Cocaine Anonymous in Minnesota 

Cocaine Anonymous is a fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from their addiction. The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop using cocaine and all other mind-altering substances. There are no dues or fees for membership; we are fully self supporting through our own contributions. 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. Our primary purpose is to stay free from cocaine and all other mind-altering substances, and to help others achieve the same freedom.

C.A. is concerned solely with the personal recovery and continued sobriety of individual drug addicts who turn to our Fellowship for help. We do not engage in the fields of drug addiction research, medical or psychiatric treatment, drug education, or propaganda in any form — although members may participate in such activities as individuals.

Cocaine Anonymous is open to all persons who state a desire to stop using cocaine, including "crack" cocaine, as well as all other mind-altering substances. There are no dues or fees for membership. Our expenses are supported by the voluntary contributions of our members — we respectfully decline all outside contributions. We are not allied with any sect, denomination, politics, organization or institution.

Our program of recovery was adapted from the program developed by Alcoholics Anonymous in 1935. Like AA (with which we are not affiliated), we use the Twelve Step recovery method, which involves service to others as a path towards recovery from addiction. We feel that one addict talking to another can provide a level of mutual understanding and fellowship that is hard to obtain through other methods. The fact that an individual has recovered from their addiction, and is freely passing this experience on to the next person, is a powerful message for someone who is desperately searching for an answer to their own addiction. There emerges a bond among us that transcends all other social boundaries. We hold regular meetings to further this fellowship, and to allow new members to find us and, perhaps, the answers they seek.

Cocaine Anonymous began in Los Angeles in 1982, and has since expanded throughout the United States and Canada, with groups now forming in Europe. Our literature is available in English, French, and Spanish and our first book “Hope, Faith and Courage: Stories from the Fellowship of Cocaine Anonymous” was published in 1994. As of 1996, we estimated our membership at 30,000 members in over 2,000 groups.

Cocaine Anonymous is a Fellowship of, by, and for addicts seeking recovery. Friends and family of addicts should contact Co-Anon Family Groups, a Fellowship dedicated to their much different needs.

The Twelve Steps describe the Program of Recovery used by Cocaine Anonymous

1. 1.  We admitted we were powerless over cocaine and all other mind-altering substances — that our lives had become unmanageable.
2. 2.  Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
3. 3.  Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
4. 4.  Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5. 5.  Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
6. 6.  Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
7. 7.  Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
8. 8.  Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
9. 9.  Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
10. 10.  Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
11. 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. 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.

1. 1.  Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon C.A. unity.
2. 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. 3.  The only requirement for C.A. membership is a desire to stop using cocaine and all other mind-altering substances.
4. 4.  Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or C.A. as a whole.
5. 5.  Each group has but one primary purpose — to carry its message to the addict who still suffers.
6. 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. 7.  Every C.A. group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions.
8. 8.  Cocaine Anonymous should remain forever nonprofessional, but our service centers may employ special workers.
9. 9.  C.A., as such, ought never be organized; but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve.
10. 10.  Cocaine Anonymous has no opinion on outside issues; hence the C.A. name ought never be drawn into public controversy.
11. 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. 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 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 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 2003.

This site Copyright © 1996-2021 Cocaine Anonymous World Services, Inc. “C.A.”, “Cocaine Anonymous” and the C.A. Logo are registered trademarks of Cocaine Anonymous World Services, Inc. All rights reserved.