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Groups Cocaine Anonymous
Cocaine Anonymous
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Name:
Cocaine Anonymous
Created:
Thursday, 08 April 2010
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Description
The best way to reach someone is to speak to them on a common level. The members of C.A. are all recovering addicts who maintain their individual sobriety by working with others. We come from various social, ethnic, economic and religious backgrounds, but what we have in common is addiction.
"The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop using cocaine and all other mind-altering substances."
Anyone who wants to stop using cocaine and all other mind-altering substances (including alcohol and other drugs) is welcome.
"There are no dues or fees for membership; we are fully self-supporting through our own contributions."
We do ask for voluntary contributions at meetings to cover expenses such as coffee, rent, literature and services to help those who are still suffering. However, newcomers need not feel obligated to contribute. We do not accept donations from organizations or individuals outside the fellowship.
"We are not allied with any sect, denomination, politics, organization or institution. We do not wish to engage in any controversy and we neither endorse nor oppose any causes."
In order to maintain our integrity and avoid any possible complications, we are not affiliated with any outside organization. Although C.A. is a spiritual program, we do not align ourself with any religion. Our members are free to define their spirituality as they see fit. Our individual members may have opinions of their own, but C.A. as a whole has no opinion on outside issues. We are not affiliated with any rehabs, recovery houses or hospitals, but many do refer their patients to Cocaine Anonymous to maintain their sobriety.
"Our primary purpose is to stay free from cocaine and all other mind-altering substances, and to help others achieve the same freedom."
The only purpose of Cocaine Anonymous is to offer recovery to individuals who are suffering from addiction. Our experience has shown that the most effective way to attain and maintain sobriety is to work with others suffering from the same malady.
We use the Twelve Steps of Recovery, because it has already been proven that the Twelve-Step recovery program works.
Announcements
REACHING OUT
I made it into this program because someone else worked their Twelfth Step on me. Someone passed it on to me. Someone was out there after they got clean and sober, caring about others. I need to never, ever forget that. Had they simply gone on with their lives and forgotten about people like me who were still out there using and suffering, I wouldn’t be here today. My gratitude begins with that fact. It is with that gratitude in mind that I reach out to others, especially the newcomers. I need to have them in my life. That is where my spirituality begins.
For me, spirituality comes from caring about others. I have found that the more I focus on improving the quality of the lives of others, the less I am into myself and my will. I feel a freedom and peace from within. The gifts I am beginning to receive in my life are greater than I could have ever imagined.
Something else I have done is that I have forgiven myself. I have forgiven myself for being an addict. I have forgiven myself for all the damage I did to my life, to my physical health, and to my career and finances. But most of all, I have forgiven myself for all of the horrible, negative and unloving things I have felt about myself. It was not until I offered and accepted my own forgiveness, that I was truly able to grow in my sobriety.
Approved Literature Cocaine Anonymous World Services, Inc. Copyright © 2000-2007
I made it into this program because someone else worked their Twelfth Step on me. Someone passed it on to me. Someone was out there after they got clean and sober, caring about others. I need to never, ever forget that. Had they simply gone on with their lives and forgotten about people like me who were still out there using and suffering, I wouldn’t be here today. My gratitude begins with that fact. It is with that gratitude in mind that I reach out to others, especially the newcomers. I need to have them in my life. That is where my spirituality begins.
For me, spirituality comes from caring about others. I have found that the more I focus on improving the quality of the lives of others, the less I am into myself and my will. I feel a freedom and peace from within. The gifts I am beginning to receive in my life are greater than I could have ever imagined.
Something else I have done is that I have forgiven myself. I have forgiven myself for being an addict. I have forgiven myself for all the damage I did to my life, to my physical health, and to my career and finances. But most of all, I have forgiven myself for all of the horrible, negative and unloving things I have felt about myself. It was not until I offered and accepted my own forgiveness, that I was truly able to grow in my sobriety.
Approved Literature Cocaine Anonymous World Services, Inc. Copyright © 2000-2007
Discussions
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Wall
AA As We Once Knew It ???
Resonsibility????
What is happening to our precious AA?
That question is being asked by a lot of alcoholics lately. What
happened to our high success rate? 30 & 40 years ago, we were keeping 75%
or more of the alcoholics who came to us for help. Today, we aren't keeping
even 5%.
What happened? What happened to that wonderful A.A. Group that was
around for 20, 30 or 40 years? There used to be 50, 75, 100 or more at
every meeting. It is now a matter of history, gone! More and more groups
are folding every day.
What happened? We hear a lot of ideas, opinions and excuses as to what
happened but things are not improving. They continue to get worse.
What is happening?
Bill W. wrote, "In the years ahead A.A. will, of course, make
mistakes. Experience has taught us that we need have no fear of doing
this, providing that we always remain willing to admit our faults and to
correct them promptly. Our growth as individuals has depended upon this
healthy process of trial and error. So will our growth as a fellowship. Let
us always remember that any society of men and women that cannot freely
correct its own faults must surely fall into decay if not into collapse.
Such is the universal penalty for the failure to go on growing. Just as
each A.A. must continue to take his moral inventory and act upon it, so
must our whole Society if we are to survive and if we are to serve usefully
and well."
(A.A. Comes of Age, PG 231)
With so very few finding lasting sobriety and the continued demise of AA
groups, it is obvious that we have not remained willing to admit our faults
and to correct them promptly. Seems to me that the Delegate of the
Northeast Ohio Area, Bob Bacon, identified our mistakes and our faults when
he talked to a group of AA's in 1976. He said, in essence, we are no longer
showing the newcomer that we have a solution for alcoholism. We are not
telling them about the Big Book and how very important that Book is to our
long-term sobriety. We are not telling them about our Traditions and how
very important they are to the individual groups and to Alcoholics
Anonymous as a whole. Rather, we are using our meeting time for drunkalogs,
a discussion of our problems, ideas and opinions or "my day" or "my way".
Having been around for a few years, and reflecting on what Bob Bacon had
to say, it would appear that we have permitted newcomers to convince the
old-timers that they have a better idea. They had just spent 30 or more
days in a treatment facility where they had been impressed with the need to
talk about their problems in Group Therapy Sessions. They had been told
that it didn't make any difference what their real problem was; A.A. had
the "best program". They were told that they should go to an A.A. meeting
every day for the 1st 90 days out of treatment. They were told that they
shouldn't make any major decisions for the 1st year of their sobriety. And
what they were told goes on and on, most of which are contrary to the
Program of Alcoholics Anonymous! Apparently, what they were told sounded
pretty good to the A.A. members who were here when the TC clients started
showing up at our meetings. And a lot of the A.A. members liked the idea of
the treatment centers because the centers provided a place where they could
drop off a serious drinker, if he/she had insurance. That eliminated some of the
inconveniences we had been plagued with before; having to pour orange
juice and honey or a shot of booze down a vibrating alky to help them
"detox".
When A.A. was very successful, the folks who did the talking in meetings
were recovered alcoholics. The suffering and untreated alcoholics listened.
After hearing what it takes to recover, the newcomer was faced with a
decision; "Are you going to take the Steps and recover or are you going to
get back out there and finish the job?" If they said they "were willing to
go to any length", they were given a sponsor, a Big Book and began the
process of recovery by taking the Steps and experiencing the Promises
that result from that course of action. This process kept the newcomer
involved in working with others and continued the growth of our Fellowship.
Our growth rate was approximately 7% and the number of sober members of
Alcoholics Anonymous doubled every 10 years. With the advent of the rapid
growth of the Treatment Industry, the acceptance of our success with
alcoholics by the judicial system and endorsement of physicians,
psychiatrist, psychologist, etc. all kinds of people were pouring into A.A.
at a rate greater than we had ever dreamed possible.
Almost without realizing what was happening, our meetings began
changing from ones that focused on recovery from alcoholism to
"discussion or participation" types of meetings that invited everyone to
talk about whatever was on their mind. The meetings evolved from a program
of spiritual development to the group therapy type of meeting where we
heard more and more about "our problems" and less and less about the
Program of Recovery by the Big Book and the preservation of our Fellowship
by adhering to our Traditions.
What has been the result of all this? Well, never have we had so many
coming to us for help. But never have we had such a slow growth rate which
has now started to decline. For the first time in our history, Alcoholics
Anonymous is losing members faster than they are coming in and our success
rate is unbelievably low. Statistics from the Inter-Group Office of some
major cities indicate less than 5% of those expressing a desire to stop
drinking is successful for more than 5 years; a far cry from the 75%
reported by Bill W. in the Forward to Second Edition. The change in the
content of our meetings is proving to be misery-traps for the newcomer and
in turn, misery-traps for the groups that depend on the "discussion or
participation" type meetings.
Why is this? The answer is very simple. When meetings were opened so
that untreated alcoholics & non-alcoholics were given the opportunity to
express their ideas, their opinions, air their problems and tell how they
were told to do it where they came from, the confused newcomer became more
confused with the diversity of information that was being presented. More
and more they were encouraged to "just go to meetings and don't drink" or
worse yet, "go to 90 meetings in 90 days". The newcomer no longer was told
to take the Steps or get back out there and finish the job. In fact, they
are often told, "Don't rush into taking the Steps. Take your time." The
alcoholics who participated in the writing of the Big Book didn't wait.
They took the Steps in the first few days following their last drink. Thank
God, there are those in our Fellowship, like Joe & Charlie, Wally, etc.,
who have recognized the problem and have started doing something about it.
They are placing the focus back on the
Big Book.
There have always been a few groups that would not yield to the group
therapy trend. They stayed firm to their commitment to try to carry a
single message to the suffering alcoholic. That is to tell the newcomer "we
have had a spiritual awakening as the result of these Steps and if you want
to recover, we will see that you have a sponsor who has recovered and will
lead you along the path the 1st 100 laid down for us". Recovered
alcoholics have begun founding groups that have a single purpose and
inform the newcomer that until they have taken the steps and recovered,
they will not be permitted to say anything in meetings. They will listen to
recovered alcoholics, they will take the Steps, they will recover and then
they will try to pass their experience and knowledge on to the ones who are
seeking the kind of help we provide in Alcoholics Anonymous. As this
movement spreads, as it is beginning to, Alcoholics Anonymous will again be
very successful in doing the one thing God intended for us to do and that
is to help the suffering alcoholic recover, if he has decided he wants what
we have and is willing to go to any length to recover, to take and apply
our Twelve Steps to our lives and protect our Fellowship by honoring our
Twelve Traditions.
There is a tendency to want to place the blame for our predicament on
the treatment industry and professionals. They do what they do and it has
nothing to do with what we in Alcoholics Anonymous do. That is their
business. That is not where to place the blame and also is in violation of
our Tenth Tradition.
The real problem is that the members of Alcoholics Anonymous, who were
here when the "clients" began coming to our Fellowship did not help the
"clients" understand that our Program had been firmly established since
April 1939, and that the guidelines for the preservation and growth of our
Fellowship were adopted in 1950. That they must get rid of their new "old
ideas" and start practicing the Twelve Step Program of Alcoholics Anonymous
as it was given to us. That until they had taken the Steps and recovered,
they had nothing to say that needed to be heard except by their sponsor.
But that didn't happen. To the contrary, the old timers failed in their
responsibility to the newcomer to remind them of a vital truth, "Rarely
have we seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed our path. Those who
do not recover are people who cannot or will not completely give themselves
to this simple program." We have permitted untreated alcoholics and
non-alcoholics to sit in our meetings and
lay out their problems, ideas and opinions. We have gone from, "Rarely
have we seen a person fail" to "Seldom do we see a person recover".
So there we are. We have had 30 years of unbelievable success by
following the directions in the Big Book. We have had 30 years of
disappointing failure by wanting to hear from everyone. We now have
something to compare.
We now know what the problem is and we know what the solution is.
Unfortunately, we have not been prompt to correct the faults and mistakes,
which have been created by what would appear to be large doses of apathy
and complacency. The problem we are trying to live with is needlessly
killing alcoholics.
The Solution? The Power, greater than ourselves, that we find through
our Twelve Steps promises recovery for those who are willing to follow the
clear-cut directions in the Big Book.
Do you want to be a part of the problem or a part of the solution?
Simple, but not easy, a price has to be paid.
(author: Ken C.)
Resonsibility????
What is happening to our precious AA?
That question is being asked by a lot of alcoholics lately. What
happened to our high success rate? 30 & 40 years ago, we were keeping 75%
or more of the alcoholics who came to us for help. Today, we aren't keeping
even 5%.
What happened? What happened to that wonderful A.A. Group that was
around for 20, 30 or 40 years? There used to be 50, 75, 100 or more at
every meeting. It is now a matter of history, gone! More and more groups
are folding every day.
What happened? We hear a lot of ideas, opinions and excuses as to what
happened but things are not improving. They continue to get worse.
What is happening?
Bill W. wrote, "In the years ahead A.A. will, of course, make
mistakes. Experience has taught us that we need have no fear of doing
this, providing that we always remain willing to admit our faults and to
correct them promptly. Our growth as individuals has depended upon this
healthy process of trial and error. So will our growth as a fellowship. Let
us always remember that any society of men and women that cannot freely
correct its own faults must surely fall into decay if not into collapse.
Such is the universal penalty for the failure to go on growing. Just as
each A.A. must continue to take his moral inventory and act upon it, so
must our whole Society if we are to survive and if we are to serve usefully
and well."
(A.A. Comes of Age, PG 231)
With so very few finding lasting sobriety and the continued demise of AA
groups, it is obvious that we have not remained willing to admit our faults
and to correct them promptly. Seems to me that the Delegate of the
Northeast Ohio Area, Bob Bacon, identified our mistakes and our faults when
he talked to a group of AA's in 1976. He said, in essence, we are no longer
showing the newcomer that we have a solution for alcoholism. We are not
telling them about the Big Book and how very important that Book is to our
long-term sobriety. We are not telling them about our Traditions and how
very important they are to the individual groups and to Alcoholics
Anonymous as a whole. Rather, we are using our meeting time for drunkalogs,
a discussion of our problems, ideas and opinions or "my day" or "my way".
Having been around for a few years, and reflecting on what Bob Bacon had
to say, it would appear that we have permitted newcomers to convince the
old-timers that they have a better idea. They had just spent 30 or more
days in a treatment facility where they had been impressed with the need to
talk about their problems in Group Therapy Sessions. They had been told
that it didn't make any difference what their real problem was; A.A. had
the "best program". They were told that they should go to an A.A. meeting
every day for the 1st 90 days out of treatment. They were told that they
shouldn't make any major decisions for the 1st year of their sobriety. And
what they were told goes on and on, most of which are contrary to the
Program of Alcoholics Anonymous! Apparently, what they were told sounded
pretty good to the A.A. members who were here when the TC clients started
showing up at our meetings. And a lot of the A.A. members liked the idea of
the treatment centers because the centers provided a place where they could
drop off a serious drinker, if he/she had insurance. That eliminated some of the
inconveniences we had been plagued with before; having to pour orange
juice and honey or a shot of booze down a vibrating alky to help them
"detox".
When A.A. was very successful, the folks who did the talking in meetings
were recovered alcoholics. The suffering and untreated alcoholics listened.
After hearing what it takes to recover, the newcomer was faced with a
decision; "Are you going to take the Steps and recover or are you going to
get back out there and finish the job?" If they said they "were willing to
go to any length", they were given a sponsor, a Big Book and began the
process of recovery by taking the Steps and experiencing the Promises
that result from that course of action. This process kept the newcomer
involved in working with others and continued the growth of our Fellowship.
Our growth rate was approximately 7% and the number of sober members of
Alcoholics Anonymous doubled every 10 years. With the advent of the rapid
growth of the Treatment Industry, the acceptance of our success with
alcoholics by the judicial system and endorsement of physicians,
psychiatrist, psychologist, etc. all kinds of people were pouring into A.A.
at a rate greater than we had ever dreamed possible.
Almost without realizing what was happening, our meetings began
changing from ones that focused on recovery from alcoholism to
"discussion or participation" types of meetings that invited everyone to
talk about whatever was on their mind. The meetings evolved from a program
of spiritual development to the group therapy type of meeting where we
heard more and more about "our problems" and less and less about the
Program of Recovery by the Big Book and the preservation of our Fellowship
by adhering to our Traditions.
What has been the result of all this? Well, never have we had so many
coming to us for help. But never have we had such a slow growth rate which
has now started to decline. For the first time in our history, Alcoholics
Anonymous is losing members faster than they are coming in and our success
rate is unbelievably low. Statistics from the Inter-Group Office of some
major cities indicate less than 5% of those expressing a desire to stop
drinking is successful for more than 5 years; a far cry from the 75%
reported by Bill W. in the Forward to Second Edition. The change in the
content of our meetings is proving to be misery-traps for the newcomer and
in turn, misery-traps for the groups that depend on the "discussion or
participation" type meetings.
Why is this? The answer is very simple. When meetings were opened so
that untreated alcoholics & non-alcoholics were given the opportunity to
express their ideas, their opinions, air their problems and tell how they
were told to do it where they came from, the confused newcomer became more
confused with the diversity of information that was being presented. More
and more they were encouraged to "just go to meetings and don't drink" or
worse yet, "go to 90 meetings in 90 days". The newcomer no longer was told
to take the Steps or get back out there and finish the job. In fact, they
are often told, "Don't rush into taking the Steps. Take your time." The
alcoholics who participated in the writing of the Big Book didn't wait.
They took the Steps in the first few days following their last drink. Thank
God, there are those in our Fellowship, like Joe & Charlie, Wally, etc.,
who have recognized the problem and have started doing something about it.
They are placing the focus back on the
Big Book.
There have always been a few groups that would not yield to the group
therapy trend. They stayed firm to their commitment to try to carry a
single message to the suffering alcoholic. That is to tell the newcomer "we
have had a spiritual awakening as the result of these Steps and if you want
to recover, we will see that you have a sponsor who has recovered and will
lead you along the path the 1st 100 laid down for us". Recovered
alcoholics have begun founding groups that have a single purpose and
inform the newcomer that until they have taken the steps and recovered,
they will not be permitted to say anything in meetings. They will listen to
recovered alcoholics, they will take the Steps, they will recover and then
they will try to pass their experience and knowledge on to the ones who are
seeking the kind of help we provide in Alcoholics Anonymous. As this
movement spreads, as it is beginning to, Alcoholics Anonymous will again be
very successful in doing the one thing God intended for us to do and that
is to help the suffering alcoholic recover, if he has decided he wants what
we have and is willing to go to any length to recover, to take and apply
our Twelve Steps to our lives and protect our Fellowship by honoring our
Twelve Traditions.
There is a tendency to want to place the blame for our predicament on
the treatment industry and professionals. They do what they do and it has
nothing to do with what we in Alcoholics Anonymous do. That is their
business. That is not where to place the blame and also is in violation of
our Tenth Tradition.
The real problem is that the members of Alcoholics Anonymous, who were
here when the "clients" began coming to our Fellowship did not help the
"clients" understand that our Program had been firmly established since
April 1939, and that the guidelines for the preservation and growth of our
Fellowship were adopted in 1950. That they must get rid of their new "old
ideas" and start practicing the Twelve Step Program of Alcoholics Anonymous
as it was given to us. That until they had taken the Steps and recovered,
they had nothing to say that needed to be heard except by their sponsor.
But that didn't happen. To the contrary, the old timers failed in their
responsibility to the newcomer to remind them of a vital truth, "Rarely
have we seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed our path. Those who
do not recover are people who cannot or will not completely give themselves
to this simple program." We have permitted untreated alcoholics and
non-alcoholics to sit in our meetings and
lay out their problems, ideas and opinions. We have gone from, "Rarely
have we seen a person fail" to "Seldom do we see a person recover".
So there we are. We have had 30 years of unbelievable success by
following the directions in the Big Book. We have had 30 years of
disappointing failure by wanting to hear from everyone. We now have
something to compare.
We now know what the problem is and we know what the solution is.
Unfortunately, we have not been prompt to correct the faults and mistakes,
which have been created by what would appear to be large doses of apathy
and complacency. The problem we are trying to live with is needlessly
killing alcoholics.
The Solution? The Power, greater than ourselves, that we find through
our Twelve Steps promises recovery for those who are willing to follow the
clear-cut directions in the Big Book.
Do you want to be a part of the problem or a part of the solution?
Simple, but not easy, a price has to be paid.
(author: Ken C.)
REACHING OUT
I made it into this program because someone else worked their Twelfth Step on me. Someone passed it on to me. Someone was out there after they got clean and sober, caring about others. I need to never, ever forget that. Had they simply gone on with their lives and forgotten about people like me who were still out there using and suffering, I wouldn’t be here today. My gratitude begins with that fact. It is with that gratitude in mind that I reach out to others, especially the newcomers. I need to have them in my life. That is where my spirituality begins.
For me, spirituality comes from caring about others. I have found that the more I focus on improving the quality of the lives of others, the less I am into myself and my will. I feel a freedom and peace from within. The gifts I am beginning to receive in my life are greater than I could have ever imagined.
Something else I have done is that I have forgiven myself. I have forgiven myself for being an addict. I have forgiven myself for all the damage I did to my life, to my physical health, and to my career and finances. But most of all, I have forgiven myself for all of the horrible, negative and unloving things I have felt about myself. It was not until I offered and accepted my own forgiveness, that I was truly able to grow in my sobriety.
Approved Literature Cocaine Anonymous World Services, Inc. Copyright © 2000-2007
I made it into this program because someone else worked their Twelfth Step on me. Someone passed it on to me. Someone was out there after they got clean and sober, caring about others. I need to never, ever forget that. Had they simply gone on with their lives and forgotten about people like me who were still out there using and suffering, I wouldn’t be here today. My gratitude begins with that fact. It is with that gratitude in mind that I reach out to others, especially the newcomers. I need to have them in my life. That is where my spirituality begins.
For me, spirituality comes from caring about others. I have found that the more I focus on improving the quality of the lives of others, the less I am into myself and my will. I feel a freedom and peace from within. The gifts I am beginning to receive in my life are greater than I could have ever imagined.
Something else I have done is that I have forgiven myself. I have forgiven myself for being an addict. I have forgiven myself for all the damage I did to my life, to my physical health, and to my career and finances. But most of all, I have forgiven myself for all of the horrible, negative and unloving things I have felt about myself. It was not until I offered and accepted my own forgiveness, that I was truly able to grow in my sobriety.
Approved Literature Cocaine Anonymous World Services, Inc. Copyright © 2000-2007
WHO IS A COCAINE ADDICT?
Some of us can answer without hesitation, “I am!” Others aren’t so sure. Cocaine Anonymous believes that no one can decide for another whether he or she is addicted. One thing is sure, though: every single one of us has denied being an addict. For months, for years, we who now freely admit that we are cocaine addicts thought that we could control cocaine when in fact it was controlling us.
“I only use on weekends,” or “It hardly ever interferes with work,” or “I can quit, it’s only psychologically addicting, right?” or “I only snort, I don’t base or shoot,” or “It’s this relationship that’s messing me up.”
Many of us are still perplexed to realize how long we went on, never getting the same high we got at the beginning, yet still insisting, and believing—so distorted was our reality—that we were getting from cocaine what actually always eluded us.
We went to any lengths to get away from being just ourselves. The lines got fatter; the grams went faster; the week’s stash was all used up today. We found ourselves scraping envelopes and baggies with razor blades, scratching the last flakes from the corners of brown bottles, snorting or smoking any white speck from the floor when we ran out. We, who prided ourselves on our fine-tuned state of mind! Nothing mattered more to us than the straw, the pipe, the needle. Even if it made us feel miserable, we had to have it.
Some of us mixed cocaine with alcohol or other drugs, and found temporary relief in the change, but in the end, it only compounded our problems. We tried quitting by ourselves, finally, and managed to do so for periods of time. After a month, we imagined we were in control. We thought our system was cleaned out and we could get the old high again, using half as much. This time, we’d be careful not to go overboard. But we only found ourselves back where we were before, and worse.
We never left the house without using first. We didn’t make love without using. We didn’t talk on the phone without coke. We couldn’t fall asleep; sometimes it seemed we couldn’t even breathe without cocaine. We tried changing jobs, apartments, cities, lovers—believing that our lives were being screwed up by circumstances, places, people. Perhaps we saw a cocaine friend die of respiratory arrest, and still we went on using! But eventually we had to face facts. We had to admit that cocaine was a serious problem in our lives, that we were addicts.
Reprinted from the pamphlet To the Newcomer.
Approved Literature Cocaine Anonymous World Services, Inc. Copyright © 1992-2007
Some of us can answer without hesitation, “I am!” Others aren’t so sure. Cocaine Anonymous believes that no one can decide for another whether he or she is addicted. One thing is sure, though: every single one of us has denied being an addict. For months, for years, we who now freely admit that we are cocaine addicts thought that we could control cocaine when in fact it was controlling us.
“I only use on weekends,” or “It hardly ever interferes with work,” or “I can quit, it’s only psychologically addicting, right?” or “I only snort, I don’t base or shoot,” or “It’s this relationship that’s messing me up.”
Many of us are still perplexed to realize how long we went on, never getting the same high we got at the beginning, yet still insisting, and believing—so distorted was our reality—that we were getting from cocaine what actually always eluded us.
We went to any lengths to get away from being just ourselves. The lines got fatter; the grams went faster; the week’s stash was all used up today. We found ourselves scraping envelopes and baggies with razor blades, scratching the last flakes from the corners of brown bottles, snorting or smoking any white speck from the floor when we ran out. We, who prided ourselves on our fine-tuned state of mind! Nothing mattered more to us than the straw, the pipe, the needle. Even if it made us feel miserable, we had to have it.
Some of us mixed cocaine with alcohol or other drugs, and found temporary relief in the change, but in the end, it only compounded our problems. We tried quitting by ourselves, finally, and managed to do so for periods of time. After a month, we imagined we were in control. We thought our system was cleaned out and we could get the old high again, using half as much. This time, we’d be careful not to go overboard. But we only found ourselves back where we were before, and worse.
We never left the house without using first. We didn’t make love without using. We didn’t talk on the phone without coke. We couldn’t fall asleep; sometimes it seemed we couldn’t even breathe without cocaine. We tried changing jobs, apartments, cities, lovers—believing that our lives were being screwed up by circumstances, places, people. Perhaps we saw a cocaine friend die of respiratory arrest, and still we went on using! But eventually we had to face facts. We had to admit that cocaine was a serious problem in our lives, that we were addicts.
Reprinted from the pamphlet To the Newcomer.
Approved Literature Cocaine Anonymous World Services, Inc. Copyright © 1992-2007
THE TWELVE TRADITIONS
1.Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon C.A. 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 C.A. membership is a desire to stop using cocaine and all
other mind-altering substances. 4.Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or C.A.
as a whole. 5.Each group has but one primary purpose—to carry its message to the addict who
still suffers. 6.A C.A. group ought never endorse, finance, or lend the C.A. name to any related
facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property and prestige divert us
from our primary purpose. 7.Every C.A. group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions. 8.Cocaine Anonymous should remain forever nonprofessional, but our service centers
may employ special workers. 9.C.A., as such, ought never be organized; but we may create service boards or
committees directly responsible to those they serve. 10. Cocaine Anonymous has no opinion on outside issues; hence the C.A. 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, television and films. 12. Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our Traditions, ever reminding us to place
principles before personalities.
The Twelve Traditions are reprinted and adapted with permission of Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. Permission to reprint and adapt the Twelve Traditions does not mean that A.A. is affiliated with this program. A.A. is a program of recovery from alcoholism. Use of the Traditions in connection with programs and activities which are patterned after A.A. but which address other problems does not imply otherwise.
Approved Literature Cocaine Anonymous World Services, Inc. Copyright © 1994
1.Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon C.A. 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 C.A. membership is a desire to stop using cocaine and all
other mind-altering substances. 4.Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or C.A.
as a whole. 5.Each group has but one primary purpose—to carry its message to the addict who
still suffers. 6.A C.A. group ought never endorse, finance, or lend the C.A. name to any related
facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property and prestige divert us
from our primary purpose. 7.Every C.A. group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions. 8.Cocaine Anonymous should remain forever nonprofessional, but our service centers
may employ special workers. 9.C.A., as such, ought never be organized; but we may create service boards or
committees directly responsible to those they serve. 10. Cocaine Anonymous has no opinion on outside issues; hence the C.A. 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, television and films. 12. Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our Traditions, ever reminding us to place
principles before personalities.
The Twelve Traditions are reprinted and adapted with permission of Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. Permission to reprint and adapt the Twelve Traditions does not mean that A.A. is affiliated with this program. A.A. is a program of recovery from alcoholism. Use of the Traditions in connection with programs and activities which are patterned after A.A. but which address other problems does not imply otherwise.
Approved Literature Cocaine Anonymous World Services, Inc. Copyright © 1994
WE CAN RECOVER
Welcome to Cocaine Anonymous. We are all here for the same reason—our inability to stop using cocaine and all other mind-altering substances. The first step towards solving any problem is admitting that there is a problem.
The problem, as we see it, consists of an obsession of the mind and an allergy of the body. The obsession is a continued and irresistible thought of cocaine and the next high. The allergy creates an absolute inability to stop using once we begin.
We wish to assure you that there is a solution and that recovery is possible. It begins with abstinence and continues with practicing the Twelve Steps of recovery, one day at a time. Our program, the Twelve Steps of Cocaine Anonymous, is the means by which we move from the problem of drug addiction to the solution of recovery.
1.We admitted we were powerless over cocaine and all other mind-altering substances—that our lives had become unmanageable.
2.Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. 3.Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we
understood Him. 4.Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. 5.Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of
our wrongs. 6.Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character. 7.Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings. 8.Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends
to them all. 9.Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so
would injure them or others. 10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly
admitted it. 11. 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.
Cocaine Anonymous is a spiritual program, not a religious one. In C.A. we believe each individual can choose a Higher Power of his or her own. In short, a God of his or her own understanding.
No one comes into Cocaine Anonymous to find God. We came into these rooms to get rid of a terrifying drug habit. Look around this room. You are surrounded by people who came as a last resort. We came into these rooms emotionally, financially and spiritually bankrupt. We have experienced all sorts of tragedies as a result of cocaine,
drugs and/or alcohol. We have lived many of the same horrors you have, yet today we are free from the misery, terror and pain of addiction.
Maybe some of us were worse off than you; maybe some of us didn’t hit as low a bottom as you. Still the fact remains that those of us who are recovering have come to believe that a Higher Power of our own understanding can restore us to sanity.
There is a solution; we can recover from addiction. One day at a time, it is possible to live a life filled with hope, faith and courage.
The Twelve Steps are reprinted and adapted with permission of Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. Permission to reprint and adapt the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous does not mean that A.A. is affiliated with this program. A.A. is a program of recovery from alcoholism. Use of the Steps and Traditions in connection with programs and activities which are patterned after A.A. but which address other problems does not imply otherwise.
Approved Literature Cocaine Anonymous World Services, Inc. Copyright © 2000-2007
Welcome to Cocaine Anonymous. We are all here for the same reason—our inability to stop using cocaine and all other mind-altering substances. The first step towards solving any problem is admitting that there is a problem.
The problem, as we see it, consists of an obsession of the mind and an allergy of the body. The obsession is a continued and irresistible thought of cocaine and the next high. The allergy creates an absolute inability to stop using once we begin.
We wish to assure you that there is a solution and that recovery is possible. It begins with abstinence and continues with practicing the Twelve Steps of recovery, one day at a time. Our program, the Twelve Steps of Cocaine Anonymous, is the means by which we move from the problem of drug addiction to the solution of recovery.
1.We admitted we were powerless over cocaine and all other mind-altering substances—that our lives had become unmanageable.
2.Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. 3.Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we
understood Him. 4.Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. 5.Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of
our wrongs. 6.Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character. 7.Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings. 8.Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends
to them all. 9.Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so
would injure them or others. 10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly
admitted it. 11. 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.
Cocaine Anonymous is a spiritual program, not a religious one. In C.A. we believe each individual can choose a Higher Power of his or her own. In short, a God of his or her own understanding.
No one comes into Cocaine Anonymous to find God. We came into these rooms to get rid of a terrifying drug habit. Look around this room. You are surrounded by people who came as a last resort. We came into these rooms emotionally, financially and spiritually bankrupt. We have experienced all sorts of tragedies as a result of cocaine,
drugs and/or alcohol. We have lived many of the same horrors you have, yet today we are free from the misery, terror and pain of addiction.
Maybe some of us were worse off than you; maybe some of us didn’t hit as low a bottom as you. Still the fact remains that those of us who are recovering have come to believe that a Higher Power of our own understanding can restore us to sanity.
There is a solution; we can recover from addiction. One day at a time, it is possible to live a life filled with hope, faith and courage.
The Twelve Steps are reprinted and adapted with permission of Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. Permission to reprint and adapt the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous does not mean that A.A. is affiliated with this program. A.A. is a program of recovery from alcoholism. Use of the Steps and Traditions in connection with programs and activities which are patterned after A.A. but which address other problems does not imply otherwise.
Approved Literature Cocaine Anonymous World Services, Inc. Copyright © 2000-2007
