Online NA Meetings

Key takeaway

Narcotics Anonymous World Services publishes a virtual meeting search. You pick a language, and results show in the time zone of the device you are using. The only membership requirement NA states is a desire to stop using. A virtual meeting is peer support, not clinical care, and it is separate from a referral helpline.

Last updated: Mon Oct 05 2026 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)

You want a meeting tonight and you do not want to walk into a room full of strangers. Narcotics Anonymous keeps a virtual search for that. NA World Services tells you to select a language, and it says the results display in the time zone of the device you are searching from. A meeting listed at 8 p.m. is 8 p.m. where you are sitting, not a clock you have to convert from another city, unless the listing itself says otherwise. What follows is that search, and what NA says a newcomer can expect. The schedule, the links, and the phone numbers stay on na.org.

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.

How NA's virtual search is set up

The virtual meeting page is for online meetings. NA puts in-person search on a different click. The meeting-finder map is another tool: it points to local websites and phonelines, with markers for area and regional service committees, and it sends you to the virtual list if that is what you wanted. Use the tool that matches the question. A local area site may also list virtual meetings. NA's virtual-resources page is a hub of links for meeting online or by phone, including the finder itself. Those pages change. Start at na.org rather than a screenshot saved in a group text.

Public feeds can be filtered by fellowship, including NA, and by online or in person, on the meetings page. That page says the data come from public directories and that SmarterRecovery does not operate, endorse, or verify individual meetings. Treat a hit as a lead, then confirm it on NA's search or with the group. Local websites and in-person search are the how-to-find NA guide. The hour in front of you is the virtual one.

A broader look at digital mutual help, including SAMHSA's note that it is not approving the programs it names, is the online support-groups guide. Alcoholics Anonymous online meetings are a different fellowship and a different finder. That page is online A.A. meetings.

What NA says you need in order to be there

NA's newcomer pamphlet says there are no dues or fees. The only requirement for membership it states is a desire to stop using. You do not have to be clean when you arrive. The pamphlet suggests that after a first meeting you keep coming back and come clean. That is the fellowship's suggestion. It is not a medical order, and it is not a discharge plan.

The welcome pamphlet says you can keep coming even if you are not sure you are an addict, and that you will have time to decide. It says which drug you used is not the point. You are welcome if you want to stop using. The introduction to meetings goes further on medicine. It says the program of recovery begins with abstinence from all drugs, including alcohol. It also says people sometimes come while still using, while detoxing, or while on drug-replacement therapy, and that you are welcome regardless of what you may be taking when you first come. Newer members, it says, often have questions about prescribed medications. NA's instruction is to read its literature, including In Times of Illness, and to talk with members who have faced something similar. Then it draws a line: NA is not a professional service and has no opinions on medical matters. Members share personal experience. A comment in a meeting is not a reason to stop methadone, buprenorphine, naltrexone, or any other prescription. The prescriber is the person who changes a dose. The clinical page, without doses, is the medication guide.

The introduction also says there are no membership fees, and that members make voluntary contributions because meetings cost money to hold. Nonmembers are asked not to put money in, so the group can stay self-supporting. If you are visiting and you are not a member, follow that request. If you are there for yourself, a basket is still voluntary. What a particular group passes is that group's choice.

Open, closed, and the 90-day line

NA's group readings distinguish closed and open meetings. A closed meeting, in the text NA publishes for groups to read, is for addicts or for people who think they might have a drug problem. An open meeting welcomes non-addict visitors and asks them to respect the meeting's purpose, which is a place where addicts share recovery with one another. If you are a student, a relative, or a clinician observing, look for the word "open" on the listing. People affected by someone else's drinking have a different fellowship on the Al-Anon guide. That is not an NA meeting with a family chair pulled up.

NA's introduction suggests that if you are an addict, or think you might have a drug problem, you attend a meeting every day for at least 90 days, to get to know members and the program. That sentence is NA's suggestion. It is not a research finding you should treat as a personal forecast, and it is not a rule a court or a clinic can assume every group enforces. The same pamphlet says meetings are where members share recovery, and that the program consists of more than simply attending. A daily login with no other plan is not what that sentence describes.

Anonymity, in the newcomer pamphlet, is a confidence the group asks you to keep. It is a fellowship norm. It is not the federal rule that covers a treatment record. Do not post someone else's share, even from a meeting you joined from your kitchen.

When the meeting is the wrong tool

NIDA says mutual-help groups are peer-led. They are not led by healthcare professionals, so they are not treatment. NIDA says they are free and not time-limited, and that many people find them useful alone or alongside professional care. Most of that research, NIDA says, has been on 12-step programs and particularly on Alcoholics Anonymous. Do not turn an A.A. research sentence into an NA success rate. These sources do not give one.

Withdrawal, overdose, and a prescribed-medicine decision are clinical. Use emergency help when the body is in danger. Licensed programs can be searched on FindTreatment.gov. SAMHSA's National Helpline, 1-800-662-HELP (4357), is the federal referral line. Where NA sits next to other mutual-help options is the 12-step comparison. SMART Recovery is a separate mutual-help program, with its own finder on the SMART Recovery overview.

Call or text (800) 653-9376 if you want help sorting treatment. If you want the meeting, use NA's virtual search and confirm the time in your own time zone before you log on.

Additional Resources

Sources cited on this page:

Common Questions

Where do I find a virtual NA meeting?

Use the virtual meeting search on na.org. NA says you select a language, and that results display in your current time zone. A separate path on that site is for in-person meetings. The meetings search can also filter public feeds. Confirm the link with the group. Listings change, and each meeting is not verified one by one.

Do I have to be off drugs to join?

NA's newcomer pamphlet says you do not have to be clean when you get here. A later pamphlet says people sometimes arrive while still using, detoxing, or on drug-replacement therapy, and that you are welcome regardless of what you may be taking at first. NA also says it has no opinions on medical matters. Do not stop a prescribed medicine because a meeting suggested it.

Is an online NA meeting the same as an online A.A. meeting?

No. They are different fellowships. NA's stated membership requirement is a desire to stop using. A.A.'s is a desire to stop drinking. NA says its program of recovery begins with abstinence from all drugs, including alcohol. Use NA's virtual search for NA, and A.A.'s Meeting Guide or Online Intergroup for A.A. The meetings search can filter by fellowship.

Is a referral helpline an NA meeting or SMART Recovery?

Neither. SmarterRecovery is a referral helpline. SMART Recovery is a separate nonprofit mutual-help program with its own finder. Narcotics Anonymous is the fellowship at na.org. Similar names are not the same organization. Use NA's site for an NA meeting, and a referral line when you want help finding treatment.

Can a virtual meeting replace detox or counseling?

No. NIDA says mutual-help groups are peer-led and are not professionally led treatment. NA's introduction to meetings says the program is more than simply attending meetings. Call 911 for an overdose or trouble breathing. For a mental health crisis, call or text 988. Use FindTreatment.gov for a licensed program.