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Written by Marcel Gemme C.C.D.C

Narcotics Anonymous Literature

Narcotics Anonymous got off to a rocky start when was in dire need of literature. Of course, there had been the Yellow Booklet, followed by the Little White Booklet and then the Little White Book. Those were the primary books used in the 1960s and 1970s. And although they were really the heart of NA back then, the members were really looking for more in depth literature, along the lines of The Big Book that was used in Alcoholics Anonymous. Most of the earlier books were written by Jimmy K.

So the organization of Narcotics Anonymous decided to write NA Basic Text and used the Little White Book as the outline for the book. This book, instead of being written by just one member, was a massive collaboration of hundreds of people, most of them recovered addicts. The first publication of the NA Basic Text was released in 1983.

There were many editions that followed over certain controversies in the text. By 1987, the book was already at its 4th edition, which still had major problems. The quality control was lacking, and the editing was not done properly, there were parts of the text missing and several other problems. That is why in 1988, a 5th edition was done, correcting these mistakes.

This 5th edition of the NA Basic Text is the most widely used if all editions. This book was translated in 30 languages in order to accommodate the groups in the various countries. Millions of copies have been sold worldwide. Many of the people in Narcotics Anonymous have used this book to help through the whole process of getting clean.

In 2004, they wanted to revise the NA Basic Text; the 6th edition of the book came out in 2008.

Source: http://na.org/