How to Find NA Meetings

You want a meeting tonight, and you do not want a sales pitch dressed up as a schedule. Narcotics Anonymous does not ask you to trust a third-party blog for a meeting list. Its meeting finder is a map of local service. NA World Services tells you to click the marker closest to where you want to go, then use that area or regional website and phoneline for meeting information nearby. If the map looks empty, it says to expand the search. In a metro with many resources, it says you may need to zoom in. Virtual meetings are a different click, so an in-person search does not silently become a video list. The tools below are NA's. Addresses, days, and times stay on those local sites.

If this is an overdose, a seizure, trouble breathing, or someone who will not wake, call 911. For a mental health crisis, call or text 988.

The map, the local site, and the virtual list

The finder marks area service committees and regional service committees. NA says that once you follow a marker you are leaving na.org for a local website, and that the meeting information is there. That handoff matters. A wrong address corrected next month will show up on the local site first. If a listing on the finder itself looks wrong, NA asks for an email to its data address with "Meeting Finder Update" in the subject. Send corrections there, not to a referral line.

The virtual meeting search asks you to pick a language and says results appear in your current time zone. The online NA guide explains what NA says about attending, including that you do not have to be clean to walk in, and that NA has no opinions on medical matters. Use that guide for the virtual format. Use NA's map when the question is where the list lives.

The meetings page searches public AA and NA feeds. Filter to NA, then to in person or online. SmarterRecovery does not operate, endorse, or verify individual meetings. A public feed can miss a group or keep a group that has already moved. Match anything you plan to attend against the local NA site or the virtual search.

Alcoholics Anonymous is a different fellowship. Its website says it does not contain a meeting finder and points you to local A.A. offices and the Meeting Guide app. The A.A. how-to guide covers that path. Do not use an A.A. list as if it were NA. City guides such as Kansas City and Chicago are about finding A.A. meetings in those places. The same caution applies: official finders, and no copied schedule. If you want NA in one of those cities, start with NA's map centered there, not with a borrowed A.A. printout.

What the listing is allowed to assume about you

NA's newcomer pamphlet says there are no dues or fees. The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop using. You do not have to be clean at the first meeting. The group booklet's suggested reading says a closed meeting is for addicts or for people who think they might have a drug problem, and that an open meeting welcomes non-addict visitors. Visitors at an open meeting are asked not to contribute money, so the group can stay self-supporting. Members' contributions are voluntary.

The introduction to meetings says that if you are not an addict, look for an open meeting. If you are an addict or think you might have a drug problem, NA suggests a meeting every day for at least 90 days to get to know members and the program. That is NA's suggestion to newcomers. It is not a court order, and it is not a promise. The same text says the program is more than attending meetings.

NA says its program of recovery begins with abstinence from all drugs, including alcohol. It also says you are welcome if you are still using, detoxing, or on drug-replacement therapy. It has no opinions on medical matters. A meeting share is not a prescriber. The medication guide explains methadone, buprenorphine, and naltrexone, without doses.

A meeting and a clinic are different asks

NIDA says the most prominent self-help groups include those affiliated with Narcotics Anonymous, and that these groups can complement and extend professional treatment. Complement is the limit. They are peer-led. They are not a detox unit and not a counseling hour. Most research NIDA describes on mutual-help groups is about 12-step programs, particularly Alcoholics Anonymous. Do not read that as an NA outcome statistic. NIDA does not print one here.

SMART Recovery is a separate mutual-help program, with its own meetings. The SMART overview keeps the names apart. Call or text (800) 653-9376 if you want help finding a licensed program. Search FindTreatment.gov yourself if you prefer. SAMHSA's National Helpline, 1-800-662-HELP (4357), is the federal line. If you only wanted a meeting, say that. The useful answer is NA's finder, not a treatment referral you did not request.

Additional Resources

Sources cited on this page:

• NA World Services: Meeting finder (local websites and phonelines)
• NA World Services: Virtual Meeting Search
• NA World Services: IP #29, An Introduction to NA Meetings
• NA World Services: IP #16, For the Newcomer
• NA World Services: The Group Booklet
• NIDA: Treatment, including mutual-help groups
• SAMHSA FindTreatment.gov
• SAMHSA National Helpline
• 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
• SmarterRecovery meetings page (public meeting search; listings are not verified by this site)

Common Questions