Greg interviews Michael, a Summit County Narcotics-Anonymous Member. Nar-Anon provides a community for those who have felt the agony of seeing a friend or family member struggle with drug addiction. The Nar-Anon program itself consists of twelve steps, centered around grace, wisdom and love.

Michael shares his own daughter’s struggle with addiction and the knowledge he has gained from the experience. He explains how he felt totally alone and broken. He wanted to help his daughter, but couldn’t. “I could give her no help during her addiction, because I was addicted to her addiction…When someone you love has any problem, it’s your problem…It’s a loving instinct for most of us, to help our loved one through a disease,” says Michael.

Through Nar-Anon, Michael found a twelve-step program that helped him realize three vital things about himself: he didn’t cause his daughter’s addiction, he can’t control his daughter’s addiction and he can’t cure his daughter’s addiction. Only after admitting the “Three C’s” was he able to start on the road of recovery after becoming addicted to her addiction.

He notes how he felt meeting with others also struggling with another’s addiction. “When I walked into the rooms of Nar-Anon, I knew I wasn’t alone. No longer did I have to worry about talking to people who didn’t understand. Together we shared laughter, tears and hope,” says Michael.

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Here is a list of local Narcotics Anonymous Groups and Meetings

Nar-Anonhttp://www.nar-anon.org/

NA Western Reserve Areahttp://www.wrascna.org/

NA Buckeye Regionhttp://nabuckeye.org/Home_Page.php

NA Ohiohttp://www.naohio.org/

NA Midwest Zonal Forumhttp://mzfna.org/

Narcotics Anonymous World Serviceshttp://www.naws.org/meetingsearch/