Gri Kitap Yansīmasī
that the time has come when the tired old lie, "Once an addict, always an addict", will no longer be tolerated by either society or the addict himself. We do recover.
Gray Book, p. 133 (Chapter Eight, Header, Last Line)
Society in the past viewed addicts as social menaces. The disease of addiction manifest itself in unsavory behaviors. Our Literature tells us that the disease of addiction aggravated our character defects and reinforced personality disorders.
So for a long time it was considered a moral dilemma. Society including our Friends and Families thought that addicts were weak willed people.
They thought as addicts we had a choice in this matter. Our Gray Book says, "The term "drug addict" conjured up visions of street crime, fear of the law, and needles. Our belief was that the drug addict lived in a skid-row environment." The disease of addiction expresses itself in ways that are antisocial and make detection, diagnosis and treatment difficult.
In 1953 a Fellowship and a Program were formed to treat those who suffered from addiction in the form of drug use. The Spiritually Based Twelve Step and Twelve Traditions of Narcotics Anonymous arrests and treats our disease. Thousands and Thousands of addicts have Recovered to Live drug free Lives.
Narcotics Anonymous also provides a blueprint for Living a Happy, Joyous and Free Life. The Program of Narcotics Anonymous stretches all over the World offering the Message of Hope and Promise of Freedom to all those that make the effort to get it. The Recovering addict is a Vision of Hope.
The World and the addict him or herself will no longer tolerate that old lie, "once an addict always an addict. " We Do Recover.
In This Moment: With The God Of Our Own Understanding and the Fellowship of Narcotics Anonymous We will Recover to Live Clean and Healthy Lives.