Category: Service Structures

2023 Cult Agenda Report FIPT

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 goal of the Corporation is profits

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;

 http://www.nauca.us/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/2017-08-29-NAWS-Denial-of-So.-Fla.-Inspection-Reqst..pdf.

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.

2023 Cult Agenda Report (CAR)

Narcotics Anonymous Service Structures

Narcotics Anonymous World Services Corporation (NAWS) publish a Conference Agenda Report (CAR) to prepare members, groups and service bodies for the World Service Conference (WSC).  Groups are the front line of Narcotics Anonymous and they hold regular meetings to carry a message of hope to suffering addicts. New members and returning members are encouraged to support each other by joining a group and attending meetings regularly. Millions of addicts worldwide have found hope and recovery within the Fellowship of NA since its inception in 1953.  The WSC began in 1971 and was designed to bring groups together to make decisions about the future of Narcotics Anonymous. The WSC that exists today bears no resemblance to the early conferences and has very little to do with the true nature of the program of Narcotics Anonymous. The 192-page, 2023 CAR report would make an Amway Executive blush at the lies and shameless self-promotion of the NAWS Corporation. The reality is that it is very rare for either a member or group to participate in the WSC that exists today. The NAWS Corporation uses the unity that exists in Narcotics Anonymous to promote itself. The facts presented in those 192 pages perpetuate the fraud. 

Groups and Meetings

Groups often come together to form Area service bodies within a certain geographical area. Area Service Bodies come together to form regional service bodies. Many regional service bodies are defined by the political boundaries the groups they represent are in (Hawaii Region or Nebraska Region are two examples in North America). Further abroad, regions are often defined by the country of origin.  Regional bodies will send a representative to the WSC to participate in the voting on motions presented. Voting is easy today since the NAWS Corporation also publishes a Conference Approval Track so WSC attendees know how to vote. Independent thought and action are discouraged by the Cult of NAWS. What is never discussed is how little support there is from members and groups. NAWS supporters are a very small segment of the fellowship and only maintain visibility by using the huge profits generated by literature sales to promote themselves. Regular WSC attendees report that there are some Regional Delegates who vote without ever consulting with the Groups they alleged to serve. Blank tally sheets for recording votes can downloaded from the NAWS corporation but completed tally sheets are a closely guarded secret and rarely published. The most important goal of the NAWS Corporation is the protection of the publishing rights and the profits associated with publishing. Today, there is increasing number of independent publishing by groups. There is also access to free literature online. This has forced the NAWS Corporation to manipulate and control every aspect of the Fellowship in order to maintain their financial privileges’.

How many actual Narcotics Anonymous Groups exist is unknown but regional summaries have provided the following estimate.

Groups are encouraged to register with the NAWS Corporation and receive a Group ID Number. Online, virtual, and telephone Groups have existed for more than two decades but been rejected by the WSC and the NAWS Corporation.  There are no rules, guidelines or policies that differentiate face to face meetings from other types of meetings but division is an effective tool of cults and has resulted in yet another dividing point created by the NAWS Corporation.  Some estimates suggest that there are more than five thousand virtual Narcotics Anonymous Groups currently. The contribution of virtual groups during the last three years has been enourmous. During the global pandemic these groups supported members and carried a message to suffering addicts worldwide. Virtual groups have become a mainstay of the Fellowship. I would estimate that one third of face-to-face meetings have closed and online meetings are becoming standard practice with many addicts.

The end is near…

The Iran Region recently broke ties with the WSC and the NAWS Corporation. They have decided to work independently and produce their own literature.  This region was easily the largest region to have ever existed. They represented almost five thousand groups who hosted twenty thousand meetings. Many groups in Iran host daily meetings but in the US a weekly meeting is typical. The average for US Regions is two hundred and fifty groups and three hundred and fifty meetings. It would not be a surprise to see other regions follow suit in the years ahead. The Brazil Region sales of books dropped to less than a third after switching to NAWS Corporate literature pricing model. The South Florida Region found discrepancies in a limited inspection of the NAWS Corporation but that avenue of accountability will be closed after the revised ‘Fellowship Intellectual Property Trust’ is approved at the next WSC.

Tradition two of Narcotics Anonymous ensures that the ultimate authority is the group conscience that home group members freely participate in. While researching and writing my book ‘Cult of NAWS’, I came across a section from the 1980 WSC minutes. Chuck Skinner was a respected and long-time member of NA, who presided as Chair of the Board of Trustees. He was asked what should happen to groups who failed to participate in area service bodies.  Chuck’s direction was very clear; remove them from meeting lists, notify them to cease and desist, and contact World Services to take legal action if required. This kind of mindset continues today, and members will cry foul and talk about ‘the conscience of the Fellowship’ when questions arise that go against the Cult of NAWS. There is a growing Fellowship of members who promote kindness, compassion, and generosity in carrying out their goal of supporting members new and old without the governance of corrupt service structures.