All 12 step programs are derived from the original 12 step program called Alcoholics Anonymous. The Alcoholics Anonymous book was first published in 1939. Because of this success, people with other addictions have adopted the 12 steps to help them with their particular addiction. Some examples of other 12 step programs and may be familiar are Narcotics Anonymous, Overeaters Anonymous, Co-Dependents Anonymous, Sex Addicts Anonymous, Debtors Anonymous, and Gamblers Anonymous. Narcotics Anonymous sprang from the Alcoholics Anonymous Program of the late 1940s, with NA meetings first emerging in the Los Angeles area of California in the early 1950s. The NA program started as a small organization that has grown into one of the world's oldest and largest international organizations of its type. For many years, NA grew very slowly, spreading from Los Angeles to other major North American cities and Australia in the early 1970s. Within a few years, groups had formed in Brazil, Colombia, Germany, India, the Irish Republic, Japan, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. In 1983, Narcotics Anonymous published its self-titled book "the Basic Text" which contributed to its tremendous growth; by year's end, NA had grown to more than a dozen countries and had 2,966 meetings. Today, Narcotics Anonymous is well established throughout much of North and South America, Western Europe, Australia, the Middle East, New Zealand, and Eastern Europe. Newly formed groups and NA communities can be found scattered throughout the Indian subcontinent, Africa, and East Asia. Today the organization is truly a worldwide multilingual, multicultural fellowship with more than 50,000 weekly meetings in 130 countries.

Narcotics Anonymous books and information pamphlets are currently available in 36 languages, with translations in process for 16 languages (http://www.na.org/?ID=Home-basicinfo) The Narcotics Anonymous website lists several key factors about the program:

1. Membership is open to all drug addicts, regardless of the particular drug or combination of drugs used.

2. The program provides a recovery process and a peer support network.

3. Core components of the program include sharing one's own story, discussing how the program has worked for that individual, and working with other addicts.

4. It is not a religious program, but is based on spiritual principles that can be applied to everyday life.

5. The program encourages complete and continuous abstinence from addictive mood altering drugs.

6. Attendance at meetings is voluntary and no attendance records are kept.

7. All ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds are represented in the program. 12 step programs provide a set of guiding principles for a course of action that has the potential to help the participant achieve a state of recovery. The American Psychological Association summarizes the process in this way:

• admitting that one cannot control one's addiction or compulsion

• recognizing that a greater power can give strength

• examining past errors with the help of a sponsor (an experienced member)

• making amends for these errors

• learning to live a new life with a new code of behavior

• helping others that suffer from the same addictions or compulsions.

One of the cofounders of Alcoholics Anonymous, Dr. Bob, summarize it this way: "Trust God, clean house, help others".

For a more extensive explanation of the AA program, refer to Alcoholics Anonymous in the topic index of soberMD.