ABOUT
US
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 recover from their addiction.
The best way to reach someone is to speak to them on a common level. The members of C.A. are all recovering addicts who maintain their individual sobriety by working with others. We come from various social, ethnic, economic and religious backgrounds, but what we have in common is addiction.
The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop using cocaine and all other mind-altering substances.
Anyone who wants to stop using cocaine and all other mind-altering substances (including alcohol and other drugs) is welcome.
There are no dues or fees for membership; we are fully self-supporting through our own contributions.
We do ask for voluntary contributions at meetings to cover expenses such as coffee, rent, literature and services to help those who are still suffering. However, newcomers need not feel obligated to contribute. We do not accept donations from organizations or individuals outside the Fellowship.
We are not allied with any sect, denomination, politics, organization or institution.
In order to maintain our integrity and avoid any possible complications, we are not affiliated with any outside organization. Although C.A. is a spiritual program, we do not align ourselves with any religion. Our members are free to define their spirituality as they see fit. Our individual members may have opinions of their own, but C.A. as a whole has no opinion on outside issues. We are not affiliated with any rehabs, recovery houses or hospitals, but many do refer their patients to Cocaine Anonymous to maintain their sobriety.
WE CAN
RECOVER
Welcome to Cocaine Anonymous.
We are all here for the same reason - our inability to stop using cocaine or any other mind-altering substance. The first step in solving any problem is to admit that there is a problem.
The problem, as we see it, is an obsession of the mind and an allergy of the body. The obsession with the substance of our choice is a continuous and irresistible thought of the next consumption. Allergy creates an absolute inability to stop using once we start. We want to assure you that there is a solution and that recovery is possible. It starts with abstinence and continues with practicing the Twelve Steps of recovery, one day at a time. Our program, the Twelve Steps of Cocaine Anonymous, is the means by which we move from the problem of adding the drug to the solution of recovery
WHO IS
A CA MEMBER
Although the name “Cocaine Anonymous” may sound like a specific drug, we want to assure you that our program is not. Many of our members used a lot of cocaine; others used only a little, and some never even tried coca. We have members who drank only occasionally, those who casually referred to themselves as drunk, and others who were lost alcoholics. Many of us used a wide variety of mood-altering substances, calling us janadus, beetles, drug addicts or just friends of the drug. Whether we were focused on a specific substance or used everything we put our hands on, we had one thing in common: eventually we all got to the point where we couldn't stop. According to the Third Tradition of C.A., the only requirement for membership is a desire to stop using cocaine and all other mood-altering substances. Whatever you have used, if I brought you to this meeting, you are probably in the right place. Over time, virtually every one of us has realized that our real problem is not cocaine or any specific drug, it is the disease of addiction. It may be tempting to focus on our differences rather than our similarities, but this can- blind us from potential sources of support in our recovery. Listening to other members' stories, the most important question we should ask ourselves is not, "Could I have fun with these people?" but rather, "Do these people have the solution that can help me sober up?" We encourage you to stick around and listen with an open mind. With its comprehensive Third Tradition and First Step, Cocaine Anonymous welcomes anyone with a drug or alcohol problem and offers a solution. The Twelve Steps of C.A are not for a specific drug, and Cocaine Anonymous is not a Brotherhood of a specific drug, we don't care if you drank or what kind of drugs you used; if you have the desire to stop, you are welcome here.
WHO IS AN
ADDICT
Who is a Cocaine Addict?
Some of us may respond without hesitation, "I am!" Others are not so sure. Cocaine Anonymous believes That no one can decide for someone else whether he or she is an addict.
One thing is certain: any of us denied being an addict. For months, for years, we who now freely admit that we are addicted to cocaine thought that we could control cocaine when, in fact, it controlled us. "I only use it on weekends," or "It almost never interferes with work," or "I can stop, it's just a psychological addiction, right?" Or "I just smell, I don't do foundation or inject," or "It's this relationship that is moving me." Many of us are still perplexed to realize how long we have gone on, never picking up the same stone we picked up at the beginning, yet insisting, and believing - so distorted our reality was - that we were receiving from cocaine what really always eluded us . We went to extremes to escape being just ourselves. The lines became thicker; the grasses are gone more quickly; what we had for the week was all used in one day. We found ourselves scraping envelopes and bags with razor blades, scraping the last flakes from the corner of brown bottles, smelling or smoking any white particle on the floor when it was over. We, who are proud of our perfect state of mind! Nothing mattered more to us than the straw, the pipe, the needle. Even if it made us feel miserable, we had to have it. Some of us mix cocaine with alcohol or other drugs, finding temporary relief from the change, but in the end, it only exacerbates our problems. We tried to stop by ourselves, finally, and managed to do it for periods of time. After a month, we imagined that we were in control. We thought our system was clean and we could take the same stone again, using only half. This time, we were careful not to overdo it. But we met again as we had been, or worse.
We never left the house without using it first. We didn't make love without using. We didn't talk on the phone without coke. We cannot fall asleep; sometimes it felt like we couldn't even breathe without cocaine. We tried to change jobs, apartments, cities, lovers - believing that our lives were turned inside out by circumstances, places, people. We may have seen a cocaine friend die from respiratory arrest, and we still use it! But eventually we had to face the facts. We had to admit that cocaine was a serious problem in our lives, that we were addicts.