Welcome to Narcotics Anonymous of NJ. Our Message Is…
That an addict, any addict can stop using drugs,
lose the desire to use, and find a new way to live.
Helpline
If you feel you have a problem with drugs, call our helpline
Events
See upcoming NA events and activities in NJ
Narcotics Anonymous is a nonprofit fellowship or society of men and women for whom drugs had become a major problem. We are recovering addicts who meet regularly to help each other stay clean.
– Narcotics Anonymous Basic Text, page 9
Recovery from addiction is possible and available through the 12 Steps and 12 Traditions of Narcotics Anonymous.
Narcotics Anonymous is FREEDOM from active addiction.
Narcotics Anonymous is an international, community-based association of recovering drug addicts with over 61,000 weekly meetings in over 131 countries worldwide.
Just for Today
It hurts like never before. You get out of bed after a sleepless night, talk to God, and still don't feel any better. "It will pass," a little voice tells you. "When?" you wonder, as you pace and mutter and get on with your day.
You sob in your car and turn the radio all the way up so you can't hear your own thoughts. But you go straight to work, and don't even think about using drugs.
Your insides feel as though they've been torched. Just when the pain becomes unbearable, you go numb and silent. You go to a meeting and wish you were as happy as other members seem to be. But you don't relapse.
You cry some more and call your sponsor. You drive to a friend's house and don't even notice the beautiful scenery because your inner landscape is so bleak. You may not feel any better after visiting your friend--but at least you didn't visit the connection instead.
You listen to a Fifth Step. You share at a meeting. You look at the calendar and realize you've gotten through another day clean.
Then one day you wake up, look outside, and realize it's a beautiful day. The sun is shining. The sky is blue. You take a deep breath, smile again, and know that it really does pass.
A Spiritual Principal a Day
For many of us in active addiction, starting over from scratch was practically a lifestyle choice. Things got tough, we owed back rent, our relationships or jobs got in the way of our drug use--and we were gone! We got a new place, a new job, and someone new to put up with our crap. Some of us carried that behavior into NA. Instead of staying clean through snags in early recovery, we'd press the reset button and clear the board. Day One again. We'd change road dogs, sponsors, and home groups. This wasn't the healthiest or most spiritual way to be resilient, but that was our strategy to survive and bounce back from conflict and hardship. Still, we kept coming back.
When we get some time in NA, starting over might look very different. Many of us will hit major low points in our lives, but when we stay close to NA, we can immediately turn to Step One--not Day One--when our life becomes unmanageable.
Others of us accumulate years of cleantime and are so busy being functional that we don't realize how isolated we are from NA. We haven't relapsed, but our recovery has all but flatlined. "I woke up today and realized that it was my 25th cleantime anniversary, and I don't even remember the last time I marked the occasion," a member shared. "I came today because I didn't even know I was miserable. I thought, Maybe I should use so that I could come back to meetings. Though I'm embarrassed about how long it's been, I'm grateful my next thought was, Just go to a meeting and start over."
How do we come back when we haven't really left? Instead of pulling the plug on our program, we can jump-start it. We may feel some regret at taking NA for granted, but we are back--and can keep coming back.
It doesn't matter when we start over or why; it only matters that we do.
