The Twelve Traditions of N.A.


We keep what we have only with vigilance, and just as freedom for the individual comes from the Twelve Steps, so freedom for the group springs from our Traditions. As long as the ties that bind us together are stronger than those that would tear us apart, all will be well.

  1. Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends on NA unity
  2. For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern.
  3. The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop using.
  4. Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or NA as a whole.
  5. Each group has but one primary purpose to carry the message to the addict who still suffers.
  6. An NA group ought never endorse, finance, or lend the NA name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property, or prestige divert us from our primary purpose.
  7. Every NA group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions.
  8. Narcotics Anonymous should remain forever nonprofessional, but our service centers may employ special workers.
  9. NA, as such, ought never be organized, but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve.
  10. Narcotics Anonymous has no opinion on outside issues; hence> the NA name ought never be drawn into public controversy.
  11. Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio, and films.
  12. Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our Traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.
This is NA Fellowship approved literature. Copyright © 1976, 1984, 1992 by Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc. All rights reserved.