempts to improve the system, such as
some of the regional motions in this CAR, but we have not taken a holistic view of the
system and asked what changes should be made. Members keep trying to fix various
pieces of the process, and that sort of approach is at best a band-aid for some of our
current problems and at worst has unintended negative repercussions. We’ve been
trained, through our strategic planning process, to think about things in terms of need.
If we ask, “What is the need that has fueled the motions about literature process in
this CAR?” the answer seems to be the desire for more participation and more timely
communication.
Certainly, we have tried a number of ways to increase involvement by a broader
segment of our population over the last eight to ten years, with varying levels of
success. Conducting literature surveys, hosting workshops, and developing session
profiles for local trusted servants to conduct their own literature review sessions are
just a few of the steps we’ve taken to make the process a more inclusive one. Contrary
to our hopes, however, some members have become alienated even through their
experiences participating in the review and input process.
When members send written contributions to a literature project, they at times expect
that they will see that suggestion or piece of experience, in exactly their words,
reflected in the final product. It’s impossible to fulfill those expectations for everyone.
For one thing, so much of the input we receive is contradictory. One piece of input will
say, “How could you possibly include that?” and another will say, “Thank you so much
for including that!” For another thing, such a small proportion of our membership
participates in review and input that it’s impossible to determine what might actually
represent the will of the fellowship. The best we can do is to regard all input equally as
food for thought. As we mentioned in the previous section about the “Living Clean”
Project, review and input is not the only and perhaps not the ideal way to affect a draft.
Participation in the earlier stages of literature development allows members a greater
opportunity to shape the final outcome.
We are continually trying new ways to involve the fellowship earlier in the process. We
tried an online survey at the beginning of the “Living Clean” Project to generate frontend
input for the book. Almost three times as many people participated as the number
of people who provided input during the review and input period for the Basic Text
Project. Similarly, more than twice as many people submitted stories for the Basic Text
Project as provided input during its review and input period. This would seem to
suggest that it is possible to find successful ways to involve members earlier in the
process. Another tool we are using in “Living Clean” is discussion boards to encourage
members to share on the book’s topics. We know we haven’t done all we can in this
area. When the “Living Clean” Project comes to a close, we will be better able to
assess which parts were more successful and which were less. In addition to keeping
what works well, these lessons will help us decide what else to try.
   2010 CAR 29
We are continually challenged to balance the need for involvement with the
responsible use of our resources. Any literature project that spans more than one
conference cycle is bound to consume a great deal of NAWS’ time and energy. With
international involvement, a four-year book-length project has direct costs of about
$400,000. To extend the process beyond four years would result not only in increased
costs, but also a greater strain on our human resources: Doing so would require that
we keep the conference, the World Board, and a workgroup focused on one topic for at
least six years. This is especially difficult in a system where trusted servants often turn
over every year or every other year. Furthermore, a major project draws resources
(money and people) from other possible projects or efforts.
We already have difficulties responding in a timely manner to fellowship requests for
literature covering various topics. Some members have expressed that we “already
have enough,” and we heard that opinion from a few participants at WSC 2008, but it
did not seem to be something that had broad support. The fellowship, in general,
continues to ask for new pieces, topics, and areas of focus for NA literature. We have
enough fellowship-generated ideas and requests for book-length pieces, booklets, and
IPs to keep us busy for many years. If we hope to respond to these expressed needs,
we need to have a literature development process that is responsive.
A particular difficulty we face in implementing a responsive system of literature
development comes in the form of some of the folklore surrounding the way our
existing literature was developed. In our earliest days, before the first World Service
Conference, NA literature was written by a handful of members, and helped to provide
the basis for core NA principles that we continue to hold dear today.
By 1980, the conference was meeting for the fifth time, and a world literature
committee existed for the purposes of creating and revising NA literature. At that
conference, a motion was made and approved that material for fellowship review be
sent out 60 days prior to the conference. It is helpful to keep in mind that what is
referred to here as “fellowship review” is akin to our current approval-form literature.
Chapters One through Ten of the Basic Text were released earlier for review and input
in what we now know as the “gray form.” Input received was reviewed and responded
to in literature workshops. [Note: This paragraph has been revised since this CAR was
first printed. The original text was inaccurate.]
In 1982 and 1983, the fellowship approved not just the Basic Text, but also the most
comprehensive NA service handbook that had been developed up to that point,
followed by a dozen new IPs. In terms of the Basic Text alone, Chapters One through
Ten were released to the fellowship in November 1981, followed by the personal
stories in February 1982, and the book in its entirety was approved three months later
at our seventh World Service Conference in May 1982. In the decade that followed,
our fellowship saw the publication of five editions of the Basic Text, along with ongoing
stops and starts with work on a steps and traditions book. Ultimately It Works: How
and Why was approved nearly unanimously at the 1993 World Service Conference,
after a decade of work on the book.
Contrary to NA’s apocryphal history, each of NA’s books has had a radically different
review process and timeline, none of which has been ideal. It Works: How and Why was
sent out in overlapping stages for six-month review periods. Just for Today did not have a
general review open to everyone. The text was sent out for a 60-day review to four
30    2010 CAR
different “review panels.” Each review panel received a quarter of the pieces. The NA
Step Working Guides were sent out in three stages, each of which was around 60 days.
Literature Development Timelines for NA Books
Review and Input
Process Input Received Approval Period Approved
Basic Text “Gray Form” was
R&I draft.
Records not
available.
6 months: chap 1-10
90 days: personal
stories
1982
Just for Today
60-day review; four
review panels
reviewed 90 entries
each.
168 pieces from
review panel; no
open fellowship
review.
90 days 1992
It Works: How and Why
(current version;
prior draft failed at
WSC 1987)
Four R&I batches,
6 months each:
Steps 1-6 & 7-12;
Trads 1-6 & 7-12.
(Step and Tradition
periods ran
concurrently.)
582 pieces total
received for four
separate R&I
batches.
First half mailed
Sept 1992
(6 months),
2nd half Dec 1992
(<150 days).
1993
Step Working Guides
Three 60-day review
periods, each
covering material on
four steps.
Records not
available. 90 days 1998
Sponsorship
Outline and first
chapter sent out for
90-day review.
98 pieces
Policy mandated
150 days; actual
approval period:
approx. 9 months.
2004
Sixth Edition
Basic Text
6 months 350 pieces
Policy mandated
150 days; actual
approval period:
approx. 6 months.
2008
In short, there was never really a time when NA literature development was fully
communal and cooperative with longer periods of time to develop and input pieces.
Although we say that our system of literature development is still flawed, we do believe
we have come a long way in opening up the process to members who want to
participate. With the technological advances that have been made in the last two
decades, we have gained the ability to communicate and collaborate much more
quickly and effectively. Still, for how time-consuming and labor-intensive our current
review and input process is, it doesn’t seem to involve most people, even those who
have an interest in literature development. There are nearly 55,000 NA meetings
2010 CAR 31
worldwide each week, but during the Basic Text Project, we distributed over 7,500
copies of the review and input draft (2,009 downloads and 4,493 paper copies), and
we received only 350 pieces of input.
The figures are even more dismal for the Self-Support, In Times of Illness, and “Living
Clean” Projects: For In Times of Illness we distributed 1,421 copies (364 paper and
1,057 downloads) and received 93 pieces of input. For Self-Support we distributed
808 copies of Funding NA Services (364 paper and 644 downloads) and 796 copies
of Money Matters (364 paper and 432 downloads) and received 69 pieces of input.
For “Living Clean” we distributed over 1,100 copies (397 paper and 830 downloads)
of the first review and input packet and received 103 pieces of input. In all of these
cases, we established the R&I schedules and communicated these dates well in
advance so members could prepare. For Self-Support and In Times of Illness, we were
able to release ahead of schedule, meaning that the review period was longer than the
required ninety days, which didn’t seem to affect input levels.
Even when we do get input, it rarely seems substantive. Most members, when
presented with a draft, are inclined to give input about word choices or how something
is phrased (or even how punctuation is used) rather than giving conceptual input about
the content of the text. The real goal of review and input is to gather broader ideas
about what needs to be included in a piece, and how the ideas might be organized in
order to be most effective. But it is very difficult for most people to think in those terms
when presented with a completed draft. This challenge is not one that is likely to be
addressed by changing the length of review periods; instead it will require a shift in the
way members view and approach review and input.
Another attempt to improve the literature development process came in 2006 when
the conference considered a motion to extend the approval period for book-length
pieces and opted to lengthen it to a year. This effort sprang from a desire to increase
involvement, and yet it seems to have been misguided in the sense that the approval
period is the least effective place to add time to the development process. By the time
a piece is in approval form, fellowship involvement is reduced to giving a “yea” or “nay”
on the piece. We have no evidence there is a substantial increase in the number of
people who read a piece if it is out longer.
Our real goal for our literature development process is to find ways to increase
meaningful participation and genuine fellowship involvement. As we have seen with
“Living Clean,” one way to accomplish this may be through online surveys, discussion
boards, and other methods to involve members earlier in the process. As far as review
and input goes, the challenge seems to be much less about length of the R&I periods
than about adequate communication and planning. In this cycle that is coming to a
close, for example, we gave six months of warning time before the beginning of R&I
periods for Self-Support and In Times of Illness, and yet many (most?) areas and
regions either were not aware that review drafts would be coming or did not start
planning for workshops or other methods of gathering input until they received the
drafts. As evidenced by some of the communities that were prepared in advance,
when workshops are planned before the R&I period starts, ninety days is not
unreasonable to read and give input about a text, whether individually or as a group or
committee.
We have taken small steps to increase general awareness of upcoming dates and
important deadlines, such as adding a single-page list of highlights at the beginning of
32  2010 CAR
NAWS News to draw attention to project updates. As with all communication-related
challenges, seemingly, we know we have a ways to go, as a fellowship, to improve. Our
hope is that discussions at this conference may lead to other innovations to help
improve our literature development process, particularly by giving delegates a chance
to share ideas and best practices related to keeping local members informed and
aware of what’s ahead. One thing is clear: We need to have an open and frank
discussion about our process of literature development, rather than continue to make
minor and major changes to the existing system, which hasn’t been discussed by the
conference in over a decade.
As it stands, our policies seem to hinder us at least as much as they help us. We are
unable, for instance, to make necessary updates to fellowship-approved literature
without involving the entire conference and fellowship through the CAR. The Loner IP,
for example, references a periodical, Meeting by Mail, that we have discontinued, yet
we have no way to fix this outdated reference without including a draft of the piece in
the CAR. We need a mechanism to make a housekeeping change so that we don’t
need to send every such correction or update out for review and input and approval in
the CAR. Similarly, the Additional Needs IP makes a reference to “cassette tapes,” that
would be better changed to “recordings” or “CDs.” The fellowship as a whole doesn’t
seem to care if we correct this sort of thing as part of our ongoing production process,
but we are bound by our policy to put these items in the CAR. We bring this up to begin
a conversation. We have no plans to bring any motions in new business regarding
literature development, but we would like to start a conversation.
We hope you will have a chance to talk over these issues with your local communities
and bring your ideas to the conference. We look forward to talking further there.
2010 CAR 33
Issue Discussion Topics
The three Issue Discussion Topics for the 2008–2010 cycle were Leadership;
Communication; and the theme for the conference cycle, Our Freedom, Our
Responsibility. All of these topics build on subjects we have been discussing during
conference cycles prior to this one, yet somehow our success with these IDTs was
minimal compared to topics such as Building Strong Home Groups in 2006–2008 or
Our Public Image in 2004–2006, to name just two topics. Perhaps these topics didn’t
generate real enthusiasm in the fellowship this cycle because they had been
discussed for so long and we didn’t offer a new enough approach. Perhaps the fact
that we didn’t have a topic focused on group-level concerns made IDTs in general less
popular this cycle.
In any case, we will not be offering questions about the IDTs in this CAR as we have
since 2004. In previous cycles, the results of our Issue Discussion Topics have led to
the Building Strong Home Groups Worksheet, service pamphlets, and leadership
modules. At this point, however, we have no logical next steps for two of the three
IDTs—Communication and Our Freedom, Our Responsibility—and it seems like
including questions would be close to “busy work” for delegates, who are busy enough
already. We hate busy work!
Leadership
Leadership has been a focus and ongoing topic for us since it was an IDT in 2004–
2006. One of the conclusions we came to from our earlier discussions on leadership
qualities was that we could benefit from a fellowshipwide discussion on leadership
principles. It was hard to talk about leadership identification and cultivation without a
broadly understood foundation.
And so, at the 2008 WSC, we had a session devoted to leadership, and after the
conference we broke that workshop outline into two simpler sessions and distributed
them for use throughout the fellowship. The workshops focused on some of the
principles of the program, related those principles to leadership, and discussed how
they are applied in leadership roles. Even after simplifying the sessions, we still have
heard that they are fairly complicated, but we know they have been used throughout
the fellowship and we are ready in this upcoming cycle to take the next steps with this
topic.
We don’t need to ask questions on the topic here to know that the fellowship needs
new tools related to leadership. We hope in this upcoming cycle to develop some new
leadership orientation materials for use at all levels of the service structure. We’ve
seen benefits from our ongoing emphasis in this area and we hope to continue it.
Communication
Communication is another area that we prioritize for attention regularly but in which
we don’t always seem to know how to make progress. This cycle we talked about what
is working and what needs improvement in our communication chain. While there is a
lot that is working well in our workshops, service meetings, and online
communications, our communications still break down at every level of our service
system.
34  2010 CAR
Our trusted servants are expected to synthesize and report large amounts of
information without any real tools to make that task easier. We are beginning to
imagine alternatives for service delivery in the
Service System Project. For instance, can we take
some of the burden off of our delegates and
representatives and make more of an effort to
have information available, especially online, to
whoever wants to access it? Trusted servants
may not always know what salient points to
report, but perhaps online standardization of
information delivery could obviate some of the
need for them to do all of the reporting. No
matter how we’ve imagined new systems,
structures, and tools, however, there is still a
huge responsibility for delegates, RCMs, and GSRs to communicate much information.
The new tools we hope to develop related to leadership over the course of the 2010–
2012 cycle should help. The quality of the trusted servant combined with good training
and better tools should make for improved communication. We aren’t there yet, but we
know that’s where we need to be.
Our Freedom, Our Responsibility
Just for Today tells us that “The more responsibility we assume, the more freedom
we’ll gain” (March 22). The third discussion topic for the cycle, Our Freedom, Our
Responsibility, which was also the theme of the conference, used that premise as a
jumping-off point for questions about exercising our own sense of responsibility in NA
and inspiring others to share that responsibility. This was one of the less popular IDTs
in recent years, but to the degree that it was discussed, members talked a lot about
their personal actions and motivations. That’s to be expected since we are trained, to
some degree, in NA to focus on ourselves and think of responsibility in terms of our
individual action, and since the Issue Discussion Topic questions themselves
encouraged members to think about personal responsibility. But the question about
how we can jointly exercise more responsibility remains largely unanswered. What we
know is that we need to do more. Our resources are stretched thinner than ever
before. It is our joint responsibility to see that Narcotics Anonymous has “universal
recognition and respect” and that addicts everywhere have access to the freedom
from active addiction that we, as members of NA, have. We need to do more to realize
Our Vision, Our Future.
Looking Ahead
As always, the CAR marks the end of one conference cycle and the beginning of the
next. And so we have been preparing approval drafts for this conference and writing
progress reports summarizing our work over the past two years, but at the same time
we have been looking forward and thinking about the road ahead. Perhaps most
notably, we have a couple of ongoing projects—“Living Clean” and Service System.
There are two more review periods for “Living Clean,” one of which should be
underway when the conference takes place. The approval draft of the book will be
published in April 2011.
Concept Eight:
Our service structure
depends on the integrity
and effectiveness of our
communications.
2010 CAR 35
The discussions we will begin with delegates at WSC 2010 about alternative options
for service delivery and possible models for WSC seating will continue throughout the
conference cycle. As much as any work we have undertaken in the past decade, this
project will need to be understood and supported by the fellowship as a whole.
Depending on the results of our discussions at the conference, you can expect to hear
much more about the Service System Project in the cycle ahead.
The Conference Approval Track material focuses more exclusively on the cycle ahead,
containing, as it does, the budget and project plans for the years ahead. Among the
additional projects we are hoping to undertake this cycle are public relations
roundtables with medical professionals and the development of leadership orientation
materials, and we hope to begin work on an up-to-date events handbook. NA
conventions use so many of our human and financial resources and we have no
handbook to guide local communities and help them be prudent and responsible. This
is one of many service tools that are long overdue.
We also hope to have tools in this cycle (perhaps as soon as this conference) to help
you in planning and carrying the message on a local level. We would like to simplify
both the Building Strong Home Groups Worksheet and the Area Planning Tool. We
have heard from many that these tools are wonderful in theory but difficult in practice
to use on a group or area level. In addition, we would like to develop a tool to help with
an “environmental scan” on a local level, a part of our planning practice that collects
information about factors in and outside of NA that might affect our ability to carry the
message. We know that the more we can take on a culture of planning on a local level,
the more successful we will be in our service efforts throughout NA.
36  2010 CAR
Regional Motions
We are trying something a little different this year with the regional motions in the
Conference Agenda Report: We are grouping the motions by similar topic. So, for
instance, the three motions related to production are together and the literature
development process motions are together. In line with that, we have combined some
of our responses to these motions. We think this will make it easier for you in reading
and workshopping the CAR.
Sadly, it has become a convention for us to preface this section of the CAR with a
paragraph or two explaining that we don’t think regional motions are the ideal way to
have a discussion or make a decision about most issues. This is what we said in the
2008 CAR:
“We urge regions to try to talk through things with us before resorting to a motion.
Sometimes it’s relatively easy to come to a joint solution without needing to ask groups
around the world to discuss the issue in the form of a motion. In the case of legal
matters or details of production, we wish that there were another way that felt
acceptable and fruitful to work through issues rather than by including a motion in the
CAR. The CAR is perhaps our primary vehicle for building a fellowship-wide conscience.
Shouldn’t it ideally be focused on how to carry the message more effectively? How can
we get closer to that ideal? We don’t pretend to have all of the answers, but let’s keep
talking about it and see if we can make some more progress together.”
Here we are, two years later, looking at a CAR with two and half times the number of
regional motions (ten; the 2008 CAR had four). It seems we have not made any
progress and may, in fact, have gone backward. We continue to encourage you to
discuss things with the board before determining to make a motion in the CAR. While
it’s true that sometimes we cannot come to a solution that satisfies all, often we can.
This year, many of these motions came as surprises to us. There was no effort on the
part of the region to bring up the subject in a call, an email, or face-to-face at a
workshop or zonal forum before sending in a draft motion. We would hope that a
motion would be a last resort after a region had attempted to discuss the issues with
the board. Let us know how we can we improve our communication and resolve more
of these issues outside of the CAR.

Motion 5: Direct NAWS to produce and add to inventory a purple decades clean
and granite decade clean key tag in English only.
Intent: To add two items for longer milestones of recovery to the keytags available from NAWS.
Maker: Show Me Region
Financial Impact: The dye costs for a new keytag are minimal. The cost to NAWS comes from
producing the items in bulk, warehousing the item in four locations, and managing
the inventory.
Policy Affected: None
Rationale by Region: Our region supports the production of additional keytags as it will give
those addicts with longer term recovery, either a decade, or decades clean, another
2010 CAR 37
tangible item marking that milestone. By having them produced by NAWS, the
impropriety of a “rogue” novelty item is removed, and at the same time, will provide
revenue from the sale of this item to our fellowship. As the last fellowship survey
indicated, the decade(s) clean milestone to be primarily an English speaking
milestone, we thought it prudent to start production of this item in English only.
World Board: See the explanation for Motion 6.

Motion 6: To add purple key tags for multiple decades of clean time to the NAWS
inventory.
Intent: To give recognition to addicts celebrating decades of clean time; at this time there is
no key tag to reflect multiple decades of clean time.
Maker: New Jersey Region
Financial Impact: None
Policy Affected: The dye costs for a new keytag are minimal. The cost to NAWS comes from
producing the items in bulk, warehousing the item in four locations, and managing
the inventory.
Rationale by Region: We are growing as a Fellowship, and now have many members with
multiple decades of clean time. Celebrating that through the giving of a key tag would
serve as an inspiration to everyone.
World Board: Over the years, we have received many ideas for keytags and medallions
including medallions for less cleantime, keytags for decades and multiple decades
clean, for being a GSR or trusted servant, for leadership, and a keytag stand or tree.
It is hard for us to know where to draw the line or what items represent a significant
desire on the part of the fellowship. At times, we have tried to satisfy requests for
inventory items in order to prevent regional motions, and then found those items we
produced in response to not be very popular. We still have examples of this sitting in
our warehouses. Besides the production costs associated with creating these items
in bulk, we also have costs to keep these items in our limited warehouse spaces in
multiple branches and keep track of the inventory each quarter. This does not seem
to be a prudent use of resources if there is no real fellowship demand. In this case,
we wonder whether the need or desire for a decades or multiple decades-clean
keytag may be sated given the large number in distribution already.
Of course, if there is a need in the fellowship, we can produce these items. What we
would like, however, is not to deal with this in the form of a motion but for the
fellowship to let us know what inventory items they wish us to carry for keytags. The
conference has repeatedly reaffirmed the idea that production issues related to
literature, keytags, and medallions should not be decided through the CAR. We would
prefer these types of issues be sent directly to the World Board, but we also know
that we do not have a good mechanism to assess fellowship desire. We welcome
your ideas on how we can improve this part of our communication process.
We would rather not take a piece-at-a-time approach to production of keytags, but
talk together about how to best satisfy the needs of the fellowship. The issue of
language, for instance, plays a part in these sorts of decisions. We produce keytags
38  2010 CAR
in forty-four languages and this number is increasing all the time. A decades-clean
keytag, or even a decade-clean keytag, would be unfair to language groups other
than English because they would most likely be unable to commit to a minimum
order amount that would be required for us to produce them.
We are not opposed to carrying any recovery-related items that the fellowship
actually wants. We hope those of you reviewing the CAR will share your ideas with
your delegate and that that delegates will be given the latitude to bring these ideas to
the WSC. We believe that together, through discussion, we can arrive at a decision
that will best serve our diverse fellowship.

Motion 7: To add a Spanish (Castilian) Line Numbered Large Print Basic Text, in
the current edition, to NAWS inventory.
Intent: To have a Spanish (Castilian) version of the Basic Text line numbered in large print
available.
Maker: Southern California Region
Financial Impact: The production costs for a different format of an existing translation are
low. The cost to NAWS comes from producing the item in bulk, warehousing the item
in four locations, and managing the inventory.
Policy Affected: None
Rationale by Region: To have a Spanish Version of the Line Numbered Basic Text will motivate
the primary purpose of carrying the message and promote unity through the study of the
spiritual principles of the Basic Text. This book format serves for the study of the steps at
a group level. When a chapter is chosen by the group conscience and each member
reads a numbered line until the chapter is finished, each member can focus on the
solution, taking notes of the numbers that they feel they most identify with just for that
day, and at the end commenting why they identify with those numbers. The principles of
the program contained on each line of the Basic Text are brought to life with the shared
experience of each member. This dynamic format is similar to the Basic Text manuscript
that helped to choose the original principles.
World Board: Our recommendation is not to adopt. The Spanish Basic Text is currently being
revised, and so this is not a logical time to think about producing the currently
published edition in any other formats or versions. The priorities for Spanish
translations are determined by the delegates of the Latin American Zonal Forum
when they meet at the conference every two years. At WSC 2008, these Spanishspeaking
delegates prioritized the Sixth Edition Basic Text for the Spanish translation
priority for this conference cycle. When this work is completed and approved, it will
be the first time the Spanish Basic Text will include personal stories. The work this
cycle will also correct items in the first ten chapters that were originally translated in
the early 1990s. Until this project is completed, it would not make sense to produce
an alternative version of a text that is currently under revision. It has taken many
years to arrive at a process that is both productive and acceptable to the majority of
Spanish-speaking NA communities which number more than twenty outside of North
America. The practice of the Spanish-speaking delegates at the WSC setting priorities
2010 CAR 39
and the LAZF establishing the review and approval body for Spanish-language
translations seems to be working. We simply ask that they retain the ability to set
priorities for the next pieces of literature to be translated or produced in Spanish and
that all requests and ideas be channeled through them.

Motion 8: The World Board is directed to develop a project plan for presentation to
WSC 2012 for a Traditions Working Guide.
Intent: The intent of this motion is to give the conference the ability to consider prioritizing
this guide as a future literature project.
Maker: California Mid-State Region
Financial Impact: There is minimal cost in creating a project plan. The cost to NAWS would
be in the project itself if the plan were adopted by the WSC.
Policy Affected: None
Rationale by Region: The purpose of this motion is to make a Narcotics Anonymous
Conference Approved written guidebook available following the style of our existing
Step Working Guide and as a companion piece to It Works that our members can use
when they work the Traditions of Narcotics Anonymous with their sponsor. A growing
number of members seem to have a desire to “work the Traditions” after they have
written their Twelve Steps.
World Board: Our recommendation is not to adopt. We have not surveyed the fellowship
about literature needs in more than five years (not since 2002), so the results of our
last survey may no longer be accurate. That said, the top responses then were
literature about relationships, something about spirituality, and something focusing
on recovery in day-to-day life, a topic that the “Living Clean” Project addresses. We do
not see a Traditions workbook as a priority at this time.
We hope to have some discussion about the literature development process at the
conference. Any ideas about our next priorities for literature creation or revision after
“Living Clean” would probably be best discussed in the broader context of a holistic
discussion about literature and our literature needs.

Motion 9: To direct the World Board to develop a project plan, for presentation to
WSC 2012, to revise Just for Today: Daily Meditations for Recovering Addicts by
replacing the thirteen quotes (and meditation passages if necessary) that were taken
from the Fifth Edition Basic Text and Youth and Recovery with current fellowship
approved NA literature.
Intent: To allow WSC 2012 to consider prioritization of this recovery literature project.
Maker: The Iowa Region
Financial Impact: There is minimal cost in creating a project plan. The cost to NAWS would
be in the project itself if the plan were adopted by the WSC.
40  2010 CAR
Policy Affected: This motion would amend the following section of the 2008 A Guide to World
Services in NA, page 43: Significant WSC Actions – 2008 WSC Old Business:
Unanimously adopted approving the removal of the specific source citations in Just for Today
for versions of literature no longer in print and to include, at the beginning of the book, an
explanation that quotes without a citation are from previous versions of NA literature. Also to
approve the use of a footnote in the foreword to Just for Today to update the reference to the
Fifth Edition of the Basic Text.
Rationale by Region: The Iowa Region believes that the Just for Today meditation book
should only include current fellowship approved literature for the daily passages. We
understand the rationale of Motion 4 that was passed at WSC 2008, however, we
believe that with the approval of our Sixth Edition Basic Text we will not be amending
that piece of literature in the near future, and, since the Just For Today is widely used
by our fellowship, we feel that it would be a benefit to be able to reference all of the
quotations that are in the Just for Today to current fellowship approved literature.
World Board: Our recommendation is not to adopt. The 2008 conference unanimously
adopted a motion that seems like the most practical approach to this issue. The
conference unanimously decided by a motion in the CAR to remove source citations
from the quotations in the Just for Today book that come from literature no longer in
print. Just for Today contains quotations from nine different pieces of NA literature, the
Basic Text and eight IPs. The book was impacted in 2004 when the Sponsorship IP
was revised and again in 2008 when the Sixth Edition Basic Text was approved. Given
that so many pieces of literature are quoted within the book, it is not inconceivable that
it might be affected again in the near future. We currently produce Just for Today in
eleven (11) languages and still have one language version that has the old cover and
does not contain the revisions to the book that were made in 2004. The constant
revision of existing literature is not something that we can keep up with in literature
produced in thirty-nine (39) languages which is the primary reason why the conference
decided to eliminate the practice with this book.
Further, a project to revise even part of the Just for Today book would take resources
away from other possible literature projects, and this revision does not seem like a high
enough priority to justify that use of resources. If the ideas and input we have received
are any indication of the fellowship’s desire, it seems that a new daily meditation book
would be a higher priority than this revision.

Motion 10: The World Board will post on the NAWS Website the motions that
pertain to the Conference Approval Track at the same time the Conference
Approval Track is sent out to Conference Participants.
Intent: To provide Pre-WSC awareness to our Elected Trusted Servants well in advance about
the World Board’s upcoming agenda.
Maker: South Florida Region
Financial Impact: The cost of posting additional information on our website would be low.
Policy Affected: This motion would amend the following section of the 2008 A Guide to World
Services in NA, page 35, Approval Processes for NA Material, by adding the language
shown as underlined:
2010 CAR 41
Conference Approved
NA Handbooks and service booklets are Conference Approved. This means they may or may not
have been sent out for review and input according to the specifics of the project plan presented to
the WSC and are always included in the Conference Approval Track material for approval at the
upcoming WSC. These pieces tend to convey NA’s fundamental ideas about certain areas of service.
Both Conference Approved and World Board Approved material is intended to show how to
implement or put into practice the principles established by core NA philosophy and Fellowship
Approved material. The World Board may decide that some change in Conference Approved service
material is so significant that it should be included in the Conference Agenda Report but the piece
will still be designated as Conference Approved. This has happened in the past with both A Guide to
World Services in NA, The Group Booklet, and A Guide to Local Services in NA.
Adopted at WSC 2000, this designation came about partly as the result of years of input from
members and groups regarding the types of issues they were being asked to review in the CAR.
Establishing Conference Approved material as a separate approval track means that materials
intended for committees and boards, such as handbooks or service manuals, are distributed
directly to conference participants 90 days before the WSC allowing time for the regional
delegates to workshop it in a manner that fits within their local community. The wording for all
motions pertaining to the Conference Approval Track material is also posted on na.org at the
same time. Each local community can determine for itself how the material will be reviewed
and how to direct their regional delegate. As the 2000 CAR explains,“This frees up our
members and groups to devote their attention to holding meetings and carrying the message of
recovery, without having to ratify every decision made on their behalf at every level of service.”
Rationale by Region: A Discussion-Based Conference is directly dependent on the quality of
discussions that have taken place between the Delegates and the Fellowship prior to
attending the Conference. At the WSC Delegates are bombarded with a tremendous
amount of information and are expected to make snap decisions, without having
time to consider the far-reaching implications. The 6th Concept reminds us that our
members bring the spiritual awakening of our 12 Steps directly to the resolution of
issues affecting NA. Inclusion of the motions may stimulate discussions that might
not have taken place, thus enabling delegates to collect the conscience of those
members that have been elected to serve on our Boards and Service committees.
World Board: Our recommendation is not to adopt. At the last conference, a similar motion
was made, “to direct the World Board to include in the CAT the actual language of all
motions they plan to make relative to the material contained in the CAT.” The motion
failed, but it did have some level of support, and we have discussed the idea as a
board and tried to engage delegates with this idea beginning with the January 2009
NAWS News. We aren’t sure whether posting motions about the Conference Approval
Track material will be helpful or not. The Conference Approval Track material already
includes a simple-to-copy cover that briefly summarizes all items, and conceptually that
cover is perhaps not that far from what this motion is asking for. In fact, us putting this
motion into practice simply means turning the bulleted list of items contained in the
cover sheet to the CAT into actual motion language which is typically as simple as: “to
adopt ____.” Putting the ideas on the summary sheet into motion form may actually
reduce the amount of information. The strategic plan, for instance, doesn’t require a
motion and so would not be included in a motion summary, and the description of the
items currently contained in the summary would also be lost. We have tried to limit the
length of this cover page so that delegates can easily copy and distribute it.
Another downside of this approach is that it seems to put the emphasis on the
motions themselves rather than on the ideas that need to be discussed at the time
the CAT material is released. The conference has been moving increasingly toward
42  2010 CAR
consensus-based decision making, and this seems like a possible step backward in
that regard. Throughout the course of CAR workshops and the conference week
itself, we discuss this material together, and sometimes our thinking evolves as we
share ideas. We do not want to implement a policy that hinders that evolution. Nor
would we want for groups to feel obligated to take a conscience on the CAT material.
The Conference Approval Track mailing was created because groups felt the CAR had
so much material beyond their interest, it was hard to get members to be interested
and to discuss and vote on the material. (See page 5 for more information on the
CAT.) We do not want to take a step backward in that regard, either. We still plan to
try this in January as we have previously reported, however, and to ask delegates at
WSC 2010 if this is something that helped them.

Motion 11: The World Board will post on na.org all recovery literature workgroup
meeting records in English within 30 days of any workgroup meeting. The World
Board will also link these postings to any project resources: such as the projects
discussion board, or similar resource. This post will include the project’s timeline
and a schedule of workgroup meetings. The WB will also post their meeting
schedule & have the discretion to post an overview of the literature development
process or any other additional information.
Intent: To provide additional communication and information about recovery literature
projects to the fellowship.
Maker: Greater New York Region
Financial Impact: Because this issue is so complex, we are unable to determine financial
impact at this time.
Policy Affected: This motion would amend the following section of the 2008 A Guide to World
Services in NA, page 13, World Service Conference Publications, by adding the
language of the motion to this section:
World Service Conference Publications
NA World Services produces several different publications in an effort to provide frequent and
regular written communications. While each of these publications has a specific distribution
list, copies are always available to any member by contacting the World Service Office and often
also on the website, www.na.org.
NAWS News
NAWS News is a short, easily translatable report that is published several times each year. It
was created to allow the World Board to regularly report, particularly after its meetings. It is
distributed to areas, regions, and conference participants in multiple languages.
Rationale by Region: Having the literature workgroups records online with a link to a
discussion board monitored by the World Board will give the fellowship an
opportunity to input earlier in the decision-making process. E-blasts are another
resource so that RDs can quickly pass information along to their literature
committees, etc. This additional transparency will create more unity between the
workgroups, World Board and Fellowship. This would be a tremendous help in
effectively bringing the interested parties of the fellowship together. An overview of
the development process included with the records would allow members and
2010 CAR 43
committees to better understand how the records are used, helping to communicate
more effectively through the discussion boards. We hope, one day these records will
be available in other languages, translatable similar to NAWS News and The NA Way.
World Board: Our recommendation is not to adopt. This is one of those that may sound like a
good idea but in fact is more likely to lead to misinformation and confusion.
Workgroups are a delegated body of the board. The board oversees and has authority
for all of the projects. We do this by presenting the project idea to the conference,
seeking the conference’s concurrence, creating the workgroups, providing them with
the scope of their task, and then receiving regular progress updates and reports.
NAWS workgroups do not set deadlines or make final decisions about their work.
These sorts of decisions and timelines come from the World Board when we meet and
consider the needs and timelines of all of the current projects and reporting needed.
Currently, meeting records are written to capture discussions in progress and are not a
record of decisions and are not worded in a way that would mean much to those not in
attendance. The WB does not ask for or receive workgroup records because they are
simply a summary of details for the workgroup in their attempts to create some written
piece of work. We do not want the workgroups to focus on making their records
understandable to others, but prefer that they focus solely on the task they were
assigned and on preparing the best possible piece for fellowship review. Even reading
the WB minutes would not lead to the ideal that is expressed in this motion.
The relevant information related to deadlines and timelines is already published.
NAWS goes to great expense to produce a quarterly update of all NAWS activity
following each board meeting. This is contained in NAWS News, which is produced in
English, French, Portuguese, German, Spanish, and Swedish. All official decisions,
deadlines, project updates, the NAWS calendar, and other news are contained in this
publication so that as many people as possible understand the same reporting of
NAWS activity at the same time. Our challenges do not seem to arise from too little
information but rather from challenges in communicating. NAWS News began to
announce the review and input dates of March to May 2009 for the review of Self-
Support and In Times of Illness in the November 2008 NAWS News. This was when
the work of several workgroups had progressed to the point where we were certain
we could actually be prepared to release this material for review. This information
would not have been accurately conveyed in any workgroup records.
Increasing the volume of information—and including along with it much
misinformation—would not alleviate the most frequent challenge we hear about from
members, including delegates: that they have too much information to process. On
the contrary, this seems like a resource-intensive way to make that problem worse.
As we discuss further below, we continue to try new things to improve engagement
and communication. We hope to have a holistic discussion about literature
development and how to improve our processes and move forward together.
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Motion 12: To add language to the end of the Approval Process for Recovery
Material section of GWSNA, page 36, that says, “No more than two informational
pamphlets or one booklet or one book-length piece will be out for Fellowship review
and input at the same time.”
44  2010 CAR
Intent: To limit the number of pieces of recovery literature out for Review and Input at the
same time.
Maker: FreeState Region
Financial Impact: Since there are so many variables for the impact of this motion, we are
unable to determine financial impact at this time.
Policy Affected: This motion would amend the following section of the 2008 A Guide to World
Services in NA, page 36, Approval Processes for Recovery Material, by adding the
language of the motion to the end of #1 under Review Form Literature, as shown as
underlined:
Approval Process for Recovery Literature
Note: Policies regarding recovery literature are also contained in the Fellowship Intellectual
Property Trust (FIPT).
A. Review-form Literature
1. Literature developed by the World Board is sent out for a review period before the
development of an approval-form draft. The time and method of this review, considering
translations, is determined by the World Board based on the needs of the fellowship and the
piece in development. No more than two informational pamphlets or one booklet or one booklength
piece will be out for Fellowship review and input at the same time
2. Review-form literature is not for use or display in NA meetings.
Rationale by Region: This motion allows literature projects the individual focus and attention
they need to result in quality pieces of approved literature. Releasing more pieces of
literature for Review and Input than allowed in the motion can cause literature
projects to compete with one another (ie: in 2009, in a single 90-day period we
reviewed "Giving It Away" (2 pages), "In Times of Illness" (25 pages) and "Keeping It"
(7 pages).
World Board: Our recommendation is not to adopt. This motion and the two that follow are
part of a much bigger discussion and set of issues about literature development and
how to best improve the processes we use to create, communicate about, and
approve literature.
The challenge that we have to discuss is how to create literature that allows the
fellowship’s voice to be reflected and is also something that can be practically developed
in the conference cycle system we have. Currently we plan one conference cycle for the
creation of an IP or booklet and two conference cycles for a book-length piece. To require
two conference cycles and the resultant cost for an IP and at least three conference
cycles for any longer piece of literature is not something we believe can be sustained or
that really serves the fellowship. We are not trying to sacrifice quality for speed or cost,
but the longer time frames have not seemed to result in greater fellowship participation.
We would like to discuss what is a reasonable time period for the development of
recovery literature and then talk about how to get fellowship participation and how long
we need for both review and input and approval.
For this past cycle, the overlap of the review and input period was purposeful. It
seemed to be a reasonable approach to try to focus people on one time period rather
than overlapping periods with different deadlines. We purposely did not send out any
portions of “Living Clean” until the review period for In Times of Illness and Self-
Support were finished. Regardless of how many pieces were out for review and input at
2010 CAR 45
the same time this cycle or the length of the review, we received approximately 100
responses. No matter what we do, the response is low. There seems to be no value in
extending the review period. Our challenge as a fellowship seems to be getting the
word out with adequate time before the beginning of a review period, not necessarily
that there is inadequate time during that period. With advance planning, ninety days
seems like plenty of time to read fewer than 35 pages of material and give input. We
welcome any thoughts about how to improve communication so that communities and
members can plan ahead for review material.
At the same time, the online survey that we tried for “Living Clean” resulted in 947
responses, 59 of those in Spanish. And the online discussion board for “Living Clean”
has, as of 1 October, 480 registered members. Similarly, more than twice as many
people submitted stories for the Basic Text project as participated during the review
and input period. So perhaps this response tells us we need to find ways to engage our
members earlier in the process, where the possible impact on a piece of literature is
even greater, rather than focusing everything around review and input or approval,
where participation is limited to commenting or voting on an already developed draft.
We are not certain, but it gives us more information and ideas to discuss together at
WSC 2010.
In a two-year conference cycle, the actual time to develop a piece of literature is tighter
than you might think. The World Board does not approve the new workgroups and
charges for their work until at least ninety days after the conference. Then there is a
six-month approval window at the end of the project (one year for book-length pieces),
which leaves a little over one year to have a new group come together and create a
draft, for the board to oversee that work and its revision, to send the material out for a
90-day review period, and then factor in fellowship input and create an approval draft.
The longer the review period, the shorter the time we can devote to development.
We would much prefer to have the conference discuss what our fellowship needs and
desires to have for the entire literature development and approval process. Taking a
piecemeal approach means we are trying to deal with a system through motions that
affect only details of that system. Any one of the ideas contained in these regional
motions may seem like something we want, but unless we discuss the entire
development and approval system and move forward together, we will not be
creating the most responsive and effective process we can to serve our fellowship in
the future. Like most things in NA, it is not just one perspective, ours on the board or
any single region’s, that will ultimately lead us to the best solution we can find. It is
from our collective ideas that we can best move forward.
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Motion 13: To add language to the end of the Approval Process for Recovery
Material section of GWSNA, page 36, that says, “Review and Input periods will be at
least six months for informational pamphlets and booklets and at least one year for
book-length pieces of literature.”
Intent: To establish a new minimum timeframe for Review and Input of recovery literature.
Maker: FreeState Region
46  2010 CAR
Financial Impact: Since there are so many variables for the impact of this motion, we are
unable to determine financial impact at this time.
Policy Affected: This motion would amend the following section of the 2008 A Guide to World
Services in NA, page 36, Approval Processes for Recovery Material, by adding the
language of the motion to the end of #1 under Review Form Literature, as shown as
underlined:
Approval Process for Recovery Literature
Note: Policies regarding recovery literature are also contained in the Fellowship Intellectual
Property Trust (FIPT).
A. Review-form Literature
1. Literature developed by the World Board is sent out for a review period before the
development of an approval-form draft. The time and method of this review, considering
translations, is determined by the World Board based on the needs of the fellowship and the
piece in development. Review and Input periods will be at least six months for informational
pamphlets and booklets and at least one year for book-length pieces of literature.
2. Review-form literature is not for use or display in NA meetings.
Rationale by Region: This motion provides a more realistic timeframe for the Fellowship to
communicate about literature projects, organize stable Review and Input groups,
build enthusiasm about participation, and include more members. Although
information for upcoming literature projects is available in advance, increasing the
timeframe allows for the realistic delay in communication and organization that often
occurs within our service structure. Extra time allows the process to focus on
literature, rather than the timeline itself. This motion increases total project timelines
to several conference cycles, but we currently have plenty of viable literature to
support our Fellowship. We can better serve our members by creating quality, welldeveloped
literature, allowing for multiple opportunities to participate in the same
project, and being more inclusive of newer members to become familiar with the
process. It also allows a greater cushion for rearranging scheduled workshops in case
deadlines are moved up unexpectedly (ie: “Living Clean” survey, 2009).
World Board: Our recommendation is not to adopt. See the explanation for Motion 12.
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Motion 14: To require a 180-day review and input period for Fellowship Approved,
Conference Approved, or World Board Approved material.
Intent: To create a new review and input requirement for Conference Approved material and
World Board Approved Service tools, PR material, bulletins, and other material and to
extend the existing review and input period for Fellowship Approved material and
World Board Approved Service Pamphlets.
Maker: New Jersey Region
Financial Impact: Since there are so many variables for the impact of this motion, we are
unable to determine financial impact at this time.
Policy Affected: This motion would amend the following section of the 2008 A Guide to World
Services in NA, page 35, Approval Processes for NA Material, and page 36, Approval
Processes for Recovery Material, as shown as underlined:
2010 CAR 47
Approval Processes for NA Material
There are three types of approval processes for NA World Services and they are noted on each
piece when it is published. Those three processes are called Fellowship Approved, Conference
Approved, and World Board Approved. The conference typically establishes the approval
process to be used when it approves the project plan at the WSC.
Fellowship Approved
As covered in the following section on the approval process for recovery literature, all NA recovery
material is Fellowship Approved. This means that it is developed by NA World Services, sent out to
the fellowship for review and input, and ultimately sent out for approval by the fellowship in the
Conference Agenda Report. The specifics for each piece of Fellowship Approved recovery literature
are covered in the project plan for each piece that is presented and approved by the World Service
Conference before work is begun. This applies to all recovery books, recovery booklets, and recovery
pamphlets as well as material that establishes or changes philosophical position or NA principles.
NA Fellowship Approved recovery material is typically the only thing that is read in NA meetings.
Conference Approved
NA Handbooks and service booklets are Conference Approved. This means they have been sent
out for a 180-day review and input period This means they may or may not have been sent out for
review and input according to the specifics of the project plan presented to the WSC and are
always included in the Conference Approval Track material for approval at the upcoming WSC.
These pieces tend to convey NA’s fundamental ideas about certain areas of service. Both
Conference Approved and World Board Approved material is intended to show how to implement
or put into practice the principles established by core NA philosophy and Fellowship Approved
material. The World Board may decide that some change in Conference Approved service material
is so significant that it should be included in the Conference Agenda Report but the piece will still
be designated as Conference Approved. This has happened in the past with both A Guide to World
Services in NA, The Group Booklet, and A Guide to Local Services in NA.
Adopted at WSC 2000, this designation came about partly as the result of years of input from
members and groups regarding the types of issues they were being asked to review in the CAR.
Establishing Conference Approved material as a separate approval track means that materials
intended for committees and boards, such as handbooks or service manuals, are distributed
directly to conference participants 90 days before the WSC allowing time for the regional
delegates to workshop it in a manner that fits within their local community. Each local
community can determine for itself how the material will be reviewed and how to direct their
regional delegate. As the 2000 CAR explains, “This frees up our members and groups to devote
their attention to holding meetings and carrying the message of recovery, without having to
ratify every decision made on their behalf at every level of service.”
World Board Approved
At WSC 2006, the conference decided that the World Board could approve and publish a
number of informational pieces. This included revisions to Chapters 10-13 of the PR Handbook
and the Area Planning Tool, as well as development and approval of service related
informational pamphlets and tools. At WSC 2008, Chapters 5-9 of the PR Handbook were also
made adaptable by the World Board. These service related informational pamphlets and tools
contain practical experience gathered from the fellowship about how to apply some of the
principles contained in NA Fellowship and Conference Approved material. They are usually the
result of the Fellowship Issue Discussions or contain a compilation of material already being
distributed to the fellowship upon request, which was the case with the Area Planning Tool.
All service related informational pamphlets, whether Conference Approved or World Board
Approved, are easily distinguishable from recovery pamphlets by their appearance and should
be used by members, groups, and service committees as a resource rather than being read in
an NA Meeting. Before approval and distribution, Service Pamphlets will be sent out to
conference participants for a 180-day 90 day review and input. Service tools, PR material,
bulletins, and other material will continue to be developed and approved by the World Board.
The World Board has long been able to approve bulletins but these bulletins only had limited
distribution to those who knew that they were available. The advantage of this approval process
for informational pamphlets is that material is made readily available, and can be easily
changed or pulled from inventory if there are concerns.
48  2010 CAR
Approval Process for Recovery Literature
Note: Policies regarding recovery literature are also contained in the Fellowship Intellectual
Property Trust (FIPT).
A. Review-form Literature
1. Literature developed by the World Board is sent out for a 180-day 90 day review period
before the development of an approval-form draft. The time and method of this review,
considering translations, is determined by the World Board based on the needs of the
fellowship and the piece in development.
2. Review-form literature is not for use or display in NA meetings.
Rationale by Region: The amount of time currently allotted is not adequate for the amount of
literature being produced. Our fellowship is growing in leaps and bounds. In order to
reach enough of our members so our worldwide experience, strength and hope can
be tapped and utilized, we need more time to carry the message. We can not afford
to be mass-producing literature at such a high rate of speed. After all it is the viability
of our literature and the passion that goes into its construction that encourages
those and saves addicts’ lives.
World Board: Our recommendation is not to adopt. Currently there are three different
development processes for NA literature and service material, Fellowship Approved,
Conference Approved, and Board Approved. All NA recovery material is Fellowship
Approved. Handbooks and service manuals are Conference Approved, and Board
Approved materials are service-related items that contain practical experience about
how to apply some of the principles established in Fellowship and Conference Approved
material. Typically, the conference establishes the type of approval process when they
approve a project. These distinctions were created for a reason. These are different
types of materials and they should not all be subject to the same development or
approval process. In the case of Board Approved material, for instance, often these tools
or pamphlets simply contain information already distributed by world services upon
request. It does not seem beneficial to subject them to the same lengthy review period
as a piece of recovery literature. The idea with this material is that it can easily be
changed and modified based on experience and fellowship input which can be
submitted at any time. Much of the practice with Conference approved material has
evolved over the last ten years and varies greatly depending on the project. The PR
Handbook, for example, was sent out for fellowship review in three stages. The original
motivation with the Conference Approval Track seemed to be to get much of the
conference’s policies out of the CAR. This approval process has evolved over time with
most, if not all, of the actions to expand this process coming from regions and delegates
rather than NAWS. The conference policy that created these three categories was
discussed at the conference, sent out to delegates for review, and ultimately amended
on the floor of the conference after discussion. This type of flexibility is something that
the conference has chosen to increase over the years rather than to restrict. The World
Board spent four years trying to capture the distinctions among these different
development tracks after lengthy discussions with delegates, and the new policy was
overwhelmingly adopted at the last conference. This motion seeks to erase these
distinctions without making it clear what the real problem is or what is really motivating
this change. Again, we would like to have a discussion about what is working and what
can be improved that serves us all rather than attempting to tweak pieces of this
process.
2010 CAR 49
WSC 2010 Summary Sheet:
Motions and Other Issues to Be Discussed
World Board Motions
Motion 1: To approve “A Vision for NA Service” stated below to replace the existing “NA World
Services Vision Statement.”
Maker: World Board, page 13
Motion 2: To approve the draft contained in Addendum A, Money Matters: Self-Support in NA, to
replace the existing IPs #24 “Hey! What’s the Basket For?” and #25 Self-Support: Principle & Practice.
Maker: World Board, page 24
Motion 3: To approve the draft contained in Addendum B, Funding NA Services, as a Conference
Approved pamphlet.
Maker: World Board, page 24
Motion 4: To approve the revisions to In Times of Illness contained in Addendum C.
Maker: World Board, page 25
Regional Motions
Motion 5: Direct NAWS to produce and add to inventory a purple decades clean and granite decade
clean key tag in English only.
Maker: Show Me Region, page 36
Motion 6: To add purple key tags for multiple decades of clean time to the NAWS inventory
Maker: New Jersey Region, page 37
Motion 7: To add a Spanish (Castilian) Line Numbered Large Print Basic Text, in the current edition,
to NAWS inventory.
Maker: Southern California Region, page 38
Motion 8: The World Board is directed to develop a project plan for presentation to WSC 2012 for a
Traditions Working Guide.
Maker: California Mid-State Region, page 39
Motion 9: To direct the World Board to develop a project plan, for presentation to WSC 2012, to
revise Just for Today: Daily Meditations for Recovering Addicts by replacing the thirteen quotes (and
meditation passages if necessary) that were taken from the Fifth Edition Basic Text and Youth and
Recovery with current fellowship approved NA literature.
Maker: The Iowa Region, page 39
Motion 10: The World Board will post on the NAWS Website the motions that pertain to the
Conference Approval Track at the same time the Conference Approval Track is sent out to
Conference Participants.
Maker: South Florida Region, page 40
Motion 11: The World Board will post on na.org all recovery literature workgroup meeting records in
English within 30 days of any workgroup meeting. The World Board will also link these postings to
any project resources: such as the projects discussion board, or similar resource. This post will
include the project’s timeline and a schedule of workgroup meetings. The WB will also post their
50  2010 CAR
meeting schedule & have the discretion to post an overview of the literature development process or
any other additional information.
Maker: Greater New York Region, page 42
Motion 12: To add language to the end of the Approval Process for Recovery Material section of
GWSNA, page 36, that says, “No more than two informational pamphlets or one booklet or one booklength
piece will be out for Fellowship review and input at the same time.”
Maker: FreeState Region, page 43
Motion 13: To add language to the end of the Approval Process for Recovery Material section of
GWSNA, page 36, that says, “Review and Input periods will be at least six months for informational
pamphlets and booklets and at least one year for book-length pieces of literature.”
Maker: FreeState Region, page 45
Motion 14: To require a 180-day review and input period for Fellowship Approved, Conference
Approved, or World Board Approved material.
Maker: New Jersey Region, page 46
Other Issues that Will Be Discussed at WSC 2010
Those of you who read and discuss the CAR every two years will remember that the past several
CARs have contained discussion questions, usually about the Issue Discussion Topics. This year, we
don’t have any particular questions to ask about the IDTs, but we are trying something new here on
this summary page in briefly mentioning some of the other issues that we know will be discussed at
the conference. We encourage you to read the related essays in this CAR.
Service System (page 8)
At WSC 2010, we will be discussing options for improved service delivery throughout all
components of our service system: structure, process, people, and resources. We want to forward
these discussions through the 2010–2012 cycle. We encourage everyone to read the essay on
page 8 to gain all of the background information and share your ideas with your delegate so that
we can have fruitful discussions at the conference and beyond.
NAWS Resources (page 17)
We have all been affected by the economic downturn, some of us more directly than others. In this CAR
we discuss NAWS resources, and the Annual Report provides more detailed information. We are
continuing to seek ways to cut costs at world services while reducing the impact on service delivery as
much as possible. One of the items we will discuss with conference participants is The NA Way
Magazine. We understand there is some benefit from this magazine to our members and to NAWS, yet
we are aware of the waste that comes from automatic distribution of paper copies to all registered NA
groups. We would like to discuss possible solutions with conference participants and to try changes in
distribution before making any changes to policy. Please read the essay on page 17 and help your
delegate come ready to discuss our NA Way distribution practices.
Literature Development (page 28)
Several of the regional motions in this CAR focus on some aspect of the literature development
process. We hope to have a more holistic discussion at the conference about the literature
development process, including how to more effectively involve interested members. How realistic
is our current review and input process with our worldwide membership, and does this process
positively affect our literature? Does a lengthy approval process make sense when approval is
simply a “yes” or “no” for a completed work? What literature processes would serve us best today
and in the future? We look forward to discussing all of these issues at the conference. Please read
the essay on page 28 and share your thoughts with your delegate.
This form can also be completed or updated online at www.na.org (June 2009)
World Pool Information Form
Thank you for your interest in entering the World Pool. Please provide us with the following information.
If at some point you are considered for service, you may be asked for additional information.
Please type or print legibly and return to:
Human Resource Panel, NA World Services, Inc., 19737 Nordhoff Place, Chatsworth, CA 91311 USA,
or Fax to: (818) 700-0700.
Today's Date:
Month _______ Day ______ Year _______ Is this your:  First Submission or  Update
General Service Interest - Mark your preference based on your interest, skills, and background. You may
choose one or both options. Those selecting only NA World Service Projects will not be considered for HRP
nominations to the World Service Conference (WSC).
 World Board, Human Resource Panel, or WSC Cofacilitator  NA World Service Projects
Contact Information
Name: ______________________________________ Clean Date: ___________/__________/__________
Month Day Year
Address: __________________________________________________ _________________________________
City:________________________________________State/Province: __________________________________
Postal/Zip Code: ______________________________Country: _______________________________________
Home Phone: ________________________________Fax: ___________________________________________
Email Address: __________________________________________________ ____________________________
Your Region: __________________________________________________ _____________________________
Relevant Education, Occupation, and Life Experiences - Please provide information
regarding any relevant educational background, occupational skills, or life experiences.
Education:
Occupation:
Life Experience:
This form can also be completed or updated online at www.na.org (June 2009)
Language - For each language, please indicate your skill level as FLUENT, AVERAGE, or MINIMUM by
marking the appropriate boxes. Include all languages that apply.
Language This is my 1st
Language Can Write Can Read Can Speak
 Yes  No  Fluent  Average
 Minimum
 Fluent  Average
 Minimum
 Fluent  Average
 Minimum
 Yes  No  Fluent  Average
 Minimum
 Fluent  Average
 Minimum
 Fluent  Average
 Minimum
 Yes  No  Fluent  Average
 Minimum
 Fluent  Average
 Minimum
 Fluent  Average
 Minimum
Service History - Please write the total number of years of service at each level of service in the “Total
Years Served” box below. Please check mark the boxes next to the positions served.
World Service
Total Years Served
Experience at that level:
(Check all boxes that apply)
Ad Hoc/Focus
Group/Workgroup
Human Resource Panel
NAWS Development Travel
NAWS Public Relations
Resource
Pre-1998 WSC Committees
or Boards
Regional Delegate/ Alternate
Delegate
Special Worker
World Board
WSC Cofacilitator
Zonal Service
Total Years Served
Experience at that level:
(Check all boxes that apply)
Fellowship Development
Other Zonal Service
Translations
Website
Zonal Forum Admin
Convention / Corporation /
Service Office
Total Years Served
Experience at that level:
(Check all boxes that apply)
Board of Directors (BOD)
Committee Member
Executive Committee
Special Worker
Volunteer
Area/Regional Service
Total Years Served
Experience at that level:
(Check all boxes that apply)
ASC/RSC Admin
Events/Activities
Fellowship Development
Group Service
Representative
Hospitals & Institutions
Literature
Outreach
Phone/Helpline
Public Information
Public Relations
Policy
Regional Committee Member
Translations
Website
Service Preferences - Please list the top two most fulfilling service positions/responsibilities from above.
Service Position / Responsibility:
Why was it fulfilling?
Service Position / Responsibility:
Why was it fulfilling?
2010 CAR 53
Glossary
Biennial
Occurring every two years.
Candidate Profile Reports (CPRs)
A packet containing information (individual reports) on each candidate nominated by
the Human Resource Panel for consideration for election by the WSC. These reports
are intended to assist conference participants in their evaluations of candidates.
Conference Agenda Report (CAR)
A publication that consists of business and issues that will be considered during the
biennial WSC meeting. The CAR is released a minimum of 150 days prior to the
opening of the conference, with translated versions released a minimum of 120 days
prior. The front portion of the CAR, in all the languages in which it is published, is
available at no charge on the Web at http://www.na.org.conference.
Conference Approval Track (CAT)
A term used to describe items sent to conference participants ninety (90) days prior to
the World Service Conference. Included are any proposals for seating of regions, the
draft budget and project plans for the upcoming conference cycle, and any material
being presented for consideration under the service-material approval process.
Conference Approved
NA handbooks and service booklets that tend to convey NA’s fundamental ideas about
certain areas of service. These pieces may or may not have been sent out for review
and input according to the specifics of the project plan presented to the WSC, and are
always included in the Conference Approval Track material for approval at the
upcoming WSC. Both Conference Approved and World Board Approved material is
intended to show how to implement or put into practice the principles established by
core NA philosophy and Fellowship Approved.
Conference Cycle
The two years between conferences. For the current conference cycle, that refers to
the two fiscal years running from 1 July 2008 to 30 June 2010.
Conference Participants
For the purposes of decision making, conference participants are defined as regional
delegates and World Board members. Only delegates vote on old business items that
have appeared in the Conference Agenda Report.
Conference Report
The full report of all world service activities sent to WSC participants; delegates and
regions may also have reports published. Mailed to conference participants and
subscribers and also posted at www.na.org. March issue customarily contains board,
HRP, and regional reports.
Environmental Scan
An environmental scan is part of a strategic planning process. In NAWS every two
years, preliminary to the creation of our strategic plan, we look at internal and external
54  2010 CAR
factors that might influence the work we are able to accomplish or that we wish to take
on or prioritize.
Fellowship Approved
As explained in GWSNA: “All NA recovery material is Fellowship Approved. This means
that it is developed by NA World Services, sent out to the fellowship for review and
input, and ultimately sent out for approval by the fellowship in the Conference Agenda
Report.... This applies to all recovery books, recovery booklets, and recovery pamphlets
as well as material that establishes or changes philosophical position or NA principles.”
Fellowship Development:
We engage in a large variety of activities that are directed to members and/or
designed to help NA communities in their efforts to carry the message and to further
our primary purpose and vision. This includes, but is certainly not limited to,
publications like The NA Way and Reaching Out, fellowship workshops, public relations
activities, answering emails and calls with questions from members, and free or
reduced-cost literature. We refer to all of this activity as fellowship development since
that is the purpose.
Fellowship Intellectual Property Trust (FIPT)
A legal trust that serves as custodian for NA's recovery literature and logos
(trademarks). The document creating the FIPT is called a trust instrument; it explains
how NA’s literature and trademarks are managed and protected for the benefit of the
fellowship as a whole. Approved by the fellowship in April 1993.
Guide to Local Services in Narcotics Anonymous, A (GLS)
A service handbook, approved in 1997, intended to serve as a resource for NA groups,
areas, regions, and their subcommittees in establishing and providing local services.
Guide to World Services in NA, A (GWSNA)
A compilation of policy decisions that have been approved by the World Service
Conference, including WSC guidelines. The name was changed from A Temporary
Working Guide to Our World Service Structure (TWGWSS) in 2002. TWGSS, its
precursor, was first published in 1983 as the temporary successor to the NA Service
Manual (a.k.a. The NA Tree), which in turn was first published in 1976.
Human Resource Panel (HRP)
Provides the World Service Conference with a list of qualified candidates for election to
the World Board, the Human Resource Panel, and the WSC Cofacilitator positions. Is
also responsible to administer the World Pool. Consists of four individuals elected by
the WSC.
IP
Acronym for informational pamphlet.
Issue Discussion Topics
Specific topics selected by the WSC that concern the fellowship as a whole, to be
discussed by the fellowship during the next conference cycle.
2010 CAR 55
“Living Clean”
This is an ongoing literature project that is working on a book-length piece about our
daily lives as recovering addicts with topics ranging from “our physical selves” to “living
spiritually.” The approval draft will be published in April 2011.
NA Way Magazine, The
Published quarterly, The NA Way Magazine currently offers articles about service,
recovery-oriented stories, and entertainment, as well as a calendar of international NA
events. Available by request in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and German, and
posted at www.na.org.
NAWS
Refers to Narcotics Anonymous World Services, the legal name for world services.
NAWS News
A newsletter sent out by the World Board after each board meeting reporting on their
current activities. Published in English, French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish.
Sent to all conference participants, registered areas, and regions and posted at
www.na.org.
Project Plan
Developed by the World Board for all prospective, non-routine world service projects.
Includes the proposed scope of the project, budget, and timeline. Included in the
Conference Approval Track material as part of the budget.
Public Relations
Creating and maintaining relationships with members, professionals, families, and
loved ones in an effort to more effectively carry the message of recovery.
RBZs
Candidates for world service positions who have been put forward to the Human
Resource Panel for their consideration by regions, the World Board, or zones. These
potential candidates are interviewed by the HRP separate from and after any initial
blind screening process.
Regional Assembly
A gathering of group service representatives (GSRs) and regional committee members
(RCMs), conducted by the RSC, to discuss issues affecting NA worldwide, usually in
preparation for the biennial WSC meeting. The regional delegate is sometimes elected
at the assembly.
Regional Delegate (RD)
Attends the WSC as a voting delegate from an NA region (or equivalent service body).
Is responsible to help communicate between the region and world services throughout
the conference cycle.
Regional Service Committee (RSC)
A body that draws together the combined service experience of a number of adjoining
areas for the mutual support of those areas. Composed of RCMs, the regional
delegate, alternate delegate, and others as needed.
56  2010 CAR
Service System
The service system in NA consists of four main components: people, processes,
resources, and structure. One of our current projects is focused on creating and
framing a discussion about alternatives or improvements to our current service
system.
Service Pamphlets
A pamphlet intended for use as a resource for groups and service bodies covering
some topic related to service in NA. These pamphlets are developed and approved by
the World Board, who can also revise them at any time. They are the board’s best
attempt at collecting some of the more successful practices in our fellowship in
dealing with sensitive or difficult topics.
Strategic Plan
A long-term strategy for world services to provide new or improved services and
support that facilitates the continuation and growth of Narcotics Anonymous
worldwide. The project plans stem from the objectives in the strategic plan.
Twelve Concepts for NA Service
Fundamental NA principles guiding our groups, boards, and committees in service
affairs. WSC-approved in 1992; published with essays and study questions as a selftitled
booklet.
Workgroups
Small working bodies of the World Board created for a specific purpose.
World Board
The World Board is the service board of the World Service Conference. The board
provides support to the Fellowship of Narcotics Anonymous in the fellowship’s effort to
carry the message of NA. Oversees the activities of NA World Services, including our
primary service center, the World Service Office. The board also holds in trust for the
NA Fellowship the rights for all its physical and intellectual properties (which includes
literature, logos, trademarks, and copyrights) in accordance with the will of the
fellowship as expressed through the WSC.
World Board Approved
Service-related informational pamphlets and tools approved and published by the
World Board. This material contains practical experience gathered from the fellowship
about how to apply some of the principles contained in NA Fellowship and Conference
Approved material.
World Pool
A pool of members’ service resumes (World Pool Information Forms) demonstrating a
variety of recovery- and service-related experience as well as any skills necessary for
the successful completion of world-level assignments. All NA members with over five
years clean are eligible and encouraged to complete the information form.
World Service Conference (WSC)
Unlike all other service bodies of NA service, the conference is not an entity; it is an
event—the coming together of the NA Fellowship from around the globe. Every two
2010 CAR 57
years regional delegates, the members of the World Board, and the executive director
of the World Service Office meet to discuss questions of significance to the Fellowship
of Narcotics Anonymous. The World Service Conference is the one point in our
structure where the voice of NA as a whole can be heard regarding issues and
concerns affecting our worldwide fellowship. The conference is a vehicle for fellowship
communication and unity: a forum where our common welfare is itself the business of
the meeting.
World Service Office (WSO)
The name of the physical location of the primary worldwide service center for NA World
Services. The headquarters is located in Chatsworth (Los Angeles), California, USA,
with branch facilities in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada; Brussels, Belgium; and Tehran,
Iran. The WSO prints, stocks, and sells NA Fellowship- and conference-approved
literature, service handbooks, and other materials. Provides support for new NA groups
and developing NA communities. Serves as a clearinghouse for information about NA.
WSC Cofacilitator(s)
Two individuals who preside over the business meeting of the World Service
Conference. Elected by the World Service Conference.
Zonal Forums
Locally organized, service-oriented sharing sessions that provide means by which NA
communities can communicate, cooperate, and grow with one another. Involves
participants from neighboring regions.
58  2010 CAR
Addendum A
IP #24, Money Matters:
Self-Support in NA
Approval Draft
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IP #24, Money Matters: Self-Support in NA Approval Draft @ WSC 2010
2010 CAR – Addendum A 61
IP #24, Money Matters: Self-Support in NA Approval Draft @ WSC 2010
IP #24: Money Matters
Self‐Support in NA
“...Through Our Own Contributions...” – Seventh Tradition
A story has been told about the early days of Narcotics Anonymous, when one of our
founding members was seen going through the trash outside the NA service office. When asked
what he was doing, he answered that he was looking for bottles to return for deposit so he
could afford postage to respond to a letter from an NA member in Alaska. Every NA service
committee has surely faced this simple truth at some point: The individual efforts of our
members can go a long way, but willingness alone will not get a letter from California to
Alaska, Brussels to St. Petersburg, or Tehran to Dubai.
This story illustrates two kinds of contributions as described by our Seventh Tradition. On
one hand, we contribute our time and energy: showing up to meetings regularly, participating,
and sharing with newcomers whenever we can. Our hopes and intentions are important, but it’s
what we do that matters. We get involved in sponsorship and service. We give of ourselves
freely without the expectation of receiving anything in return. Putting our gratitude into action
by supporting Narcotics Anonymous gives real meaning to our belief that “we keep what we
have only by giving it away.”
On the other hand, we give money to help pay for the services that keep NA alive and
growing. Both of these types of contributions are important—in fact, most members contribute
time, energy, and money—but in this pamphlet we are concerned primarily with voluntary
financial contributions. Our groups pass a basket, hat, box, or tray at some point during each
meeting so members can give money.1 The money we put in the basket allows our groups to keep
the doors open, and to create a welcoming atmosphere of recovery for that shaky newcomer in
the parking lot debating whether or not to come into the meeting. The money that reaches our
service system helps support services that let other addicts, in our own communities and around
the world, know that hope is available. Just as the cost of our own personal expenses—rent, food,
and so on—go up from year to year, the amount of money needed to fund these basic services
rises continually, especially as NA grows and as we seek additional ways to reach addicts.
We may notice some members giving a little more or a little less than others and wonder
whether we’re giving the “right” amount. Giving our fair share doesn’t mean that everyone
donates the same amount; it means each of us gives what we can based on what we have. When
our lives improve as a result of our recovery, we often find that we can afford to give more.
Maybe we feel uncomfortable when we realize that the beverage or snack we bought on our
way to the meeting cost two or three times the amount we put in the basket. After considering
what is most valuable to us, we usually decide to put more in the basket when we can. Whether
we have a lot or a little, giving to our service system is an act of faith that helps us let go of some
of our fears. Doing so can remind us that so long as our spiritual needs are taken care of, living
problems are reduced to a point of comfort. We have faith that a power greater than ourselves
will be expressed through our collective conscience.
1 In this IP, we will use the term “basket” to refer to any method a group might use to gather contributions.
62  2010 CAR
IP #24, Money Matters: Self-Support in NA Approval Draft @ WSC 2010
“...To Further Our Primary Purpose...” – Eleventh Concept
A frequently quoted line from the Basic Text states, “The newcomer is the most important
person at any meeting, because we can only keep what we have by giving it away.” Our groups
put this idea into action in many ways. After a meeting is over, for instance, a newcomer talks
with a few home group members, and one of them asks if the newcomer has a Basic Text. The
newcomer might respond by asking how much the book costs, or by saying, “I can probably
buy one next week.” The other members smile and make sure the newcomer leaves with a
book. The newcomer mentions something about paying them back, and the response is simple:
“Just keep coming back, so one of these days you can buy a book for a newcomer, too.”
Practicing self‐support in NA doesn’t simply mean each of us pays our own way; we repay
NA not just by taking care of ourselves, but by making a way for the newcomer to find
recovery. Many of us have heard it shared in meetings that “even if I stayed clean for a hundred
years, I could never repay NA for the freedom I’ve been given here.” In our addiction, all we
did was take, which left us empty. In NA we are learning to become givers, and we are finding
that giving fills us up. At first many of us felt we had an obligation to give back what was so
freely given to us, but over time we began to be motivated by more of a forward‐looking desire
to contribute as we began to see the bigger picture of what NA can be and do.
NA members who came before us made sure we were able to find our way here. They kept
the meeting doors open, put money in the basket to pay for a phoneline and posters, and
brought literature and panels into facilities to share the NA message. Now we have the
opportunity, as well as the responsibility, to give other addicts a chance to hear our message.
Our financial contributions help pay for services on every level: local efforts to carry the
message; regional support and services to areas; and world services, which not only assists
existing NA communities, but also works to make NA available in other communities.
Translation efforts, free or subsidized literature, fellowship development workshops—all of
these services are carried out on behalf of NA as a whole, to make our message available to stillsuffering
addicts worldwide.
Most of us feel some level of ownership and responsibility for services provided on NA’s
behalf. Contributing our time and money to NA gives us an opportunity to manifest that feeling
in a concrete way and strengthens our spiritual connection to the service system and the
program. The Second Concept reminds us that the NA groups have “final responsibility and
authority for NA services.” For example, we may have been to a meeting where the basket was
passed twice because there wasn’t enough collected for rent the first time, only to see members
dig deeper the second time around. When there is a clear connection between the money we put
in the basket and NA’s needs, most of us are willing to give more. After all, NA belongs to us
and its well‐being depends on our efforts. We begin to realize that we do not have to wait until
some part of the service system is suffering before we contribute.
There is a spiritual satisfaction in freely giving to support the fellowship that saved our
lives. We give what we can, knowing that our contributions become part of a worldwide effort
to share recovery.
2010 CAR – Addendum A 63
IP #24, Money Matters: Self-Support in NA Approval Draft @ WSC 2010
“...And Must Be Managed Responsibly.” – Eleventh Concept
At every level of service in NA, we have at one time or another faced the challenge of trying
to carry out our work with limited funds. For example, a Narcotics Anonymous service
committee is looking forward to the convention to bring in money to replenish reserves. But the
weather gets so bad that hardly anyone can travel, and the convention takes in far less money
than expected. By the time the hotel costs and other expenses are paid, the convention has lost
money. As a result, reserves won’t be filled, literature orders might be cut, or fewer meeting
directories will be printed. Trusted servants argue about how the situation could have been
handled better, or about how to use the little money that remains available. It might take
months, or even years, to recover from such a loss.
This scenario raises questions about both the sources of NA funding and the responsible
management of those funds. The money that pays for our services comes from contributions
freely given by members, as well as income from our own efforts, such as events, merchandise,
and literature sales. There is a point at which these efforts can, however, begin to stray from our
basic principle of addicts freely helping addicts. In our enthusiasm and creativity, we
sometimes have ideas for events or fundraisers that have little or nothing to do with our
primary purpose, and therefore wouldn’t be appropriate for us. Group conscience is the means
by which we can sort this out and strike the proper balance.
With a steady, reliable flow of member donations we may deal with these types of issues less
frequently. Our service committees will then be more able to develop practical, realistic budgets
and provide more reliable and efficient services to make our message more available. When we
give enough money in our groups, and our groups contribute directly to each level of service, we
stabilize our services and can become a more reliable presence in our communities. The ability of
our service committees to make plans and follow through does not have to depend on factors
beyond our control, such as how many people attend our events or buy T‐shirts. Free from the
pressure to generate large profits, our events can stay focused on celebrating recovery and sharing
our message.
But the stability of our resources is only part of the story. Taking care of what we have is
also an important part of self‐support in NA. Our resources are limited, so they must be used
wisely. If we want our service system to be successful, we must provide it with the money
Here are some questions we can ask ourselves about how we contribute financially to NA.
 How much did we put in the basket in our first thirty days clean? First year? Now?
 How have our financial circumstances changed since we got clean?
 Does the way we spend our money reflect what is valuable to us?
 Do our NA groups have the money they need to operate smoothly? Can our group
contribute to other levels of service?
 What more could be done to further our primary purpose at each level of service, if
we had the money?
 What more can we be doing to help others, the way we were helped by NA?
64  2010 CAR
IP #24, Money Matters: Self-Support in NA Approval Draft @ WSC 2010
needed to accomplish the work, as well as the time and energy to make the work possible. The
funds we pass along to the service system do not belong to any particular committee; they
belong to NA. Our concepts remind us, “When all levels of our service structure receive direct
financial support from the groups, the bonds of mutual responsibility are strengthened between
them.” (Eleventh Concept essay) As members, it’s our job to make sure the money we
contribute is used responsibly: prioritizing our needs, seeking cost‐effective methods of service
delivery, selecting capable and qualified trusted servants, insisting on accountability through
clear financial reports, and encouraging our groups and committees not to hold on to large
sums of money. Our Eleventh Concept discusses the importance of using NA funds
responsibly. When we exercise our responsibilities as members, we strengthen the ties that bind
us together. We see that our contributions make a difference, and we stay in touch with whether
or not our service system has what it needs to function.
Finally, the principle of self‐support in Narcotics Anonymous, as expressed in our Seventh
Tradition, ensures our ability to carry our message on our own terms. Our Second Concept
essay clearly defines the responsibility for funding the services that further our primary
purpose: “Since the groups have created the service structure to perform certain tasks, the
groups are also responsible to provide the necessary funds.” At all levels, our groups fund our
services so we can remain free from outside influences and control. We do not accept any
donations from outside of NA; everything has its price.
Self‐support in NA is all about taking care of the gift we have been given: freedom from
active addiction and the opportunity for a new way of life. Together we can help ensure
recovery is available to every addict seeking relief from the nightmare of addiction.
Ways to Contribute
 Show up and welcome a newcomer!
 Sweep the floor, help stack chairs, or empty the trash. When we leave the meeting room, it
should be as clean as, or cleaner than, it was when we arrived.
 Give time and energy in service to the group, or any goods and supplies your groups or
service committees might need.
 Give money at the meetings you attend. Remember, whether it’s dollars, pounds, euros, or
any other type of currency, it probably can’t buy as much today as it used to.
 Make clean date contributions of money or literature to your home group, or
contributions for each year clean to NAWS, or both.
 Contribute directly to each level of service.
 Set up automatic recurring contributions to NA World Services by visiting www.na.org.
 Some members make arrangements to leave a specified amount of money to NA in their
will or estate, or contribute in memory of a deceased member.
 Be of service.
See IP #28, Funding NA Services, for information
about how groups use the money collected in meetings.
Addendum B
IP #28, Funding NA Services
Approval Draft
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IP #28, Funding NA Services Approval Draft @ WSC 2010
How Our Groups
Contribute Financially
The Eleventh Concept states: “NA funds
are to be used to fulfi ll our primary
purpose, and must be managed
responsibly.”
Ideally, after paying for
their expenses, groups
send money directly to
each level of service to
help pay for the work
done on their behalf.
This example is one of
many possible models
groups can use.
Some groups also set
aside a small operating
reserve (sometimes called
a "prudent reserve"), often a
month's rent or expenses. The
Group Booklet cautions us that "too
much money in the till causes far more
trouble than too little money."
For more information on managing the group's
funds, consult some of the following
resources, which are available
online or through your usual NA
literature source.
The Group Booklet
Treasurer's Handbook
Group Treasurer's
Workbook
A Guide to Local
Services in NA
Our Seventh Tradition
of self-support isn’t only
about money, but this
pamphlet is. Members with
further interest in the topic
of self-support are encouraged
to read IP #24, Money Matters: Self-
Support in NA, the Seventh Tradition
essay in It Works: How and Why, and the Eleventh
Concept essay from Twelve Concepts for NA Service.
Where to send our donations:
Area: __________________________________________________ ___________________
__________________________________________________ ___________________
Region: __________________________________________________ __________________
__________________________________________________ __________________
World:
NA World Services
PO Box 9999
Van Nuys, CA 91409 USA
https://cart.na.org/portal.htm
Funding
NA Services
To help members understand the
importance of individual contributions,
groups may want to add a statement
like this one to their meeting format
to be read before passing the basket:
Our Seventh Tradition states:
“Every NA group ought to be fully
self-supporting, declining
outside contributions.”
In Narcotics Anonymous, we pay our
own way to maintain our freedom.
By giving freely, we ensure that we have
meetings to attend, and we support the
services that keep NA alive
and growing all around the world.
We encourage members
to keep in mind that our fi nancial
contributions to NA are one of the
fundamental ways we can demonstrate
our gratitude for the program
that showed us a new way to live.
IP #28, Funding NA Services Approval Draft IP #28, Funding NA Services Approval Draft
®
2010 CAR — Addendum B
Where Our Basket
Money Goes
Being self-supporting means that NA services
are supported by our own efforts. Meetings
that have more give more so that meetings
that have less do not have to go without. We, as
a worldwide fellowship, take care of Narcotics
Anonymous.
In addition to our local efforts to share the NA
message of recovery, there is much to be done
around the world to pursue our vision of making
recovery available to every addict, regardless of
language or culture.
When the NA groups send money to world services,
they help support some of the following efforts:
• providing free literature and shipping for developing NA communities
• funding regional delegates from around the world to attend
the World Service Conference every two years. The Conference
is the place where “The fellowship collectively expresses itself
on matters affecting Narcotics Anonymous as a whole.”
These are just a handful of the ways our money
helps us carry the message.
Rent, literature, and
supplies for our meetings.
Literature translations to
make our message more
available across many
cultural and geographic
boundaries.
Phonelines to help
addicts fi nd us.
Literature and other
supplies for H&I
efforts to help
reach addicts
"on the inside."
Public Relations to
spread word about NA
among those in our communities
who regularly
work with addicts.
Our Worldwide
Fellowship
• conducting public relations efforts to help members of the
community/government offi cials understand what NA is
and what we do.
In a few decades NA has grown from a small number
of meetings in a handful of places to a worldwide
fellowship with more than 53,000 meetings
in over 130 countries.*
1,166
Meetings
3,299
Meetings
2,557
Meetings
1,738
Meetings
14,721
Meetings
3,403
Meetings
582
Meetings
228
Meetings
25,323
Meetings
* As of 2008.
Not intended to be geographically accurate.
IP #28, Funding NA Services Approval Draft IP #28, Funding NA Services Approval Draft
2010 CAR — Addendum B
Addendum C
In Times of Illness
Approval Draft
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2010 CAR – Addendum C 71
In Times of Illness Approval Draft @ WSC 2010
Preface
he In Times of Illness booklet was approved by the World Service Conference
in 1992. Since its publication, members throughout our fellowship have utilized
this booklet as a resource when confronted with an illness or injury in
recovery. The Fellowship of NA, the medical community, and the world are in a
constant state of change. Through the years, many members found that the
experience given in the booklet no longer met the needs of our growing fellowship.
Workshops held worldwide indicated that members, collectively, wanted suggestions
on dealing with issues such as mental health disorders, medication, and chronic illness
in recovery. Our goal is to address these concerns and continue to carry our message
to the addict who still suffers.
This revised booklet offers the shared experience of many members who live with
illness and maintain their recovery in NA. As our fellowship matures, so does our
experience with life issues. Illness and injury are life issues that can invoke fear and
uncertainty in addicts. We offer support to members who relapse with medication
taken for an illness, and we share the experience of many members who are required
to take prescribed medication and keep their recovery intact. Through the process of
working the steps, we learn about ourselves. We come to know our own defects of
character and recognize the tendency to minimize or overemphasize events in our
lives. We can apply this knowledge, along with the solutions we find through the
steps, to any situation we face. Based on these principles, this booklet offers practical
suggestions for living a life in recovery and living with an illness, injury, or mental
health disorder. We encourage members to use the information and ideas offered to
better understand and support one another, not to chastise one another.
The information in this booklet is not intended to be a substitute for medical
advice, nor should it be used to make decisions regarding healthcare treatment
without consulting professionals. Our literature tells us that when we sought help for
our addiction through medicine, religion, and psychiatry, these methods were not
sufficient for us. However, there will be times when we face an illness or injury that
can be successfully treated by professionals. Our goal is to responsibly seek treatment
for medical conditions while we acknowledge that we are recovering addicts with the
disease of addiction.
This booklet is not designed to address every possible situation we may encounter,
and there are many other pieces of NA literature that may help, too. Basic concepts
we can learn through working the steps and core spiritual principles of our program
are repeated often throughout this booklet. This is intentional. We designed it for an
addict who is facing an illness or injury and who may want to seek out the section
that applies to their situation and gain valuable insight without having to read the
entire piece. Health problems are personal, and each situation will differ depending
T
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In Times of Illness Approval Draft @ WSC 2010
on the individual. What we offer here is simply the experience, strength, and hope of
many members who have faced illness and injury during their recovery in Narcotics
Anonymous.
Informing Our Healthcare Providers
“…we accept responsibility for our problems and see that we’re
equally responsible for our solutions.”
Basic Text
We are responsible for our recovery, but there may be times when a team of
healthcare providers will administer our medical care. We have a right and
responsibility to participate as an equal partner by informing our healthcare providers
of our needs. It is vital to carefully consider all options presented to us. Professionals
will have difficulty providing us with adequate care unless we are honest with them.
We apply basic safeguards that will protect our recovery when we are seeing a
medical professional; it is usually in our best interest to inform them that we are
recovering addicts.
 Explain that abstinence from mind- or mood-altering medication is our goal in
recovery.
 Consider and discuss alternative treatments and smaller doses when a
prescription for mind-changing or mood-altering medication is offered.
 Take our sponsor or a trusted NA friend with us when we are going to the
doctor.
In the event that we encounter medical professionals who do not understand the
disease of addiction, we take the opportunity to share with them about our recovery.
This will help them provide us with safe and effective medical treatment. Some medical
professionals may misunderstand us and attempt to treat our addiction. Or, they may be
overly cautious and reluctant to prescribe medication when they learn that we are
addicts. We can explain that we have the NA program to help with our addiction, and
we need their help with treatment of our medical condition. We also need to remember
that it is okay to ask the doctor questions. It is important to be our own advocate. If we
feel like we don’t have enough information, or that the doctor does not seem to be
respectful of our situation, we can seek another medical opinion.
“My experience with dentists is no different from other doctors who
treat pain. As a result of neglecting my teeth, I have had to make
numerous visits to the dentist for procedures that caused intense pain.
My dentist, on several occasions, offered me pain medication to take at
home which I didn’t find necessary. Instead, I accepted the practical
experience of other members and found relief with ice packs, rides to
and from appointments, and nonprescription medication.”
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Our experience shows that we may want to consider taking another person with us
when meeting with a doctor. Having another person listen while the doctor describes
proposed procedures or treatments can offer us support and reassurance. If
necessary, their presence can be explained to the doctor by saying that the support of
others is an integral part of our program of recovery. Medical issues often produce a
reaction of anxiety. The person who accompanies us can hear the details with an open
mind, while our own minds may be clouded with fear, anger, or self-pity. We select
this person based on the fact that they are our sponsor or a trusted NA friend, and it
is important to remain open-minded to the suggestions that they may offer.
“A woman I sponsor was scheduled to have major surgery. She felt
shame and was afraid that the medical personnel would treat her
differently if she told them she was an addict. Rather than lose face,
she was willing to risk her recovery. She shared those feelings with me.
I helped her to see that it was important to walk through the fear and
inform the medical personnel of her addiction. She chose to be honest
with her doctor. As a result, her recovery was strengthened rather
than jeopardized.”
Ideally, working closely with healthcare professionals and a sponsor can help
us keep our illness and treatment in perspective. Reaching out and sharing
honestly with those we trust and respect is vital. We may want to seek out the
experience of NA friends who have faced similar situations in their recovery.
Maintaining rigorous honesty and remaining open to the suggestions of other
addicts allows us to avoid self-deception or secrecy. Our experience shows that
we are especially vulnerable to our addiction when we are dealing with illness
and injury. We consider asking for a limited supply of medication and we talk to
our sponsor before filling a prescription for mind- or mood-altering medication.
Our sponsor and trusted NA friends can help us make decisions based in recovery
principles. They remind us that taking medication as prescribed for an illness is
not the same as using. It is essential to maintain rigorous honesty and
responsibility with our sponsor and allow our medical team, our NA support
network, and our Higher Power to guide us.
Medication in Recovery
“For all the diversity of individual opinion among our members, Narcotics
Anonymous itself is united in having no opinion on any issues
apart from its own program. As a fellowship, we agree to take positions
only on those ideas that have drawn us together, our principles of
recovery, not on the many personal opinions that might divide us.”
It Works: How and Why
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Narcotics Anonymous as a whole has no opinion on outside issues, and this includes
health issues. We are concerned with recovery from the disease of addiction. Our
collective experience shows that rigorous application of the program is our best
defense against relapse. However, we may face a situation in our recovery where we
have to make choices about medication. The use of medication can be controversial in
our fellowship. When treatment of an illness requires medication, the concept of
abstinence can be confusing. It’s helpful to remember the importance of making a
conscious decision not to medicate ourselves or treat our own illnesses.
“I was one person who believed that, if you used anything for any
reason, it was considered a relapse. Until I was faced with this
situation in my own recovery, it didn’t dawn on me that I might have to
take medication. I can remember going to meetings and having people
ask me if I’d relapsed, and telling me to pick up a white chip. This
really hurt and scared me. I felt rejected and very alone because no
one seemed to understand that I needed strength and hope.”
The Basic Text recommends consulting professionals concerning our medical
problems. We also work closely with our sponsor and other experienced NA members we
trust. Many members today have experience with illness and medication in recovery.
We can look to their example and listen to their experience to help us face our fears
about medication. We remember that we are especially vulnerable to our old ways of
thinking when we are in pain. Prayer, meditation, and sharing can help us keep our
minds off our discomfort. Addicts are often surprised to discover how much pain we can
tolerate without medication. Reaching out and sharing honestly with those we trust can
help us keep our priorities in order. Our goal is to maintain our recovery.
Cleantime is an issue for each of us to resolve individually with our sponsor and our
Higher Power. The ultimate responsibility for making medical decisions rests with
each member. However, the guidance and support of members who have faced similar
situations is often available if we reach out. In addition to consulting medical
professionals, we may use other members’ experience and information to help us
make knowledgeable decisions. We can practice the Twelve Steps, maintain frequent
contact with our sponsor, write about our feelings and motives, and share with our NA
friends. With the support of others in Narcotics Anonymous, we find the strength we
need to make healthy choices for our own recovery.
“When I came to NA, all I wanted to do was stop using drugs; NA
showed me how. My recovery in NA helped prepare me to face an
illness. I discussed my illness with informed medical professionals and
obtained second and third opinions. Every medical treatment involved
mind- and mood-altering medication. Prior to taking pain medication, I
discussed all options with my sponsor. During that period of time I kept
my NA friends close and my sponsor informed.”
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We have found that it is important for addicts to have at least one person with
whom they can be completely honest. This person can be a sponsor, recovering family
member, or trusted NA friend. The important thing is that someone who has specific
knowledge of the disease of addiction can help us to avoid isolation and secrecy.
Members facing illness and injury may face intense feelings of loneliness, despair, and
self-pity. We learn that pain shared is pain lessened in NA, and encourage others to
reach out to us. By listening to the experience, strength, and hope in meetings we are
able to experience collective empathy. We fulfill our primary purpose by offering our
support to other addicts with an attitude of care, love, and concern.
“Anyone who reaches out for help is entitled to our compassion, our
attention, and our unconditional acceptance. Any addict, regardless of
clean time, should be able to pour out his or her pain in an atmosphere
free of judgment.”
It Works: How and Why
Regardless of how vigilant we are with our mental and spiritual program of
recovery, we may react to medication like we did when using drugs. The power of the
disease of addiction cannot be underestimated. The Basic Text warns us that our
disease is cunning, and tells us that honesty is the solution. When we are in pain, we
are highly susceptible to self-deception, fear, denial, and anger. It doesn’t matter
what the medication is, or whether it was our drug of choice. Our thinking and actions
may be affected by any mind- and mood-altering medications. During these times, we
benefit greatly from maintaining a support network. These NA friends will help us
truthfully inventory ourselves and monitor our use of any medication. We need to
remain open-minded when our sponsor and other trusted NA friends offer suggestions
based on their experience. Communicating honestly with our sponsor, medical care
providers, and loved ones is vital to our recovery. We strive for the willingness to
avoid our self-will and follow the suggestions of others who have our best interests at
heart.
An unfortunate reality in our fellowship is that some members abuse their
prescribed medication and relapse. Any mind- and mood-altering medication can be
dangerous for addicts. Members who relapse on prescribed medication may be
reluctant to return to meetings for fear of being judged. Knowing that their lives are
at stake, we treat these addicts with compassion. Encouraging these members to
share honestly and admit when they have abused their medication can remind other
addicts to be vigilant in protecting their own recovery. Our experience shows that
many NA members have been successful in taking medication as prescribed and
maintaining their recovery. When facing a situation where we may be prescribed
medication, we should seek out the experience of these members. Some common
elements that these members share are regular meeting attendance, close contact
with their sponsor and NA support network, and willingness to follow suggestions from
those who have faced similar situations successfully.
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When we are confronted with a medical condition where we may have to take
medication, our initial fear may be of taking too much, but we also may go to the
other extreme. The urge to allow ourselves to suffer unnecessarily rather than take
medication may be great. We resist this urge to stubbornly insist that we know better
than the doctor, refuse all medications, or neglect problems that require medical
attention. When a professional tells us that pain is not conducive to healing, we
should listen. Likewise, ignoring health problems because of fear or pride may, in
fact, make matters worse for us. Once again, we remind ourselves of the importance
of making a conscious decision not to medicate ourselves or treat our own illnesses.
“When I was about a year and a half clean, I suffered my first bout of a
recurrent illness. My sponsor told me not to be a martyr and to go to
my doctor, who knows that I am a recovering addict. I didn’t listen,
and as a result I was hospitalized for five days, in traction and on
strong medication. If I had followed my sponsor’s suggestion, I would
have been on a milder medication for a much shorter period of time.”
Our experience has shown that no drugs are risk-free for us. Any medication may
unleash the craving and the compulsion that haunted us while we were using.
Nonprescription drugs can be as dangerous as those prescribed by a physician. Even if
we have not seen the doctor, we can practice vigilance and responsibility for our
recovery by checking our motives and seeking the suggestions of our sponsor before
we take anything. It is important that we consider their use as carefully as the use of
any other medication. Any drug, prescription or nonprescription, has the potential to
be abused.
Sometimes, our members have found, alternative methods of treatment can be
used. This is another way in which we can exercise responsibility for our recovery,
even during illness. Many of these methods require little or no medication or the
use of medication that doesn’t alter our moods or our thinking. Some NA members
even share that they have felt spiritually strengthened by exploring and utilizing
these alternatives. We seek solutions in our recovery when we are faced with an
illness or injury by asking questions and doing research. Asking members what
worked for them can be a powerful way to utilize the support of the fellowship.
Reaching out for experience and new ideas strengthens our recovery and gives us a
renewed appreciation for the NA program.
“Today, I live with chronic pain. It is not always debilitating, but
pain is almost always present. I do my best to respect my physical
limitations. I refrain from activities that result in pain, and have
found new activities that are relatively pain-free. I practice
surrendering to my physical limitations so I do not aggravate my
condition and create more pain. Fortunately, I have found
alternatives that usually provide me the relief that I need to get
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through my day. All of these have had some positive effect.
Alternative methods reduce my pain so that I don’t need to try to
manage with mood-altering medication.”
By living the Narcotics Anonymous program, we find a measure of stability in our
lives. We apply the principles of the program to help us find spiritual well-being when
we are ill. Sharing openly with our doctor and our sponsor, relying on a Higher Power,
and practicing the Twelve Steps are important tools. These can help each member
find a sense of balance that is comfortable and appropriate. Life in recovery can be
complicated by illness and the possibility that we may need to take prescribed
medication. We strive to stay vigilant in applying the principles we have learned in
NA. When we do this, our personal goals and recovery remain intact.
 Regardless of how we work our mental and spiritual program of recovery, we
may react to medication like we did when using drugs.
 It’s helpful to remember the importance of making a conscious decision not to
medicate ourselves or treat our own illnesses.
 A recovery support network is vital. Our sponsor, medical care providers, and
NA friends can help us inventory ourselves and monitor our use of any
medication.
 Cleantime is an issue for each of us to resolve individually with our sponsor and
our Higher Power.
_____________________________________
“Everything that occurs in the course of NA service must be motivated
by the desire to more successfully carry the message of recovery to the
addict who still suffers.”
Basic Text
The primary purpose of our groups is to carry the message of recovery. While being
of service to our fellowship, there may be times when we begin to feel that taking
mind-changing and mood-altering medication has affected our ability to serve
effectively. In some cases, members may share with us that they think our behavior
and attitude have been impaired by our illness and treatment. They may tell us we
are not the same person. Even though our temptation may be to rebel against the
opinions of our fellow trusted servants, we remember that they are our eyes and ears.
We strive to maintain an attitude of humility and open-mindedness. We bring their
concerns to our sponsor and supportive NA friends, and seek a solution.
Effective leadership is highly valued in NA, and being of service is a principled
action. We may want to inventory our decisions and motives with service. We talk to
our sponsor and NA friends; they can help us avoid self-deception. Being honest with
ourselves about our strengths and weaknesses is an important part of any inventory.
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Some members have found that they were fully capable of fulfilling their service
commitments while taking medication to treat an illness or injury, while others have
made the choice to step down. This is a deeply personal decision. We will want to
consider what is best for both the fellowship and ourselves.
If we decide to resign from a trusted servant position due to the effects of
medication, this can be considered an action based in integrity, courage, and
humility. Informing fellow members that we need to step down for a period of time
for health reasons illustrates recovery principles in action. This can be viewed as the
fulfillment of a personal commitment to our health, rather than a failure. We can
remind ourselves that we live this way of life just for today, and the decisions we
make are not forever.
We come to accept today’s health issues, and we can seek other ways to be of
service. We may consider a group-level commitment, or we may be a committee
member rather than committee chair. We remain open-minded, willing, and honest,
seeking out the experience of other members to learn how they were able to serve
while living with health issues and medication. Being of service to a fellowship that
saved our lives is an act of love, and is not conditional on a specific position or title.
Mental Health Issues
“We recommend turning our legal problems over to lawyers and our
financial or medical problems to professionals. Part of learning how to
live successfully is learning when we need help.”
Basic Text
One of the beautiful things about NA is that addicts from all walks of life can find
recovery in our program. Our meetings welcome anyone who has the desire to
experience the NA program of recovery. Some members recover in NA with mental
illness that requires medication. Just as we wouldn’t suggest that an insulindependent
diabetic addict stop taking their insulin, we don’t tell mentally ill addicts
to stop taking their prescribed medication. We leave medical issues up to doctors. As
NA members, our primary purpose is to carry the message of recovery to the addict
who still suffers, not to give medical advice. Responsibility rests with the member to
be honest about their condition with informed healthcare professionals, and to
evaluate their treatment and medication options.
“Over the years I have learned that in order to remain clean, I have to
be proactive in dealing with my mental illness; and in order to remain
mentally stable, I have to be proactive in my recovery. For me, the
disease of addiction and my mental disorder must be dealt with simultaneously.
Although the steps are my best defense against relapse, no
amount of step work, prayer, meeting attendance, or calling my sponsor
will change the fact that I have mental illness. Just because I’m
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clean does not mean that I no longer have mental health issues. The
very disorder that affected me when I was using still affects me today.
Ultimately, the decision to take medication or not to take medication
is a deeply personal one.”
An aspect of addiction is the compulsive misuse and abuse of drugs, often at the
expense of our physical and mental health. In recovery, we learn to be responsible for
ourselves. For some addicts, this may mean seeking mental health treatment and
taking medication as prescribed. Our experience shows that there are times when our
members have been prescribed mental health medication for symptoms resulting from
our active addiction. Members in this situation often find that after a period of time
in recovery they are able to stop taking this medication under the supervision of their
doctor. This is not the case for everyone. Our membership also includes addicts who
have lifelong mental health issues. We should share honestly with our doctor and
sponsor, examine our motives, and decide what course of action is right for us. In NA
we have freedom to make decisions about our life and recovery in a safe environment,
free of judgment. It is our personal responsibility to seek professional help when we
need it. A mental health professional can assist us in understanding our illness and
explain our treatment options.
“All addicted persons are welcome and equal in obtaining the relief
that they are seeking from their addiction; every addict can recover in
this program on an equal basis.”
Basic Text
NA promises us freedom from active addiction, but that is our only promise. We
have found collectively that medicine, religion, and psychiatry alone are not
sufficient to treat the disease of addiction. This may mean that medicine and
psychiatry are sometimes necessary to treat mental illness in combination with our
program of recovery in NA. Some addicts have found that professional help for a short
period of time has allowed them to deal with a crisis outside the scope of their
recovery in NA. Often these members emerge with a new perspective on life. Others
may face situations where long-term medication and therapy are warranted. We are
free to seek outside professional help and continue in our program of recovery in NA.
The newcomer is the most important person at any meeting. As a member of the
group, we try to be mindful of the message we carry. We have found that a meeting
may not be the ideal place to share personal details about our diagnosis and
treatment. Our experience shows us that sharing these details one-on-one with a
trusted NA friend or sponsor, instead of in a meeting, can help to maintain an
atmosphere of recovery. There is no shame in getting the help we need. NA meetings
can provide a safe place for us to share our feelings in the company of other
recovering addicts. Sharing recovery in NA, we open ourselves up to experience the
collective compassion of the group. Our NA friends will help us keep our lives in
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perspective, and remind us how to apply the spiritual principles of this program to all
areas of our lives. With the freedom to share honestly in meetings comes the
responsibility to seek a solution. In NA, our identification as addicts is what we have
in common. This allows us to focus on our similarities instead of our differences. It is
possible to find freedom from active addiction in NA and to be taking medication
prescribed by an informed healthcare professional for a mental illness.
 With the use of any medication, we must be honest with ourselves, our
healthcare team, and our sponsor about our feelings and motives.
 In NA the only requirement for membership is a desire to stop using. As
members we have no reason to judge one another.
Meetings are a powerful way of carrying our message of recovery to the addict who
still suffers. New members come to NA with a variety of life problems, and are
sometimes disruptive in meetings before they learn what is appropriate in that
atmosphere. Our first reaction may be apprehension, but it is important that we
welcome every addict seeking recovery. We remember the care and concern that
helped us find a sense of belonging in NA. Our collective attitude should be one of
loving acceptance toward all addicts, regardless of any other problems they may
experience. Whether we are the newcomer or have years clean in NA, anonymity means
that we all have an equal opportunity to recover.
Emergency Care
“The steps are our solution. They are our survival kit. They are our
defense against addiction which is a deadly disease. Our steps are the
principles that make our recovery possible.”
Basic Text
Recovery does not exempt us from accidents and injuries. Sometimes, emergency
room treatment becomes necessary. When this happens, we are often asked to make
quick decisions. The foundation we have in recovery can be a crucial factor in our
decision-making process. It is important to be honest with our medical providers. If
we are able to communicate, we let the professionals treating us know that we are
recovering addicts. This may influence the choices they make about our medication.
We accept that we are not in control of the situation and trust the professionals who
are treating us. It is helpful to remember that the principles of recovery apply to
every area of our life, even in a crisis.
“Even though I thought I was alone, I wasn’t—because I prayed. I then
called my sponsor, who met me at the emergency room. Once there, I
was examined and offered medication. I explained my addiction to the
doctor and asked if not taking the medication would be life-threatening.
With my sponsor’s support, I was able to make an informed decision.”
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We may find that an acute event is not life-threatening. When we break a bone,
experience a high fever, or cut ourselves, we may require emergency care. We are
usually given an opportunity to reach out to our sponsor and NA friends before seeking
any medical treatment. Relying on others can help alleviate the fear and irrational
thinking that we may experience during a medical emergency. We can discuss the
treatment options presented to us and receive the love and guidance from our NA
support network. However, in some circumstances, we may be involved in an accident
or traumatic injury and be forced to act very quickly. In these situations, we may not
have immediate access to any of our NA friends or sponsor. During these times we rely
on our Higher Power for guidance and maintain our faith. In NA, we are never alone.
When we are faced with a medical emergency, we can tap into the spiritual
connection we have developed with a Higher Power through the steps. The Basic Text
tells us that the power that brought us to the program is still with us and will continue
to guide us if we allow it. The presence of people we trust and faith in a Higher Power
are both valuable tools. The strength we gain from this support can help us make
decisions that will enhance our recovery. Even in an emergency, we can still apply our
program of recovery.
 The foundation we have in recovery can be an asset during an acute event.
 Relying on others alleviates the fear and irrational thinking that come with
isolation.
 The spiritual connection we have developed with a Higher Power helps guide
our decisions and provides a source of strength.
Chronic Illness
“By working the steps, we come to accept a Higher Power’s will.
Acceptance leads to recovery. We lose our fear of the unknown. We are
set free.”
Basic Text
Chronic illness is a reality for many NA members. A chronic illness is a persistent,
often life-threatening, and incurable condition. Our experience is that chronic
illnesses may have periods of remission and recurrence. We can come into recovery
with knowledge of an illness, or we may discover after we get to NA that we have a
chronic medical condition. Regardless of our particular circumstances, we apply the
spiritual principles of our program to living with our chronic illness. Our goal is to
accept our illness and live life in recovery. We embrace surrender, humility, faith,
and willingness. Our attitude will either hurt or help us; we remind ourselves that we
have no control over life’s challenges. In fact, our survival and recovery depend on
our mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being.
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There are many chronic illnesses that our members live with that have treatments
available. Our experience shows that sometimes the treatments can present their own
set of challenges. NA doesn’t advise members on medical care, but we can help each
other with the emotions we experience as a result of our illness and treatment. Some
days we may feel hopeless, helpless, and angry. Other days will seem less painful and
more positive as we learn to continually surrender. Through ongoing surrender, we
can find freedom and the ability to accept our illness. We give ourselves permission to
feel exactly as we do, and to look for ways to cope, not escape. We can see our
illness as a curse, or we can choose to view it as a gift that can bring us closer to our
Higher Power and loved ones. We make a conscious decision to walk through our lives
in a manner that will strengthen our commitment to our health and recovery.
“Separation from the atmosphere of recovery and from the spirit of
service to others slows our spiritual growth.”
Basic Text
A renewal of our commitment to maintain recovery in Narcotics Anonymous is
crucial when we live with a chronic illness. By renewing our commitment to turn our
will and our lives over to our Higher Power’s care, we open a channel that allows this
Power to work in our lives. Reaching out to others who are willing to listen to us share
about our chronic illness will help us to realize that we are not alone. Accepting support
from others can help us to avoid self-centeredness and self-obsession. We work to get
outside ourselves and maintain a connection to others in recovery. When we listen with
an open mind to what other addicts face in their lives, we may feel less like a victim
and actually find some gratitude for our own problems. It is vital to our recovery that
we share honestly about our feelings in meetings. Newcomers as well as our NA friends
benefit from listening to us share about life issues and spiritual solutions.
Our illness provides us an opportunity to be an example of recovery principles in
action. Understandably, some of our fellow addicts may be frightened of chronic
illness. When we encounter fear or misunderstanding from other members, we may
choose to share about our illness with them and acknowledge their feelings of fear.
Letting them know that we understand their discomfort may help put them at ease
around us. We do our best to accept their feelings and welcome any support they are
able to offer. It may help us to remember that there are other members whom we can
count on for warmth and emotional availability. These fellow addicts offer
unconditional love, care, and support.
“My gratitude for a few addicts and my sponsor leaves me without
words to convey my appreciation. They didn’t allow me to isolate or
wallow in self-pity. Calling and stopping by daily, taking me to
meetings, fixing up their cars with pillows and blankets so I could ride
comfortably are a few acts of their kindness.”
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One addict helping another is an active demonstration of empathy. By allowing
ourselves to experience the therapeutic value of sharing our recovery with other
addicts, we are able to concentrate on living. We do not allow the illness itself to
become our focal point. There may be times when we are unable to attend meetings
regularly or continue with our service and sponsorship commitments. It is important to
let our NA friends know that we will not be attending meetings for a period of time
and that we are resigning from our service commitments. We experience humility on a
deep level when we admit to ourselves and those around us that our illness and
treatment have impaired our ability to serve. When we make a decision to step down
from our service commitments, we are demonstrating recovery principles. Being
honest with our sponsor and sponsees by asking for their support can strengthen those
relationships. Keeping in contact with our NA friends when we are unable to be
physically present for a period of time is vital. We may ask that they bring a meeting
to us. During the time when we are convalescing, we may find that the phone is how
we stay connected to NA. We strive to get outside of ourselves and maintain regular
communication with our NA support system.
After a period of illness or treatment, it is important that we return to meetings as
soon as we are able. The addicts who have supported us will be happy to see us, and
the newcomer can benefit from hearing us share about walking through adversity and
staying clean. Upon our return to meetings and service commitments, we may find
that the landscape of our recovery has changed. Relationships change naturally over
time, and our illness may make these changes more pronounced. Some friendships
might fade; others will be stronger. Perhaps we will find that those whom we have
supported in the past are now there to help us. We accept these changes as a part of
the natural ebb and flow of life. We are grateful that NA is always there for us.
 By applying spiritual principles to living with a chronic illness, we focus on
living. We don’t allow our chronic illness to become the focal point of our lives.
 We maintain our commitment to recovery in Narcotics Anonymous by
maintaining vigilant contact with our Higher Power, our sponsor, and our NA
friends.
 One addict helping another is an active demonstration of empathy. When we
participate in our recovery by sharing honestly and listening with an open mind
in meetings, we can avoid feeling like a victim and find gratitude for our lives.
Chronic Pain
“The program of Narcotics Anonymous provides an opportunity for us
to ease the pain of living through spiritual principles.”
Basic Text
Chronic physical pain is a medical condition that many of us live with in our
recovery. The pain may be a result of illness or injury, but the source is not as
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important as the solutions we find. We remember that the spiritual principles that
improve our quality of life in good health are the same as those we can use when living
with chronic pain. We surrender to the pain, accept our illness, and reach out for help.
We have learned that an addict alone is in bad company. Isolation gives our disease a
chance to flourish. We can counteract the self-deception of our addiction by sharing
honestly about our feelings in meetings, as well as with our sponsor and trusted NA
friends. This open communication allows us to experience one of the most powerful
tools that this program offers: the therapeutic value of one addict helping another.
“This is what surrender is: a heartfelt belief in our own fallibility as
human beings and an equally heartfelt decision to rely on a Power
greater than our own.”
It Works: How and Why
We maintain our recovery by consistently practicing a spiritual program in all areas
of our life. When we are receiving medical treatment for chronic pain, it is important
for us to apply spiritual principles. Sharing honestly with our medical care providers
the fact that we are addicts in recovery is helpful. We ask that this be taken into
consideration when medications are prescribed. Being honest with our NA friends
about our pain and fears is equally important. We strive to remain open-minded and
ask our doctors about alternative treatments for pain. Seeking out the experience of
other addicts in recovery who have faced similar situations is often beneficial. These
members have the opportunity to share with us what worked for them with chronic
pain while maintaining their recovery. Being open-minded to experience from those
we trust and respect will help us in our decision making. We remain willing to explore
all treatment options available to us. We commit to work closely with our sponsor and
medical professionals and to draw strength from our Higher Power.
“With a few years clean I was diagnosed with a disease that required a
few surgeries and resulted in chronic pain. I have learned many things
from this process, but none more important than the lesson that it is
far easier to find ways to manage my pain than it is for me to manage
medication.”
Living with chronic pain gives us an opportunity to experience a new level of
responsibility for our personal recovery. We may need to question our pain and our
motives using an inventory in the same way we inventoried our character during our
Fourth Step. Our sponsor can help with this. We ask ourselves questions about the
pain we are feeling and answer them as honestly as we can in order to assess whether
we need medication. Addicts are especially vulnerable to our old ways of thinking
when we are in pain. Sharing honestly with our sponsor or trusted NA friends will help
us keep our pain in perspective. In this situation, we are often surprised to discover
how much discomfort we can tolerate without medication. If we take prescribed pain
medication, we should remember that our bodies and minds may react. Our
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experience shows that we may need to ask for extra help when the time comes to
stop taking pain medication, in case we experience withdrawal symptoms. With
courage, we reach out and accept the love and support of our sponsor and NA friends.
“We do not diagnose anyone’s condition or track the progress of our
patients—in fact we have no patients, only members. Our groups do
not provide professional therapeutic, medical, legal, or psychiatric
services. We are simply a fellowship of recovering addicts who meet
regularly to help each other stay clean.”
It Works: How and Why
The disease of addiction is progressive, incurable, and fatal. We are vulnerable to
our disease even after long periods of abstinence. With this in mind, many members
have found it helpful to ask for assistance from their NA friends and sponsor in
monitoring any prescribed mind-changing and mood-altering medication. Living with
chronic pain wears us down physically and mentally. We may find ourselves feeling
powerless, hopeless, and weak. Our experience shows that denial, justification, selfdeception,
and rationalization will be present when we face illnesses or injuries that
require pain medication. We will want to work closely with medical professionals and
our sponsor during the treatment of pain. Sometimes, with sustained chronic pain in
recovery, healthcare providers will prescribe certain medications for pain that are
also used as drug replacement medications. It is important to remind ourselves that
we are taking this medication as prescribed for physical pain. In this medical
situation, these medications are not being taken to treat addiction.
Once again, we find that information about our diagnosis and treatment is very
personal. Sharing these details one-on-one with a trusted NA friend or sponsor,
instead of in a meeting, can help us remain accountable while still maintaining an
atmosphere of recovery. We remember that the primary purpose of our groups is to
carry the message to the addict who still suffers. There may be times during our
experience with chronic pain when we are the addict suffering. During such times, we
may find it beneficial to listen to the experience of others, allowing them to carry the
message of recovery to us.
“Today, I have to get honest with myself and turn to my Higher Power
for help. Each time pain medication is prescribed for me, I explore my
motives for taking it. Am I taking medication to get high? Am I
imagining or magnifying this pain? Is this medication necessary right
now? If it is necessary, a network of safeguards can be set up among
my sponsor, recovering friends, family, and medical personnel.”
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Our experience shows that many NA members have been successful in taking
medication as prescribed for chronic pain and keeping their recovery intact. Some of
the actions that these members have in common are regular meeting attendance, close
contact with their sponsor and NA support network, and having another addict who
knows all the details of their medical treatment. Unfortunately, many of us also have
experience with a member who abused their pain medication and relapsed. The reality
is that treatment of chronic pain with medication can be very dangerous for addicts.
Members who relapse from pain medication may harbor feelings of shame, guilt, and
remorse. We can offer these addicts compassion and understanding. Providing meetings
with a caring, loving, and nonjudgmental atmosphere where members can honestly
admit when they have abused their medication is vital to their recovery. In doing this,
we are carrying the message of hope to the addict who still suffers.
 We can inventory our pain and our motives with our sponsor; this offers us an
opportunity to be personally responsible and helps us to maintain our recovery
while living with chronic pain.
 We should be aware that we may experience withdrawal symptoms when we
stop taking prescribed pain medication; we reach out and accept the support of
our NA friends and sponsor.
 We can remember that there is no safe use of drugs for an addict. Setting up a
network of safeguards to protect us from ourselves may be helpful.
Terminal Illness
“We grasp the limitless strength provided for us through our daily
prayer and surrender, as long as we keep faith and renew it.”
Basic Text
Members of our fellowship may face a terminal illness diagnosis at some point in
their recovery. Most likely, those who receive this information will have feelings of fear,
despair, and anger. We try not to let our feelings of doubt and hopelessness eclipse our
hard-earned faith in a Higher Power. Our literature says that when we lose focus on the
here and now, our problems become magnified unreasonably. With this in mind, we
strive to live just for today. We learn in recovery that when we share about our pain,
we gain some relief. We reach out to our sponsor and NA friends who love and support
us unconditionally. We find meetings that offer a safe place for us to share our feelings.
When we share with others, we break through the isolation of our disease. We gather
courage from the love and empathy of those who care for us. Our experience shows that
we can maintain our recovery while living with a terminal disease.
“When I first heard my diagnosis, I ran through a range of emotions.
‘It’s not fair; I already have the disease of addiction. How much should
one person have to deal with?’ During this time I became angry with my
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Higher Power, fearing I had gotten clean only to die. At the same time I
felt guilty—like I had no right to feel all those things. I felt as if I …
should have been grateful that it wasn’t worse.”
Our program of recovery depends on daily maintenance. Even with a vigilant
recovery program, powerlessness can be a stumbling block for us. We remind ourselves
how recovery has taught us to live just for today and leave the results up to our Higher
Power. When we face situations beyond our control, we are especially vulnerable to the
disease of addiction. Our self-destructive defects may surface and we will want to apply
spiritual principles. The Basic Text reminds us that self-pity is one of the most
destructive defects, robbing us of all positive energy. We strive to live just for today.
The people we surround ourselves with can encourage our surrender and help us break
through pain and resentment. We may choose to distance ourselves from those who pity
us and thrive on the crisis, rather than the solution. Instead, we seek out the company
of other recovering addicts who bring out the best in us, encourage us to move forward,
and enhance our spiritual program and our life.
We remind ourselves that we are living with a terminal illness. Facing the reality
of our lives when we are hurting is a service we do for ourselves. We can accept the
love of our support network in the here and now, without fear of tomorrow. Our
experience shows that continuing our participation in daily recovery through meetings
and phone conversations helps us feel connected. We remember the important
principle we learn in NA of living just for today. By placing the emphasis on life, we
can appreciate the day, not rob ourselves of the precious present, and remain free
from worry about what the future may hold.
“At twenty-two years clean, I was diagnosed with terminal illness.
Amazingly, through working the program of NA, I instinctively knew
what to do—call my sponsor, call my best friends, and talk to other
addicts about having to take medications. I received so much help and
reassurance from other addicts that I knew my recovery was first.”
Our commitment to our program of recovery in Narcotics Anonymous offers
serenity during difficult times. We gain courage from the application of the spiritual
principles of the program. We come to understand the powerlessness and surrender of
our First Step on a whole new level. The need for faith and sanity that we discovered
in Step Two is valuable to us now. By renewing our commitment to turn our will and
our lives over to our Higher Power’s care, we open a channel that allows this Power to
work in our lives. Prayer and meditation are powerful tools that can offer comfort and
guidance. The steps are vital in leading us toward acceptance. Through this process,
we prepare ourselves to handle the reality of our illness with all the spiritual strength
and hope our recovery can provide. We gradually learn to allow for the changes in our
body, mind, and spirit.
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“We know that whatever the day brings, God has given us everything we
need for our spiritual well-being. It is all right for us to admit powerlessness,
because God is powerful enough to help us stay clean and enjoy
spiritual progress. God is helping us to get our house in order.”
Basic Text
We have many things to consider when we face a terminal illness. Our healthcare
providers, our sponsor, and our NA friends can help us. Often with a terminal illness,
members need mind- and mood-altering medication. We avoid the tendency to judge
ourselves harshly, and we seek out the support of addicts who accept us and love us
for exactly who we are. We may not realize how destructive judgment can be until we
experience it for ourselves. We don’t allow ourselves to be isolated by feelings of fear
and inadequacy. Judgment is not therapeutic, but empathy is. We remain engaged in
the process of our recovery by going to meetings, working our steps, and reaching out.
When we honestly accept and try to be ourselves, we are able to gain freedom from
fear and self-pity. We remind ourselves that we are perfectly imperfect human
beings, doing our best to live with terminal illness.
In quiet moments of meditation, we may also find courage and answers we are
seeking within ourselves. We can use this time to make decisions and plan for times
when we may be unable to make our wishes known. Some members may choose to
visit their regular meetings to say good-bye to the group. Others will find it
comforting to invite their core group of NA friends to bring a meeting to their home or
hospital room. The company of other addicts who know us well is a source of comfort
and strength. We have found that a strong foundation in recovery prepares us to face
all phases of our life with a measure of dignity and grace.
 We are living with a terminal illness in recovery. We accept the love of our NA
friends in the here and now, without fear of tomorrow.
 Prayer and meditation are powerful tools. We prepare ourselves to handle the
reality of our illness with all the spiritual strength and hope our recovery can
provide.
 We avoid the tendency to judge ourselves harshly and don’t allow ourselves to
be isolated by feelings of fear and inadequacy. Judgment is not therapeutic,
but empathy is.
Supporting Members with Illness
“Love can be the flow of life energy from one person to another. By
caring, sharing, and praying for others, we become a part of them.
Through empathy, we allow addicts to become a part of us.”
Basic Text
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In recovery, we develop intimate and meaningful relationships. When we are close
to someone with an illness, whether they are a friend, a partner, or a sponsor, we may
find ourselves facing intense feelings. We may feel anger, helplessness, fear, guilt, and
sadness. All of these are to be expected when someone we care about is ill. The first
reaction to news of an illness or trauma may be to get caught up in our selfcenteredness
and other character defects. We remember that we have the ability to
put spiritual principles into action today. We make the choice to be a positive force in
the lives of the people around us. The process of working the steps has given us the
ability to love and accept who we are, and become able to truly love others. Taking
care of ourselves and being committed to our own recovery allows us to be an ongoing
source of strength for those close to us. We remember that our loved ones need our
support, not our pity. We strive to set aside the self-obsession of our disease and offer
care and concern to our loved ones during difficult times.
“In the last months I felt that I was never doing enough, that I wasn’t
repaying my friend for what he had given me. The guilt was tormenting
me. I believed that I wasn’t a good friend at all. But I shared about it
with friends and at meetings, and by being open to the message of
recovery I realized that I was doing the best I could and that my effort
was good enough.”
Being a source of strength and support for a fellow addict is an honor. We can
express love in a number of ways. An NA friend, sponsor, or sponsee may ask us to
accompany them to the doctor, or ask for our help in being accountable while they
are taking medication. This is not an invitation to interfere with the medical
treatment or personal wishes of our loved ones. We greet these requests for support
humbly and gratefully, knowing that it takes courage to reach out for help. Making the
effort to pick someone up for a meeting or visiting them while they are convalescing
are acts of kindness that our fellow members will appreciate. They may ask us to
prepare meals, or assist them in other daily activities that they are unable to
accomplish on their own. They may also ask for our help in more serious matters like
seeking advice from legal or financial professionals. We take care to focus on carrying
the message, not carrying the addict. We remember that there are many times when
something as simple as a phone call can make a big difference to an addict who feels
isolated by illness. We gratefully accept these opportunities to be of service to our
fellow members.
“A man I sponsor, with almost ten years cleantime in NA, telephoned
me with some bad news. Doctors said he had an incurable disease that
would kill him within sixty days. He lived for two years, however, and
continued to work a program of recovery. His courage inspired all of
us, and he will be missed. His example in living the NA principles will
always be remembered.”
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Like birth, death is a natural part of the life cycle. When we face the loss of a
loved one in recovery, we strive to remember this simple fact. Applying the spiritual
principles we learn in the steps helps us face reality. Even with time in the program,
our first tendency may be to run from painful situations. Facing our fear and reaching
out in spite of it demonstrates our faith in action. Our friends need our unconditional
love and support now more than ever. We do what we can to assist them in facing the
end of their lives with dignity and grace. When we encourage them to reach out and
share with us honestly, we may find that there are details about their medical care
that they would prefer remain confidential. We honor their requests, and in doing so
we honor them. We counter our own self-centeredness by focusing on life, and on the
miracle of recovery that brought us all together.
When people we love in NA are facing an illness or injury, the outpouring of love
they experience from the fellowship can be overwhelming. This is a testament to the
kind of bonds we form in recovery. However, it is important to remember that some
addicts’ families may not understand our close relationships to their loved ones. They
may feel that their privacy is being invaded if groups of unfamiliar people descend on
their home or their loved one’s hospital room. We remember to extend them the
same respect and empathy we give to each other. Our experience has shown that the
atmosphere of recovery we cherish in our meetings can translate to these situations
as well. Anonymity is also important to remember. In some cases, there may be family
members or other associates who are unaware of their loved one’s recovery in NA. We
can be examples of the spiritual principles of anonymity, integrity, and prudence no
matter where we are. In doing this, we display gratitude for our loved one, our life,
and our recovery.
 We remember that our loved ones need our support, not our pity.
 We can express love in a number of ways when our loved ones are facing an
illness. We can call our friend on the phone, pick them up for a meeting, visit
them, prepare meals, or assist them in other daily activities that they are
unable to accomplish on their own.
 Dying is a natural part of life. When we apply the spiritual principles we learn
in the steps, we are able to face reality and be there to support those we love.
Conclusion
oming to accept an illness is a process, like recovery. In the beginning we may
experience many familiar feelings like denial, anger, rationalization, selfdeception,
and grief. It may be helpful to remind ourselves that these feelings
are a reaction to a painful situation. When we apply the spiritual principles we have
learned in NA, we can reach a place where surrender and acceptance replace the
anger and denial. Reaching out can help us break through isolation and self-pity.
Acceptance of something doesn't necessarily mean that we like it; we can dislike
something and still accept it.
C
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We have a choice today. Like anything else in our recovery, we can make a
decision to view our experience with illness or injury not as a crisis, but as an
opportunity for spiritual growth. With the help of NA, we strive to surrender to our
medical situation and accept the reality of the treatment. We ask for the guidance of
our sponsor and our Higher Power when making decisions. We can decide to employ
spiritual principles like humility and faith when we reach out for help to our friends in
the fellowship. Experience has shown us that maintaining our recovery during times of
illness or injury can be done by striving to consistently practice a spiritual program.
We become a living resource for addicts who will face similar situations in the future.
We have found that, by following the suggestions offered by the NA program, we
can successfully live with an illness or injury while maintaining our recovery. Building
a strong foundation in recovery prepares us to accept life on life’s terms. Working the
steps is a process that teaches us solutions that we can apply to the realities of life
and death. We develop the ability to survive our emotions by applying spiritual
principles each day. Reaching out for help is an integral piece of our program, and
especially important when walking through difficult times. Recovery meetings can
provide the support of others who know us well. Our experience may become a
valuable tool for another addict who faces a similar situation, and sharing our
experience with others strengthens our recovery. The principles of NA help us face
anything just for today.
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Suggestions to Follow with Illness and Injury
Some of our members have found the following list of practical tips and
suggestions helpful.
 Go to as many NA meetings as possible and read NA literature.
 Communicate honestly with your sponsor to avoid self-will and get suggestions
from someone who has your best interests at heart.
 Reach out to other NA members. Ask for support.
 Practice the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions.
 Prayer, meditation, and sharing can help us get outside ourselves to focus on
something beyond our own discomfort.
 Share your thoughts and feelings honestly and openly with your sponsor and NA
friends. They can help us find acceptance.
 Identifying yourself as a recovering addict to healthcare professionals may be
helpful.
 Talk to your healthcare provider and sponsor before taking prescription or
nonprescription medication.
 Arrange for an NA member’s support when facing surgery or other medical
treatment involving medication.
 Inventory your medical condition and explore alternatives to medication. Write
about your feelings and motives.
 When supporting a member living with illness, remember that they need our
unconditional love, not our pity or judgment.
 Continue on your path of recovery in Narcotics Anonymous by applying spiritual
principles.
Addendum D
IP #24, “Hey! What’s the Basket For?” &
IP #25, Self-Support: Principle and Practice
1988 & 1998 Versions
We are not required by policy to include copies of literature to be replaced, but we have
printed these versions for ease of reference. In the future, however, we plan to discontinue
this practice. In future CARs we will simply include a link to the material.
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IP #24
1988 Version
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IP #24, “Hey! What’s the Basket For?” 1988 Version
“Hey! What’s the Basket For?”
The NA Principle of Self-Support
A member asks . . .
We have all been told that membership in Narcotics Anonymous costs nothing. “So what’s
the basket for?” Someone explains, “NA groups are self-supporting, declining outside
contributions. This makes sure we are free to seek recovery our way instead of someone
else’s. Before we got clean we took, and took, and took. In NA we learn about self-support and
become responsible for ourselves and our fellowship.”
Why self-support?
Self-support is an important part of the NA way of life. While using, many of us found
ourselves overly dependent on others. Our families, friends, employers, welfare agencies,
hospitals, and jails took responsibility for us when we could not be responsible for ourselves.
Our only responsibility was to our addiction. It seemed that wherever we went we were a
burden on others. We paid for our dependence in a variety of ways. We could never be
entirely free as long as that dependence existed. Our lives were not our own. Our self-centered
lifestyle of dependency robbed us of all self-respect. It was a very degrading way to live. One
way we start to recover from this degradation is by applying the NA principle of self-support:
We pay our own way. Self-support helps restore our personal dignity and freedom. And it does
the same for NA groups.
Many groups have something like this written into their meeting formats: “Our Seventh
Tradition states that every NA group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside
contributions. The money collected in the basket pays for rent, literature, and refreshments. It
also helps carry the message of NA recovery in our area and around the world. When we need
help, NA groups and services are there. The way that we financially support these services is
by putting money in the basket.”
NA services have helped all of us. Many of us first heard of Narcotics Anonymous in a
hospital or institution when members brought literature and shared their stories with us.
Others heard about NA through a TV or radio announcement. We called a helpline to get
directions to our first NA meeting. The literature in hospitals and institutions, the TV
announcements, and phonelines are the NA services we’re talking about here. If those
services had not been there, many of us would not have found our way to recovery. NA
services helped all of us find a new life.
When we got to that first NA meeting we sat down and talked with other people just like
ourselves. For the first time we were not alone. Others had been as troubled and confused as
we were. We heard other addicts share their experiences with addiction and with recovery.
Their shared experiences gave us hope that the nightmare we were living could finally end.
And as we kept coming back, we got help from others in living and staying clean. We found
out that there was life after drugs. We took home pamphlets, books, and magazines written
and produced by our own fellowship and bought by our NA group. That literature gave us
access to the best of NA recovery in print. We got phone numbers of other members at
meetings. We used those contacts every day to stay clean and sane. All in all, the NA meeting
gave us the support we needed for a new life.
NA membership gave us back our lives. And though the only requirement for NA
membership is a desire to stop using, many privileges come with it. With privileges come
IP #24
1988 Version
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IP #24, “Hey! What’s the Basket For?” 1988 Version
responsibilities. One of the greatest of these is the privilege and the responsibility of paying our
own way—to help NA be self-supporting. In active addiction we were always dependent on
others. In recovery we begin to support ourselves, and we support the group that supports us.
In doing that we help maintain our newfound dignity and freedom.
We also have the privilege of being able to reach out to others with the same help that was
offered us. The literature brought into hospitals and institutions, the radio and TV
announcements, the phonelines, the writing and producing of recovery materials, and the
meeting itself—they all cost money. By allowing us to support NA groups and services, the
basket gives us the chance to reach out further than our own two hands could reach alone.
We welcome that opportunity—the chance to give back a little of what was so freely given to
us.
The basket represents the paradox of NA recovery—in giving to others we help ourselves.
Putting money in the basket is our privilege and our responsibility.
How does the basket work?
From the money members put into the basket, the group pays its meeting expenses: NA
pamphlets and books, recovery tokens, refreshments, and rent. When the group is financially
sound enough to meet its monthly expenses and establish a one-month prudent reserve, it
passes the excess group donations on.
A group should not hold onto large amounts of money. When we do so, we compromise
our spiritual principles letting money, property, and prestige divert us from our primary
purpose. This works against the spiritual focus of our program and certainly does not help us in
creating an atmosphere of recovery. It is important for us to understand the spiritual principles
on which all of our Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions are based. When we sincerely try to
practice these principles, we find that giving is not only a privilege, it helps us immensely in our
recovery and our spiritual growth. To give is to receive, and the more we give, the more we get
back—spiritually, mentally, and physically. This is true for the group as well as the individual.
We contribute to NA services at an area level, too. An area service committee (ASC) works
for our primary purpose in ways that an individual group can’t. Group contributions are vital to
an ASC to pay for meeting lists, public announcements, mailings, helplines, literature for
members in hospitals or institutions, copying expenses, and literature for public information.
The spirit of our Seventh Tradition is also carried on in our regional and world services.
In order to truly carry out our primary purpose, our groups must behave in a financially
responsible way so that we can contribute to the NA message being carried at every service
level, in every country, to every addict seeking recovery.
It costs money to keep our meetings and our services open and operating. We don’t accept
outside contributions. If we don’t pull together to keep Narcotics Anonymous alive and
working, nobody else will do it for us. And we wouldn’t have it any other way. Each of us
needs to do our part to support the fellowship that supports our recovery. Each of us needs to
do what we can to ensure that no one like ourselves seeking recovery need die without having
had the chance to find a better way of life. We need to do that because personal recovery—
ours and our fellow addicts’—depends on NA unity. NA cannot remain united without the
cooperation of individual NA members—us. Ultimately, passing the basket becomes an
expression of Narcotics Anonymous unity. As our First Tradition tells us, “Our common welfare
should come first. Personal recovery depends on NA unity.”
IP #25
1998 Version
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IP #25, Self-Support: Principle and Practice 1998 Version
Self-Support: Principle and Practice
Being self-supporting is an important part of our new way of life. For the individual,
this is usually quite a change.… We, who were unable to function as human beings,
now find that anything is possible of us. Dreams that we gave up long ago can now become realities.
Addicts as a group have been a burden to society. In NA, our groups not only stand on their own,
but demand the right to do so.
—Basic Text: Tradition Seven
The Principles
of Selfless Giving and Self-Support
Gratitude in Action
A recovering addict reaches out to help a newcomer, and, through the therapeutic value of
one addict helping another, kindles the spark of hope and willingness in that new member’s
heart as only a fellow-addict can. A newcomer helps clean up after a meeting, and begins to feel
the sense of belonging and acceptance that come from helping other human beings in an act of
selfless service. A member shares experience, strength, and hope in a meeting, seeing the nods
of recognition and empathy— and hearing the grateful peals of laughter—evoked by their
having opened their heart to others who know the sorrow, and the joy, of being addicts in
recovery. A member who’s been around a little while offers a newer member a ride, and unwittingly
begins a friendship that will outlast the car in which they ride together to the meeting.
Trusted servants at their home group take great care to ensure that there is literature on the
table, that the rent is paid, and that there are modest refreshments, creating a welcoming
atmosphere of recovery for that shaky newcomer in the parking lot debating on whether to
come into the meeting.
As we learn to live the principles of Narcotics Anonymous, we learn to give of ourselves in
ways we could never have imagined in our active addiction. This selfless giving becomes a living
principle when we reach out to lend a hand and help others. We begin to understand that the
principle of self-support is at the very heart of our program, and the paradox of our growing
willingness to be of service is summed up in a line from our steps and traditions book, It Works:
How and Why: “The more we help others, the more we help ourselves.” Discovering this truth
lends real meaning to our belief that “we keep what we have only by giving it away.” As we
learn to live this program, we find that gratitude is an action, and we put our gratitude into
action by offering help and support to our fellow members through service.
Similarly, when a member places a donation into the basket at a meeting, he or she is breathing
life into that group and the NA service structure. That same individual contribution also brings life
to the principle of self-support. Just think of the many ways we support one another, without
outside assistance—rides to meetings, regular meeting attendance, basket donations, sponsorship,
service: If we did not have each other, we would surely be doomed to that old life of dereliction,
despair, and untimely death. We learn to trust each other as though our very lives depended on
the goodwill of the people sitting next to us at a meeting—because they do.
We come to be of service in many different ways in this fellowship, and, through service, we
learn that the “logic” of recovery sometimes seems just the opposite of the “logic” of the street:
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We once thought the world owed us a living, and we justified taking what we thought we
deserved when the world didn’t see fit to meet our demands. But in recovery, we learn that
taking only leaves us feeling empty, while giving fills us up. We know from much experience
that the amount that we are able to give, whether it be measured in time, effort, or money, is far
less important than our willingness to give. We find that our willingness is often repaid tenfold
in our own recovery. In the course of learning to practice these principles in all our affairs, most
of us come to believe that a personal commitment to the principles of selfless giving and selfsupport
stands as the foundation of our way of life.

NA members around the world contribute money to help our fellowship fulfill its primary purpose.
It is incumbent upon every element of our service structure to use those funds to carry
the NA recovery message as far as possible.
—Eleventh Concept, long form
Funding NA Services
Our collective responsibility
Self-support starts at the individual and group level. As individual members, we are each
responsible for furthering the success of our program in every way we can. As a society of
recovering addicts, we are fortunate that the primary purpose of our groups is so clear and simple:
to carry the message of recovery to the addict who still suffers. Self-support ensures that we can
carry this message on our own terms, free from outside influences and control. Self-support also
allows our groups to be self-governing, guaranteeing each group’s autonomy as discussed in our
Fourth Tradition. More practically, self-support helps us to ensure that rent for our meeting spaces
is paid, and literature is made available to our members and newcomers alike.
Why is self-support so important to an organization like ours? In a word, freedom! As our
steps and traditions book It Works: How and Why says, “By paying our own expenses, we remain
free to carry our own message.” The description of our Seventh Tradition in the Basic Text
repeats this thought more forcefully: “Our policy concerning money is clearly stated: We decline
any outside contributions; our fellowship is completely self-supporting. We accept no funding,
endowments, loans, and/or gifts. Everything has its price, regardless of intent. Whether the price
is money, promises, concessions, special recognition, endorsements, or favors, it’s too high for
us. Even if those who would help us could guarantee no strings, we would still not accept their
aid. . . . We will not put our freedom on the line.” By paying our own way, we remain free to
carry our message in our own way, free from outside influences. But this freedom also implies
responsibility: We remain committed to supporting our groups, and the services that support
them, through our own voluntary contributions.
In addition to this freedom, supporting the NA service structure beyond the group’s needs
also allows our members to feel a part of a growing fellowship. As a long-time member puts it,
“If we don’t help support it, we don’t own it. Every group should participate in sending money
to support our services. That makes a group ‘a part of.’ It gives them a stake in what’s going on.”
So our principle of self-support ranges far beyond maintaining the group’s simple financial
responsibilities. Together, we are responsible for the success of all our service efforts. Our
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collective willingness to shoulder the burden of supporting our services will determine the
success of our efforts to better carry our message to addicts throughout the world.
Funding NA services is therefore our collective responsibility. We truly believe in the
principles of our program. We also recognize that, paramount among these principles are
selfless giving and self-support. In our recovery, we learn to give more than lip-service to these
ideals. We breathe life into them (and, thereby, into ourselves) by becoming of service, and by
supporting our trusted servants’ efforts, making sure that money is the least of our problems in
carrying our message to the still suffering addict. The program works—we are all living proof of
its effectiveness. But what about NA as an organization that seeks to help suffering addicts find
a new way to live? If each of us committed just one-tenth of the resources that we spent on our
active addiction to providing service in Narcotics Anonymous, what a powerfully dynamic
organization we would be!

Moving from a self-seeking life to a life based on
spiritual principles requires us to change profoundly.
—It Works: How and Why
Making Recovery More Available
In the end, it’s practicing the principle that counts—individual members and groups giving
what they can, as they can, in the principles of selfless giving and self-support. It is our goal in
both principle and practice to make recovery available to every addict seeking relief from the
nightmare of addiction. Supporting our services helps to make that possible. Our Basic Text
spells it out clearly for us:
We cannot change the nature of the addict or addiction. We can help to change the old lie
“Once an addict, always an addict,” by striving to make recovery more available.…
—Basic Text
We remind ourselves that, alone, we were doomed, but together, living the principles of
selfless giving and self-support, all things are possible. We put these principles into practice by
being of service, striving to make recovery more available every day through sponsorship,
meeting attendance, service, and our Seventh Tradition donations.
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High on our list of priorities should be a commitment to further the goals of NA as a whole. For NA
to deliver the services necessary to keep growing and fulfilling our primary purpose around the
world, the flow of funds must not bottleneck at any point in our service structure.
—Eleventh Concept, long form
Contributing to NA Services
What Can We Do?
There are many ways that we as individual members can contribute to the success of our
program: sponsorship, service in meetings, area and regional service, and, yes, placing Seventh
Tradition contributions in the basket. How is this success measured? The discussion of our
Twelfth Step in It Works: How and Why sums it up for many of us: “Helping others is perhaps the
highest aspiration of the human heart and something we have been entrusted with as the result
of a Higher Power working in our lives.” Because we know that “we keep what we have only by
giving it away,” our members learn the principle of service, and we do our best to practice it in
our daily lives.
Our early members created our service structure to help the groups in their effort to better
carry the message of recovery. Those members saw that the group needed to focus only upon
what it does so very well—carrying our message to addicts. Yet there were other obvious things
that our members could do to help make suffering addicts more aware of a new way of life: At
the area and regional levels, they saw the need for regularly held meetings in hospitals and
institutions; public information presentations; helplines; even area and regional meeting lists. At
the world level, they saw the need to provide a central point of information and continuity for
all of these services, as well as the ongoing need for the creation and, more recently, translation
of literature. These and a host of other services were seen as essential. But our founders also
feared that, if the groups themselves were to attempt to provide these services, such a loss of
focus would hurt the group’s ability to carry our message. The service structure was created on
the group’s behalf to provide such services so that the groups themselves could continue to
remain our “grass-roots” support system, focusing solely on the delivery of our message to
newcomers and old-timers alike.
We delegate many vital responsibilities to our service structure, and this practice has proven to
be a remarkably successful one over the years. The growth and development of our fellowship
throughout the world attests to the fact that our service structure succeeds in helping addicts
everywhere to find our groups and, in so doing, to find recovery. In 1972, there were perhaps 200
NA groups in the world. In 1982, there were about 2,000. Today, there are well over 20,000 in 90
countries, and our numbers grow stronger every day1. NA is alive and well across the globe!
This progress has depended upon members’ support for its success. Such support comes in
many forms: most importantly, in members’ willingness to become active participants in their
own recovery by getting involved in their groups, as well as in their area and regional
committees. Of course, these services also require money to be successful. Unlike our groups,
service boards and committees are not self-supporting: They depend upon the groups’
donations to carry out the work that helps bring newcomers to our meetings. Whether it is in
1 Published in 1998. As of 2008, there are over 28,000 groups holding over 53,000 meetings in 130 countries.
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terms of personal service efforts, Seventh Tradition donations, or both, our group members’
support helps ensure that our service structure is as successful as possible in getting our message
to addicts seeking a new way of life.
Like our members themselves, groups, areas, and regions are not required to donate anything
to the service structure to be a part of Narcotics Anonymous. So long as a group or service
committee follows the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of NA, and wishes to consider itself
a part of NA, there are no other requirements for “membership.” But traditionally our groups
and service bodies have come to assume the responsibility of helping to shoulder the burden of
our shared service efforts at the area, regional, and world levels of service. Our groups elect
Group Service Representatives (GSRs) to represent the group at
area service, and at their regional assembly. Our areas elect
Regional Committee Members (RCMs) to serve at the regional
level. And our regions elect Regional Delegates to serve at the
world level. Most of our groups, areas, and regions also choose
to contribute to the service structure, helping to pay for the
costs associated with providing a wide array of services on the
groups’ behalf.
Should the group choose to donate to the service structure,
the method by which it chooses to do so is, ultimately, the
choice of the group members themselves. A Guide to Local
Services in Narcotics Anonymous suggests direct group donations
to all levels of service, and here are three suggested donation
methods:
In simple terms, these numbers represent percentages of the
total money the group has available to pass on to other levels of
service after it has covered its own monthly expenses. What is
left over is donated to the other levels of service, according to
your group’s conscience about how to pass on extra money to
support our service structure.
Probably the simplest way to determine which method best suits the group is to examine
which levels of service (area, region, and world) provide the most obvious service to the group
itself. In some geographic locations throughout the world, groups receive their most obvious
benefits from their local area committee. In others, for a variety of reasons, their most obvious
benefits may come from the regional or even world levels of service. After looking at these
factors, the group can decide what donation method is most appropriate for the group’s
situation. The groups should not feel confined to the suggested percentages described here, but
may find another breakdown of donations that best suits their circumstances.
Here is a format for your group to record its breakdown of contributions:
Contribution Plan of __________________________________________
(Group Name)
Group Code __________________________________________________
Area Donation _____________________________________________ %
Regional Donation __________________________________________ %
World Services Donation _____________________________________ %
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“Our service structure represents all of us in Narcotics Anonymous. It’s not like it’s a separate
thing. It’s there to further the message of recovery. I don’t look at supporting our services any
differently than supporting a meeting—it all goes to help addicts. And it helps in giving the message
where they don’t have the message yet.”
—Long-time NA member
Some commonly
asked questions and answers
Q: Where does the money I put into the basket go?
A: Typically, a great percentage of the group’s basket donations are taken up by the group’s
own expenses—paying rent, buying literature, and other supplies. Usually what’s left over is
passed on to the other levels of service, where our donations help pay for area and regional
meeting directories, free literature to addicts in treatment and institutions, even public
information presentations to professionals and the public at large.
Q: Can the money I put in the basket really help addicts in other parts of the world?
A: It really can. When your group, area, and region contribute to world services, the money
they send pays for literature translations, free literature to addicts in other countries,
coordination of worldwide services and communications, even helping ensure other
countries’ participation at the World Service Conference. The money donated to world
services helps to pay for many activities and services directed toward worldwide fellowship
development so that we can continue to grow and carry our message to addicts across the
globe. Examining the explosion of NA outside of the US and Canada over the last decade,
we see ourselves fulfilling our program’s primary purpose today beyond our founders’
wildest dreams. Supporting world services helps make this growth possible.
Q: Some groups announce their treasury balances at a meeting, and they have hundreds of dollars in the
bank. Is it OK to keep a big reserve?
A: In our experience, no. We have found that a number of problems arise when groups, areas,
regions, and even convention committees keep more than they need to operate in their
reserves. We have seen individuals relapse over stealing NA money that probably should
have been passed on to the next levels of service in the first place. We have also seen local
fellowships become bitterly divided over “their” money that had been raised by a
convention or other activity. Sometimes this disunity lasts years, crippling the effectiveness
of the local NA community. Needless problems such as theft of NA funds and trusted
servants fighting over money, property, and prestige at service meetings result when our
service committees hoard NA funds.
More importantly, the money that sits idly in the bank might otherwise be used to help
addicts, both locally, and even in other parts of the world. The principle of self-support
means that we use what we need, and we pass along the rest to help others. This principle
forms the basis of our way of life.
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Q: Is it OK for my area to donate to both the regional and world levels of service?
A: Of course. Your area can donate to your region and to world services if it chooses to do so.
As it says in A Guide to Local Services, “Narcotics Anonymous groups directly support area,
regional, and world services from money left over after covering their own expenses. Area
committees …are encouraged to do the same with their surplus funds, sending it on to the
other levels of the service structure.” Here is a chart that demonstrates how funds can flow
through our service structure:
Q: How can an individual member contribute to our service structure?
A: For individual members, there are many ways to be of service in NA. The first half of this
booklet describes many of those opportunities to serve. In terms of donating money to NA
services, many individuals find that NA birthdays are an excellent time to give something
back. Some members make special individual “gratitude” donations on birthdays,
contributing a dollar or more for each year clean. Other members like to present their home
group with literature to be provided free to newcomers—the ways in which we can express
our gratitude and support our members are limited only by our creativity.
You can donate to your local service community by your group deciding that a percentage of
the money collected in your meeting’s basket be passed on to the other levels of service.
If you would like to make a direct donation to world services, please send your donation in
care of the:
World Service Office
PO Box 9999
Van Nuys, California 91409
www.na.org
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Addendum E
In Times of Illness
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We are not required by policy to include copies of literature to be replaced, but we have
printed this version for ease of reference. In the future, however, we plan to discontinue this
practice. In future CARs we will simply include a link to the material.
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In Times of Illness
Recovery does not guarantee us freedom from living life on life’s terms. In Narcotics Anonymous
we can learn to accept the reality of life, which sometimes brings us illness or injury. We’ve learned
in NA that we can apply spiritual principles to help us get through these difficult times. When we
admit that we are powerless, we can accept our illness and any necessary medical treatment. It may
help to admit that we are also powerless over the feelings we experience when we are ill.
Illness or injury is stressful, and stress can place us at risk of relapse. Often, we need the NA
program even more when we are faced with illness. We can prepare ourselves for these stressful
times by doing our best each day to lay a strong foundation in recovery. The steps we take today
will serve us well when we need them.
Coming to terms with illness is a process. It is a process in which we often experience denial,
bargaining, anger, grief, surrender, and acceptance. However, it’s comforting to realize that these
stages are a normal part of this process. Acceptance of something does not necessarily mean we
like it—we can dislike something and still accept it.
“I was able to get clean in spite of agonizing pain. I asked God, ‘Why me?’ I found
myself lacking in faith, acceptance, and hope. I just suffered through that first year and
stayed clean by God’s grace. Sometime during my second year in recovery, I began
applying the principle of surrender to my illness and developing a closer relationship
with my Higher Power.
There are many days I wish things were different. Some days I still ask, “Why me?” I
now know that I can experience chronic illness and not return to active addiction.
Sometimes I still get a case of the “if onlys,” and other addicts share with me that they
do, too. Even so, each day I thank God for the gift of NA, my life, and the love I have as
a result of this recovery program.”
It is important to share about our illness with our fellow recovering addicts. If possible, we attend
more meetings than usual. If we are unable to attend meetings, we can ask that meetings be
brought to us. The support of others is crucial when we are ill or injured.
Our experience in recovery shows us that we have a choice; we can view any experience as a
crisis or as a time for spiritual growth. In this sense, illness and injury are no different than other life
experiences. Even though it may seem more difficult to sustain the daily footwork of recovery while
we are suffering, our solutions in illness are the same as those in good health. We can maintain our
recovery during times of illness by consistently practicing a spiritual program.
Informing our Doctors
It is difficult for any doctor to provide us with adequate health care unless we are honest about
our addiction. It is essential that we let our doctors know that we are recovering addicts. It may be
necessary to tell them a little about addiction as we understand it. Most importantly, we make it
clear that we choose not to take medication unless it is necessary. Our honesty will help our doctors
accurately assess our needs.
“A woman I sponsor was scheduled to have major surgery. She felt shame and was
afraid that the medical personnel would treat her differently if she told them she was
an addict. Rather than lose face, she was willing to risk her recovery. Thank God, she
shared those feelings with me. I helped her to see that it was important to walk
through the fear and inform the medical personnel of her addiction. She chose to be
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honest with her doctor. As a result, her recovery was strengthened rather than
jeopardized.”
While our doctors are responsible for our medical care, we are responsible for our recovery. We
have a right to participate as an equal partner by informing our doctors of our needs and asking
about our options.
Medication in Recovery
Narcotics Anonymous as a whole has no opinion on outside issues, including health issues. We
are concerned with recovery from the disease of addiction. Although our recovery is complicated
when we experience disease or injury, this does not have to lead us away from recovery.
The ultimate responsibility for making medical decisions rests with each individual. If we choose
to accept it, however, a great deal of support is available to help us make these decisions. For
instance, we can practice the Twelve Steps, maintain frequent contact with our sponsor, write about
our feelings and motives, and share at meetings. With the support of others in Narcotics
Anonymous, we find the strength we need to make healthy decisions for our own recovery.
The use of medication in recovery is often controversial. It’s good to remember that the Basic Text
recommends consulting professionals concerning our medical problems. When we remember that
the only requirement for membership is a desire to stop using, we as members can set aside our
judgment of others. Clean time is an issue for each of us to resolve individually with our sponsor and
our Higher Power. An attitude of judgment on our part could cause great harm to another addict.
“I was one person who believed that, if you used anything for any reason, it was
considered a relapse. Until I was faced with this situation in my own recovery, it didn’t
dawn on me that I might have to take medication. I can remember going to meetings
and having people ask me if I’d relapsed, and telling me to pick up a white chip. This
really hurt and scared me. I felt rejected and very alone because no one seemed to
understand that I needed strength and hope.”
When someone we know has been taking prescribed medication, we can help them by offering
support and by sharing our experience, strength, and hope. We fulfill our primary purpose by
supporting another addict’s recovery with an attitude of care, love, and concern.
The power of the disease of addiction cannot be underestimated. Regardless of how we work our
mental and spiritual program of recovery, we may react to medication like we did when using drugs.
It doesn’t matter what the medication is or whether it was our drug of choice. Any medication may
unleash the craving and the compulsion that haunted us while we were using. Our experience has
shown that no drugs are risk-free for us.
“My body does not know the difference between taking needed pain medication and
abusing drugs. Today, I have to get honest with myself and turn to my Higher Power
for help. Each time pain medication is prescribed for me, I explore my motives for
taking it. Am I taking medication to get high? Am I imagining or magnifying this pain?
Is this medication necessary right now? If it is necessary, a network of safeguards can
be set up among my sponsor, recovering friends, family and medical personnel so that
I’m not in control of the medication. I would probably be the worst person to regulate
or control the taking of any drug.”
Just as we may view illness as an opportunity to justify using drugs, we also may go to the other
extreme. Sometimes we stubbornly insist that we know better than the doctor, refuse all
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medications, and neglect problems that require attention. Ignoring health problems because of fear
or pride may, in fact, make matters worse for us.
“When I was about a year and a half clean, I suffered my first bout of a recurrent
illness. My sponsor told me not to be a martyr and to go to my doctor, who knows that
I am a recovering addict. I didn’t listen, and as a result I was hospitalized for five days,
in traction and on strong medication. If I had followed my sponsor’s suggestion, I
would have been on a milder medication for a much shorter period of time.”
Over-the-counter drugs can also pose a very real threat to us. Even though some over-thecounter
drugs are marked “non-narcotic,” they may be mood-altering. It is important that we
consider their use as carefully as the use of any other medication. Any drug, prescription or nonprescription,
has the potential to be abused.
Sometimes, alternative methods of treatment can be used. Many of these methods require little
or no medication or the use of medication that doesn’t alter our moods or our thinking. This is
another way in which we can exercise responsibility for our recovery, even during illness. Some NA
members share that they have felt spiritually strengthened by exploring and utilizing these
alternatives.
By living the Narcotics Anonymous program, we find a measure of consistency in our lives. We
can also apply the program to help us find balance when we are ill. Sharing openly with our doctor
and our sponsor, relying on a Higher Power, and practicing the Twelve Steps are ways to help each
individual find a balance that is comfortable and appropriate.
Emergency Care
Sometimes, emergency room treatment becomes necessary. When this happens, we are often
asked to make quick decisions. It would be easy to rationalize or justify the use of medications that
may not be necessary. It’s a good idea to have another addict to support us in these difficult situations
if possible. Relying on others can alleviate the fear and irrational thinking that we may experience
when we face emergencies alone. Isolation is often dangerous for addicts at times like these.
“Even though I thought I was alone, I wasn’t—because I prayed. I then called my
sponsor, who met me at the emergency room. Once there, I was examined and offered
medication. I explained my addiction to the doctor and asked if not taking the
medication was life-threatening. With my sponsor’s support, I was able to make an
informed decision.”
The presence of a trusted friend and faith in a Higher Power are invaluable in an emergency
situation. The strength we gain from this support can help us make decisions that will enhance our
recovery, instead of endangering us. Even in an emergency, we can still apply our program of
recovery.
Chronic and Terminal Illness in Recovery
Some members may be faced with the diagnosis of a chronic or terminal disease. It is only
natural for this news to be received with fear, despair, or anger. Doubt and hopelessness may
eclipse our hard-earned faith in a Higher Power. We have found it possible, however, to continue
our recovery while struggling with a chronic or terminal disease.
“When I first heard my diagnosis, I ran through a range of emotions. ‘It’s not fair; I
already have the disease of addiction. How much should one person have to deal
with?’ During this time I became angry with my Higher Power, fearing I had gotten
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clean only to die. At the same time I felt guilty—like I had no right to feel all those
things. I felt as if I were whining when I should have been grateful that it wasn’t
worse.”
The mood swings and feelings we experience as a result of illness are normal. We give ourselves
permission to feel exactly as we do, and to look for ways to cope, not escape. We can view our
illness as a curse, or we can walk through it in a positive manner that will work toward our benefit.
Once again, we find ourselves in one of life’s situations where our attitude will play a large role in
how successfully we pass through the storm. In fact, our survival and recovery depend on our
mental and spiritual approach.
A renewal of our commitment to seek recovery in Narcotics Anonymous is essential at times like
these. By renewing our commitment to turn our will and our lives over to our Higher Power’s care
we open a channel that allows this Power to work in our lives. Prayer and meditation are powerful
tools in seeking the best path through our illness.
Reaching out to others who are living with a chronic or terminal illness will help us to realize that
we are not alone. Giving our support to and sharing our experiences with others can help us to
avoid the self-centeredness that is at the core of our disease.
“My gratitude for a few addicts and my sponsor leaves me without words to convey
my appreciation. They didn’t allow me to isolate or wallow in self-pity. Calling and
stopping by daily, taking me to meetings, fixing up their cars with pillows and
blankets so I could ride comfortably are a few acts of their kindness.”
The importance of our continued involvement with the fellowship cannot be over-emphasized.
Although some of our fellow addicts will be frightened of chronic and terminal illness, there will
always be members whose warmth and emotional availability we can rely on. If we encounter fear or
misunderstanding in other members, it can be used as an opportunity to share about our illness
with them, or simply acknowledge their feelings of fear. We can let them know that any support they
are able to offer would be welcomed.
Although not all of us are directly affected by a chronic illness, most of us will know of someone
who is suffering from a serious disease. It may help us to remember that our Basic Text says,
“Separation from the atmosphere of recovery and from the spirit of service to others slows our
spiritual growth.” It is our responsibility as recovering members of NA to provide the unconditional
love and support that is so desperately needed by our seriously ill members.
“The last months, I felt that I was never doing enough, that I wasn’t repaying my friend
for what he had given me. The guilt was tormenting me. I believed that I wasn’t a good
friend at all. But I shared about it with friends and at meetings, and by being open to
the message of recovery, I realized that I was doing the best I could and that my effort
was good enough.”
People who are close to someone who is chronically ill, whether they are a friend, a partner, or a
sponsor, may find themselves dealing with feelings of helplessness, fear, inadequacy, and sadness.
All of these feelings are to be expected when someone we care for is ill.
Perhaps the most painful feeling is the anticipated loss of a loved one. During these times, we
need to remind ourselves that our loved one is living with an illness. By placing the emphasis on
life, we can appreciate the day, not rob ourselves of the precious here and now, and remain free
from worry about what the future may hold.
In Times Of Illness
1992 Version
2010 CAR – Addendum E 111
In Times of Illness 1992 Version
“A man I sponsor, with almost ten years clean time in NA, telephoned me with some
bad news. Doctors said he had an incurable disease that would kill him within sixty
days. He lived for two years, however, and continued to work a program of recovery.
His courage inspired all of us, and he will be missed. His example in living the NA
principles will always be remembered.”
Working the steps is vital in leading us toward acceptance. Through this process, we prepare
ourselves to handle the reality of illness with all the spiritual strength and hope our recovery can
provide. We gradually learn to allow for the changes in our body, mind, and spirit.
We have found that we can cope with illness or injury if we follow the simple suggestions offered
in this pamphlet. Building a strong foundation in recovery gives us an advantage. We can survive
the ups and downs of life by applying spiritual principles each day.
Suggestions to Follow When Faced with Illness
Some of our members have found the following list of suggestions helpful in dealing with the
impact of illness on their recovery.
• Go to as many NA meetings as possible.
• Work closely with your sponsor.
• Read NA literature.
• Reach out to other NA members. Ask for support.
• Write about your feelings.
• Practice the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions.
• Pray and meditate.
• Share your thoughts and feelings honestly and openly.
• Identify yourself as a recovering addict to health care professionals.
• Talk to your doctor or pharmacist before taking over-the-counter drugs.
• Arrange for an NA member to be with you during surgery or other medical treatment involving
drugs.
• Honestly evaluate your condition and explore alternatives to medication.
• Continue on your path of recovery in Narcotics Anonymous.
112 2010 CAR
In Times of Illness 1992 Version
The Twelve Steps of Narcotics Anonymous
1. We admitted that we were powerless over our addiction, that our lives
had become unmanageable.
2. We came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore
us to sanity.
3. We made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of
God as we understood Him.
4. We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5. We admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the
exact nature of our wrongs.
6. We were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of
character.
7. We humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
8. We made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to
make amends to them all.
9. We made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except
when to do so would injure them or others.
10. We continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong
promptly admitted it.
11. We sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious
contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of
His will for us and the power to carry that out.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these steps, we tried to
carry this message to addicts, and to practice these principles in all our
affairs.
Twelve Steps reprinted for adaptation by permission of AA World Services, Inc.
The Twelve Traditions of Narcotics Anonymous
1. 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 centers may employ special workers.
9. NA, as such, ought never be organized, 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.
Twelve Traditions reprinted for adaptation by permission of AA World Services, Inc.

Twelve Concepts for NA Service
1. To fulfill our fellowship's primary purpose, the NA groups have joined together to
create a structure which develops, coordinates, and maintains services on behalf
of NA as a whole.
2. The final responsibility and authority for NA services rests with the NA groups.
3. The NA groups delegate to the service structure the authority necessary to fulfill
the responsibilities assigned to it.
4. Effective leadership is highly valued in Narcotics Anonymous. Leadership qualities
should be carefully considered when selecting trusted servants.
5. For each responsibility assigned to the service structure, a single point of
decision and accountability should be clearly defined.
6. Group conscience is the spiritual means by which we invite a loving God to
influence our decisions.
7. All members of a service body bear substantial responsibility for that body's
decisions and should be allowed to fully participate in its decision-making
processes.
8. Our service structure depends on the integrity and effectiveness of our
communications.
9. All elements of our service structure have the responsibility to carefully consider
all viewpoints in their decision-making processes.
10. Any member of a service body can petition that body for the redress of a
personal grievance, without fear of reprisal.
11. NA funds are to be used to further our primary purpose, and must be managed
responsibly.
12. In keeping with the spiritual nature of Narcotics Anonymous, our structure
should always be one of service, never of government.
Copyright © 1989, 1990, 1991 by Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc. All rights reserved.
The Twelve Concepts for NA Service were modeled on AA's Twelve Concepts for World Service,
published by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.,
and have evolved specific to the needs of Narcotics Anonymous.

[dalin]

So now everyone can see the whole thingy.
Pleae if you are an NA member,read it.
Get involved,vote.
Ask yourself,what would Jimmy K do?

[dalin]

We as a home group are getting ready to vote on this as a home group.
Trying to stay spiritual

[AngryDan]

Our HG voted. Even though we were sickened by 90% of the whole thing. ESPECIALLY the first world motion...

[dalin]

We voted against 80 per cent of there recomendations.
Yes,we voted no on the first one.I am sure most groups will see how
many tradition violations are happening,and get as concerned as we are as a home
group.
These addicts were elected trusted servants,and they are supose to work for us in
the fellowship,not run the fellowship.