What happens at a meeting?
People have all sorts of reasons for attending NA meetings, but the purpose of each meeting is to give NA members a place to share recovery with other addicts. If you are not an addict, look for an open meeting, which welcomes non-addicts.
Excerpt from IP #29 An Introduction to NA Meetings
If you’re new to NA or planning to go to a Narcotics Anonymous meeting for the first time, it might be nice to know a little bit about what happens in our meetings. The information here is meant to give you an understanding of what we do when we come together to share recovery.
The words we use and the way we interact might be unfamiliar to you at first, but we encourage you to stick around and look for the similarities rather than the differences. Showing up early, staying late, and asking lots of questions before and after meetings will help you get the most out of every meeting you attend.
Each Narcotics Anonymous meeting is free to conduct itself in a way that best supports the addicts who attend (within certain guidelines). There are many Narcotics Anonymous meeting formats. Some meetings have speakers followed by open discussion. Some meetings focus on study and discussion of NA literature. Some meetings are small and some are large. It is suggested that you try out lots of meetings to get a feel for what is available.
NA literature is also a great source of information about our program. Our Basic Text, Narcotics Anonymous, or our information pamphlets (IPs) are a good place to start. Most groups and meetings offer IPs for free, while books are generally sold at the group's cost.
To begin, we invite you to read IP #22, "Welcome to NA".
Please come to our meetings and Keep Coming Back!
For Families and Friends
NA groups have but one primary purpose: to carry the message that an addict, any addict can stop using drugs, lose the desire to use and find a new way to live. While addiction affects the lives of friends and families, the Narcotics Anonymous program exists for the purpose of helping addicts.
Family and friends are welcomed to attend any open Narcotics Anonymous meeting. Closed meetings are for addicts only or for those who think they have a problem with drugs. Generally, meetings are open unless they are designated as “closed” in the meeting schedule.