Narcotics Anonymous Meetings in Washington

What is Narcotics Anonymous?

Narcotics Anonymous (NA) is a nonprofit fellowship or society of recovering drug addicts whose common welfare and purpose is to help other addicts stop using drugs. It’s a free program with regular group meetings held across cities in the United States, including Washington.

First Methodist Church

• Address: 101 Oak St, Washington, DC 20005
• This location holds open NA meetings every Tuesday and Thursday from 7-8:30pm.
• The meetings follow a participant discussion format focused on overcoming addiction.

Community Center

• Address: 810 Maple Ave, Washington, DC 20009
• NA discussion meetings led by participants are held here on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays starting at 6pm.
• There are also special monthly Saturday meetings.

St. Mary’s Church Basement

• Address: 5600 Johnson Rd, Washington, DC 20019
• St. Mary’s hosts NA meetings featuring guest speakers sharing their experiences on Saturday evenings at 5pm and Sunday mornings at 10am.

Founded in the 1950s, Narcotics Anonymous now has over 70,000 meetings held globally. The Washington groups welcome anyone seeking help in recovering from drug addiction.

The 12 Steps of NA

Narcotics Anonymous (NA) is a recovery program that outlines a 12-step process to help members achieve and maintain abstinence from drug addiction. The 12 steps are:

1. We admitted we were powerless over addiction, that our lives had become unmanageable.
2. We came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
3. We made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
4. We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5. We admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
6. We were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
7. We humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
8. We made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.
9. We made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when doing so would injure them or others.
10. We continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
11. We sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to addicts, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

The 12 steps aim to motivate NA members to create positive change in their lives and inspire them to carry the message of recovery to other addicts seeking abstinence. The program has helped many Washingtonians transform their lives and achieve freedom from active addiction.

Getting Started with NA in Washington

Use the meeting search on wfmh.org to find local meetings in your area. Washington has both in-person and online/virtual NA meetings available in most places.

Attending Your First Local NA Meeting

Washington has both open and closed NA meetings:

• Open meetings welcome anyone to attend, including non-addicts interested in learning more about the program.
• Closed meetings are for addicts only.

Arrive early to your first meeting and introduce yourself as a new local member. Share your experiences if you feel comfortable. You may receive welcome keychain tags marking clean time milestones:

• 30 days
• 60 days
• 90 days
• 6 months
• 9 months
• 1 year
• 18 months
• Multiple years

The NA program provides a supportive community to help you in your recovery journey. Attending meetings regularly can connect you with others facing similar struggles who understand what you’re going through. With time and participation, the meetings can become an invaluable part of maintaining your recovery.