Narcotics Anonymous, a group for recovering drug addicts, started a second weekly meeting in Bowling Green on Tuesday.
The nonprofit group held meetings at 126 South Church on Wednesdays for four years before adding a second meeting at the United Christian Fellowship Center on Tuesdays. Holding two separate meetings each week gives recovering drug addicts opportunity for more for support, according to Dave*, a member of the group. The more meetings recovering addicts attend, the more likely they are to stay drug free, he said.
“We suggest that new members attend a meeting a day for 90 days,” he said.
Though Bowling Green only has two weekly meetings, there are several others nearby. The Toledo area alone has 28 different weekly meetings. “That’s four a day on average,” Dave said.
The group encourages anyone with the desire to stop using drugs to attend a meeting at no cost.
“It doesn’t really matter what your background is like,” he said. “You will see this entire spectrum of people (at the meetings).”
The fact that every member is a recovering addict helps blur their differences and create a nonjudgmental atmosphere. “There’s a feeling of acceptance,” Dave said.
This connection between members helps them heal, he said. “The therapeutic value of one addict helping another is unparalleled.”
For therapy, Narcotics Anonymous encourages its members to focus on quitting for today and to think about tomorrow when it comes, Dave said. “Quitting forever is overwhelming,” he said. “The group has a motto: Breathe in, breathe out, and don’t get high in between.”
NA has over 25,000 meetings in more than 70 countries. Before the group was founded in 1953, there were no organized support groups for drug addicts, Dave said. Once formed, NA got permission from Alcoholics Anonymous to use its 12-step program.
NA changed only the first of the 12 steps: The word “alcohol” became “our addiction,” Dave said. “We come to admit that we were powerless over our addiction.”
The group also follows 12 traditions. Several of those traditions stress that members keep their identities confidential, according to the group’s Web site.
Identification threatens a member’s recovery and gives newcomers the impression that they may have to reveal their identities as well, according to the Eleventh Tradition. Even “Dave” is not Dave’s real name.
Confidentiality lets members relax without fear that their job or reputation is at risk, Dave said. He described a standard meeting’s atmosphere: “Very relaxed, very informal, very casual.” To contact the group, send an e-mail to [email protected] or call the Toledo Area Service Committee at 419-361-1190. The phone line is open 24 hours a day.
For more information, visit http://na.org or www.naohio.org.
*Real name withheld.
