We carry
the message
of hope again

Who would have thought that we could organize an activity this big two years in a row?

Members of Narcotics Anonymous from the Anchor Area, Georgian Heartland Area, Golden Triangle Area, Hamilton Area, and Toronto Area united together during Drug Awareness Week to let 14,000 students and 900 teachers from the York Region Catholic School Board know “that an addict, any addict, can stop using drugs, lose the desire to use, and find a new way to live.”

The public information subcommittee of the Anchor Area organized forty speakers to share in ten schools about their recovery in NA. Another thirty-five members did service at a Narcotics Anonymous information booth at twelve schools that participated in health fairs as part of Drug Awareness Week from 9 to 25 November 2004.

We gave away 1,200 buttons with the helpline phone number and web page listed. Yes, this is attraction! Narcotics Anonymous does have a public relations policy: We do recover, and we share our recovery the NA way.

Thank you to all who volunteered to do service on behalf of NA. The gratitude of these recovering addicts echoed through those schools we attended louder than the words spoken.

Thank you to members of the PI subcommittee who attended Drug Awareness Week committee meetings six times during the year, who took time from their lives to give back the extra that was required to make NA a true resource in this community!

The chairperson of the York Region Catholic School Board Drug Awareness Committee commented that “Drug Awareness Week was a great success as a direct result of participation by the members of Narcotics Anonymous.”

Other agencies that were involved in Drug Awareness Week and also heard the message of Narcotics Anonymous included York Regional Police, Addiction Services for York Region, Canadian Mental Health Association, York Region Health Services, Mothers Against Drunk Driving–Canada, and Nar-Anon.

NA members who participated in the event are encouraged to share their experiences and feelings about doing this service, and to share about the bond created among all those addicts they met for the first time.

It is with great hope and faith that many more recovering addicts will come forth to do this service. We have been asked and have booked several dates into 2005 for Narcotics Anonymous to share recovery and stories with students.

On behalf of the Anchor Area Service Committee of Narcotics Anonymous, thank you for the service you performed. Our participation in Drug Awareness Week has been an astounding success.

Mark C, Public Information Chairperson,
Anchor Area Service Committee, Ontario, Canada

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Primary Purpose

“There are many ways of doing things in Narcotics Anonymous. And just as all of us have our own individual personalities, so will your group develop its own identity, its own way of doing things, and its own special knack for carrying the NA message. That’s the way it should be. In NA we encourage unity, not uniformity.”

The Group Booklet, p. 1

This is a column for you, about you, and by you. We invite you to share any challenges your group may have faced, how your group reached a solution, or its “special knack” that keeps you coming back!

What we say…

Dear fellow NA members,

Hello and greetings from Northwest Arkansas. I have been clean for thirteen years and have been a member of NA since the days of heavy metal, which still rules!

I am having a problem feeling at home in the local groups, partly because there is not much unity in our groups here. One issue in particular is that it has become the norm in this area to cross-talk during the readings. At the end of each line of the readings, the group adds additional comment.

I feel that our readings and the important message that they deliver are being mocked. Other addicts who have been around long enough to know better have been shunned when they expressed their opinions. Most of them do not come around much any more. The underlying issue is that the new members appear to not respect the experience of those who have been in the fellowship for many years, dismissing that experience as personal opinion.

One local group was divided and nearly destroyed over this particular issue about five years ago. Apparently nothing was learned from that experience, because here we go again—with newcomers chanting during readings and keytag distribution and oldtimers not much in attendance because of all the nonsense.

The reason I am sharing this with the rest of the fellowship is because I am finding it easier and easier to stay home as meeting time approaches. I do not want to become one of those addicts who do not come around any longer, yet I am tired of coming home from a meeting feeling like I need a meeting.

I offer to all of you who participate in this type of behavior these questions:

• Is what you are doing cross-talking?

• Does it muddle the message, divide the group, or confuse the newcomer?

• How does this affect our public image in open meetings?

If you are not sure, ask your sponsor. You do not have a sponsor? Then get one. A sponsor can help you think things through for yourself and maybe help you avoid being a follower when your home group wanders.

Thanks.

Larry Q, Arkansas, USA

Hi Larry, Thank you for writing to NA World Services. Other members have experienced the same frustration you describe when this kind of chant-response activity takes place during the readings. This phenomenon is not really new in NA and has existed in different modes and in different areas, regions, and countries for many years. This is not something that has really taken hold within our fellowship and become standard practice, but it remains somewhat of a curious, isolated occurrence. There are a couple of ways in which you can address this issue. The first way is through your home group steering committee or business meeting. Your group has control over its meeting format and is responsible for the conduct of the meeting. A clearly worded statement in the format should be able to educate members attending the meeting that the group conscience is against this type of ritualized chanting taking place while the readings are being done. You might add that, in some ways, the readings are the foundation of our meeting and set the tone for all that follows.

The second way you might address this issue is through your area service committee. One of the two issue discussion topics for this conference cycle is “Infrastructure.” You might want to attend your next ASC and ask to be put on the agenda, or with the approval of your home group have your GSR ask to be put on the agenda, and initiate a discussion of infrastructure as it applies to the home groups in your area, and in the ASC as well.

It would be very appropriate for the topic of chanting, or cross-talking, or talking back during the readings to be part of this discussion.

The first definition of infrastructure given in Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary is: “The underlying foundation or basic framework (as of a system or organization).” This might prove to be a good starting point to then expand the discussion to the relation of the group to the area, to the region, etc.

In the October 2004 NA Way Magazine, you will find a full section devoted to the topic of infrastructure, with suggestions as to how to facilitate a discussion of the topic. You will also find information on the other discussion topic for this WSC cycle, which is “Our Public Image.” If you think about it, it does not require much of a stretch for one to see a relation between the issue you bring up today and “Our Public Image,” particularly if it is an open meeting.

(Editor’s Note: Fellowship Services also suggested that Larry submit his letter to The NA Way Magazine for consideration. As you can see, Larry followed this suggestion….)

NA World Services
Fellowship Services

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