What is CA

Sunday, 21 February 2010 23:49

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.

Our primary purpose is to stay free from cocaine and all other mind-altering substances and to help others achieve the same freedom.

The only purpose of Cocaine Anonymous is to offer recovery to individuals who are suffering from addiction. Our experience has shown that the most effective way to attain and maintain sobriety is to work with others suffering from the same malady.

We use the twelve step recovery program because it has already been proven that the twelve step recovery program works.

The Steps of C.A. are adapted from the original Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. The steps of Cocaine Anonymous read:

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

Additional literature is available for more information on C.A.'s Twelve Steps.

PREAMBLE

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 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.

We use the Twelve Steps of Recovery because it has already been proven that the Twelve Step Recovery Program works.

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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...

Who Is a Cocaine Addict?

Some of us can answer without hesitation, "I am!" Others aren't so sure. Cocaine Anonymous believes that no one can decide for another whether he or she is addicted. One thing is sure, though; every single one of us has denied being an addict. For months, for years, we who now freely admit that we are...

Welcome to Cocaine Anonymous!

We are all here for the same reason - our inability to stop using cocaine. The first step towards solving any problem is understanding the problem. The Problem The Problem, as we see it, consists of an obsession of the mind and a compulsion of the body. The obsession is a continued and irresistible thought...

This section describes one method for taking the Twelve Steps of Cocaine Anonymous. To help us work the Twelve Steps, Cocaine Anonymous uses a text entitled Alcoholics Anonymous, commonly referred to as "the Big Book." When studying this text, some of us find it useful to substitute the word "cocaine" for "alcohol" and the word "using" for "drinking," although...

There comes a time when the cocaine stops working--a time when the coke, the other drugs, and all the madness become unbearable. By then, you just can't stop, so you manage to score and somehow survive and keep on using because, although it's killing you, cocaine has become the most important thing in your life. If you somehow, some way, get a break...

As a newcomer, you may have thought or said, "What's this talk about God? I came here to stop using cocaine, not to join a new religion." Don't feel alone. Many of us were put off with the talk about God when we first came to meetings. It is easy enough to confuse the word spirituality with religion. As it relates to God, Cocaine Anonymous is a spiritual program,...

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Here are some tips to help you stay clean and sober... Take the 12 Steps of Cocaine Anonymous. Go to 90 meetings in 90 days. Don't use between meetings. Don't drink or use no matter what. Throw away all your drug paraphernalia. Get a sponsor. Call your sponsor every day. Avoid people, places and things that you associate with drug use. Don't deal drugs. Get phone numbers and use them. If no one is home, and you're in trouble, call the Hotline. Be...

Why Sponsorship? By this time you may have gone to meetings and heard lots of talk about working the Steps, a power greater than ourselves and getting a sponsor. You may also have become aware that Cocaine Anonymous is based on the Twelve...

" ... we aren't a glum lot. If newcomers could see no joy or fun in our existence, they wouldn't want it. We absolutely insist on enjoying life." 1 One of the most surprising things a newcomer may hear at a C.A. meeting is the sound of laughter. How is it possible that the same people who probably started drinking or using drugs in the pursuit of a good time are now having an even better time without mind-altering substances? At first out of necessity, and then from an honest desire to be open to new experiences,...

In addition to finding a spiritual way of life, recovery is about changing negative aspects of our personalities into positive ones. We came into the program with big egos but little or no self-esteem. We thought we were better than other people yet, at the same time, felt "less than." We were people who took from others and abused friendships all of our lives. We had no concept of doing anything for anyone without the thought of some kind of reward. By the sheer grace of our Higher Powers, we have found...

"At first it was fun. Then it reached the point where every time I used, I had chest pains and my heart beat would go crazy; and yet I couldn't stop." "There I lay in the hospital, almost dead from an overdose. My heart felt like it was about to jump out of my chest and yet all I could think about was getting another hit." "I couldn't stop until my whole paycheck was gone. I promised myself that next week it would be different -- 'I'll only do one' -- but one turned into two, two turned into three, and...

STEP ONE: We admitted we were powerless over cocaine and all other mind-altering substances — that our lives had become unmanageable. TRADITION THREE: The only requirement for C.A. membership is a desire to stop using cocaine and all other mind-altering substances. Many people come to Cocaine Anonymous thinking one of two things: "I rarely (or never) even used cocaine. I don't think I belong here," or "What exactly does the 'and all other mind-altering substances' part mean? I came to Cocaine Anonymous...

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Hope, Faith and Courage: Stories from the Fellowship of Cocaine Anonymous was first published in 1994. As its title suggests, this powerful collection of stories delivers the message of recovery as it has been experienced by members of our fellowship, in their own words. The following excerpt from Hope, Faith and Courage is often read at meetings of Cocaine Anonymous: Reaching Out I made it into this Program because someone else worked their Twelfth Step on me. Someone passed it on to me. Someone was...

BECOMING PART OF
It is the common experience for many of us to feel like we didn't fit in anywhere. Drugs gave us that instantaneous feeling of belonging. When we get sober, that drug-induced feeling of belonging disappears. Finding a group of sober people we can relate to is a new start for us. We go to meetings as often as possible, preferably every day. Before long, we find we are most comfortable at one particular meeting. Because we feel "at home" there, we join the home group and commit to attending...

Unity is a common bond that transcends all differences. We've discovered no matter how different our circumstances or the paths that brought us here, we all suffer from the same disease: addiction. We admitted our lack of power and accepted that we could not recover alone. The strength and direction of our recovery is found in our unity. We are people who might never have mixed. Addiction and recovery are the threads that bind us. We relate to such feelings as grandiosity, insecurity, jealousy, and false pride and...

Every C.A. group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions. Where does the money in the basket go? You are like many of us when we first came into the rooms of Cocaine Anonymous — we put our money into the basket and then we saw that one person who we thought was the boss or president of C.A. take the money and put it into an envelope or into his or her pocket or pocketbook. At first, this did not seem to be a big deal; then, we came to a point at which we wondered what happened to...

Our primary purpose is to carry the message of recovery to the addict who still suffers. One way we do this is by holding meetings in Hospitals and Institutions for people who are not able to attend outside meetings. Institutions served may include, but not be limited to, correctional facilities, sanitariums, detox units, juvenile detention centers, half-way houses and shelters; either governmental or private. Confinement may be voluntary or involuntary. Through working with others in H & I's, members...

In the ancient world, when children were discovered to be deaf, they were often disowned and left to die or fend for themselves. Currently, six to ten percent of the United States' general population are deaf or hard of hearing. Of that number, ten percent are addicts and/or alcoholics (approximately 2 million). Without access to a program of recovery, this very large group of people are again, left to die or fend for themselves. Cocaine Anonymous' preamble states that "our primary purpose...