Opinion

The NA Way Magazine presents the experiences and opinions of individual members of Narcotics Anonymous. The opinions expressed are not to be attributed to Narcotics Anonymous as a whole, The NA Way Magazine, or Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc. Submissions to the magazine may be mailed to The NA Way Magazine; PO Box 9999; Van Nuys, CA 91409 USA. They can also be faxed to us at 818.700.0700, or emailed to naway@na.org.

And…uh…

“Hi, my name is Bubbles, and I’m an addict and an alcoholic…uh…I mean I’m an addict and…an addict. Well, anyway, back when I was drinking and drugging…I mean, using and…Ugh! What I meant to say was, back when I was taking drugs and alcohol… I mean, drugs and, um, drugs…Argh! In any case, now that I’m clean and sober… oops, I mean clean and…”

As ridiculous as this mumbo-jumbo reads on paper, it comes out sounding that redundant to me every time I hear someone introduce himself or herself as an “addict and an alcoholic” or talk about being “clean and sober.” Not that I would ever directly criticize someone (or even gently correct them) for the way they share. There is, after all, only one requirement for membership in NA, and it doesn’t have anything to do with how we introduce ourselves or share in meetings.

Instead, I share on an NA message, limit my meeting attendance to NA, quote only from NA literature, and have found that most members eventually come around to a similar perspective if they stick around long enough. I also share, whenever it’s relevant, that NA is sufficient—even abundant—in its ability to provide optimal recovery… that I don’t need to supplement my NA program by attending meetings of any other twelve-step fellowships, learn my recovery out of any other twelve-step textbooks, or work with sponsors in any other twelve-step programs.

In my old home group back in Tennessee, we used to read a “clarity statement” at the beginning of every meeting, which went something like this:

“We are presented with a dilemma. When NA members identify themselves as ‘addicts and alcoholics’ or talk about living ‘clean and sober,’ the clarity of the NA message is blurred. To speak in this manner suggests that there are two diseases, or that one drug is somehow separate from the rest, requiring special recognition. Narcotics Anonymous makes no distinction between drugs. Our identification as addicts is all-inclusive, allowing us to concentrate on our similarities, not our differences.”

John D, Rhode Island, USA

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