Addiction recovery support groups arise from particular historical circumstances that seemingly apply philosophical and prolonged effects on the character of the fellowship. For instance, Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) is best appreciated against the backdrop of the reversal of Prohibitions and the impact of the Great Depression (Hart & Kisr, 2013). The historical context of Narcotics Anonymous (N.A.) is best considered in the cultural setting of the 1950s. It was the decade that alcohol, tobacco, and caffeine attained the rank of culturally acceptable drugs, granted over the counter and prescribed psychoactive drugs were exploding the markets of pharmaceuticals producing them by the millions (Hart & Kisr, 2013). Subsequently, cannabis and heroin …show more content…
meetings grew from the Alcoholics Anonymous Program of the later 1940s (Narcotics Anonymous, 2014). NA does not have any books about their history like A.A. has. Many individuals with drug and drinking issues formally practiced sobriety through Alcoholic Anonymous (Verde Valley Narcotics Anonymous, 2016). In 1944, it was reported that the cofounder of A.A., Bill W. suggested a separate society for individuals with addiction to drugs (Verde Valley Narcotics Anonymous, 2016). Jimmy Kinnon is credited with the founding of NA, which was initially called AA/NA (Verde Valley Narcotics Anonymous, 2016). The AA/NA meetings began to develop in Los Angeles California, and it was officially founded in 1953 (Narcotics Anonymous, 2014). A.A. gave permission to N.A. to use the steps and traditions, with the stipulation that they drop “A.A.” before their name (Verde Valley Narcotics Anonymous, 2016). For the first twenty years, the growth of the organization was slow; however, the number of groups and members began to increase dramatically after the publication of their “Basic Text” (1983) (Narcotics Anonymous, 2014). Today, the Fellowship is a worldwide multilingual, and multicultural society boasting of more than 63,000 meetings a week and continues to grow (Narcotics Anonymous,