The 2023 Conference Agenda Report (CAR) contains many lies perpetuated by the NAWS Corporation. Within the CAR report is one lie regarding the lawsuit with the Autonomous Region. The truth is that there is no lawsuit. To understand why The Corporation is lying, you must go back thirty years in the history of Narcotics Anonymous and learn about the Fellowship Intellectual Property Trust (FIPT).
Narcotics Anonymous formed a Board of Trustees in the 1960s, and a World Service Office in the 1970s. The first World Service Conference was in 1972 where Groups could meet to deal with the growing Fellowship. Members could quickly rise to leadership roles in the rapidly growing fellowship, particularly if they had been a member for a long time. the World Service Office (WSO), Inc (represented by a Board of Directors) and the Board of Trustees would eventually amalgamate to become the NAWS Corporation in 1998. Some members from that early time positioned themselves in Leadership roles within the service structures for Narcotics Anonymous for the wrong reasons.
Grateful Dave
Dave Moorhead, better known as ‘Grateful Dave’ successfully secured the rights of members and groups to freely print and distribute literature in a court of law. This fact is not well known to many members today. Dave was acting on the Group Conscience of his home group to produce and distribute NA literature. Many members and Groups were part of the free literature movement within the Fellowship of Narcotics Anonymous. The Corporation sued Dave as an individual. A settlement was reached on the advice of the presiding judge who sought to avoid a division within the Fellowship. Dave was interested in restoring unity and the corporation was interested in avoiding a long, costly legal battle. The Corporation entered into an agreement with Dave in 1990. The agreement was reached between the two parties at the encouragement of the Judge who presided over the court case. Judge Pollak also believed a legal battle would create a rift within the Fellowship. Unfortunately, the corporation failed to fulfill their legal obligations. Dave needed to pursue them in court but died before the corporation could be found in contempt of the court approved agreement. With Dave’s demise, there was no one to hold the corporation accountable. You can review many of the legal documents here at https://nahistorytree.com/wso-vs-moorhead/. There are additional resources at the Narcotics Anonymous Upper Cumberland Area website here http://www.nauca.us/na-historical-documents/history-of-the-basic-text/baby-blue/.
The Seeds of Disunity Grow
The prestige of those involved within the leadership of the corporation, and growing profits were now in jeopardy if the truth came out. Board members and longtime members were much sought after speakers at conventions. The corporate travel budget was growing as rapidly as were the egos of those involved in mapping the Future of the NAWS Corporation. There were regional leaders who support NAWS and supported the addiction to power across the United States. Some of those who believed in Narcotics Anonymous were turned off by the lack of spiritual principles displayed. Many simply returned to the front lines of Narcotics Anonymous to support groups and carry the message to newcomers. Power is a dangerous drug particularly to those with a history of addiction. Support for the World Service Conference was already eroding. Fewer groups participate with each passing year. Support of the corporation earned you respect and privileges from the leadership structures created.
To combat the truth, the Corporation created a document called the Fellowship Intellectual Property Trust. This document was created by the corporation to create the illusion that they were the sole trustees of the Narcotics Anonymous logos, images and literature. Trusts are created to protect the Trustor, by empowering the trustee to act on behalf of the trustor. The first executive director of the corporation needed to be eliminated because of the insider knowledge he held. His name was Bob Stone and he was fired without cause. There are details of corruption in his book ‘My Years with Narcotics Anonymous’ available here http://www.nauca.us/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/1997-My-Years-With-NA-by-Bob-Stone.pdf. He died under suspicious circumstances as the book was being written and edited. It was published after his death. You can read details of his life here at https://nahistorytree.com/bob-stone/. Clearly defined leadership roles within a spiritual organization can lead to abuse of power. Many cults come from unhealthy power structures within spiritual organizations.
I documented my own experiences in my book, ‘Cult of NAWS’
I feel very grateful to have experienced the cult mentality of some members. The Merriam/Webster Dictionary online offers one definition of cult as;
“a system for the cure of disease based on dogma set forth by its promulgator”
[https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cult]
I had to look up promulgator as well.
“(law) one who promulgates laws (announces a law as a way of putting it into execution)”
“law, jurisprudence – the collection of rules imposed by authority; ‘civilization presupposes respect for the law’; ‘the great problem for jurisprudence to allow freedom while enforcing order’”
“lawgiver, lawmaker – a maker of laws; someone who gives a code of laws”
[https://www.thefreedictionary.com/promulgator]
I cringed when I read this because of my own behaviors. Some days I feel terrible about myself because I was caught up in ego and no longer sharing my experience, strength and hope. I often become a promulgator. My humility opened the door to empathy to others who suffered in a similar way.
‘Cult of NAWS’, Available on Amazon
FIPT Failure
The FIPT was an ineffective tool. The Free Literature Movement within the Fellowship of Narcotics Anonymous grew because the corporation could not enforce the FIPT in court. Overseas, far from the corporation, the Fellowship continued to grow as well. Iran began translating and distributing a significant amount of literature as early as 1998 without the knowledge or consent of the Corporation. Brazil also translated and produced significant amounts of literature. Literature development, translation and distribution increased globally outside the sphere of the corporation. The corporation consolidated its power base by using profits to maintain their image and increase the divide within the Fellowship as the years went by. There were more trips abroad to secure the illusion of control. Like the flying monkeys within the Wizard of OZ movie, corporate supporters will fly into action when the actions of the corporation are questioned. The one thing that corporation cannot combat is the truth.
The South Florida Region requested an audit in 2017 which anyone can review details of here;
This was within the guidelines of the FIPT at the time. After a very long delay, the South Florida Region was granted a limited review which allowed them to document issues but an in-depth analysis was never granted.
The Corporation seeks to revise the FIPT
The FIPT is currently being updated and NAWS Supporters will be encouraged to adopt the recommendations of the Board of Directors at the 2023 Conference. This will close down the ability of a single region to review the actions of the trustee ever again. This will likely pass as the World Service Conference. The corporation and corporate supporters are largely unopposed. Very few participate in the voting process anymore.
We continue to meet regularly to help each other
The Free Literature Movement, and members worldwide will continue to ignore the corporate promoted greed. It was those members who saved the Fellowship during the pandemic by quickly adapting the Fellowship to a virtual platform. Hundreds or perhaps thousands of members gave up significant time and money to save hundreds of thousands of addicts globally. All literature is available online for free now in defiance of the corporation. The production of independent literature grows. There are service structures that act outside the corporate sphere, like www.virtual-na.org and https://bmlt.app/what-is-the-bmlt/.
The Petitioner
In 2020, the Autonomous Region filed a petition to the courts of California where the Trust is held. The petition is to have the courts examine the actions of the Trustee (The NAWS Corporation) in their actions with regards to the trust. When challenged, a trustee must be able to show their actions are in the best interest of the trustor, and not for their own interest. We often see the abuse of trustees exposed on TV and in newspapers. The Autonomous Region was not able to make a presentation in court as their standing within the trust was questioned. The attorneys for the NAWS corporation argued that the Autonomous Region did not represent the interests of the Trustor and could not question the actions of the Trustee. This appeal was upheld by the courts. This does not mean that the corporation is not in violation of the trust. A simple examination would release the corporation of perceived bias, but they are unwilling to see their actions exposed.