12 & 12 & 12

The Twelve Steps of Cocaine Anonymous

The Twelve Steps describe the Program of Recovery used by Cocaine Anonymous

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.

The Twelve Steps are reprinted with permission of Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. Permission to reprint and adapt the Twelve Steps does not mean that A.A. is affiliated with this program. A.A. is a program of recovery from alcoholism. Use of the Steps in connection with programs and activities which are patterned after A.A. but which address other problems does not imply otherwise. THE TWELVE STEPS OF ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS: 1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable. 2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. 3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him. 4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. 5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. 6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character. 7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings. 8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all. 9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others. 10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it. 11. 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. 12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these Steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

The Twelve Traditions of Cocaine Anonymous

The Twelve Traditions comprise the organizational guidelines under which the autonomous groups of C.A. function

Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon C.A. unity.
For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority — a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern.
The only requirement for C.A. membership is a desire to stop using cocaine and all other mind-altering substances.
Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or C.A. as a whole.
Each group has but one primary purpose — to carry its message to the addict who still suffers.
A C.A. group ought never endorse, finance, or lend the C.A. name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property and prestige divert us from our primary purpose.
Every C.A. group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions.
Cocaine Anonymous should remain forever nonprofessional, but our service centers may employ special workers.
C.A., as such, ought never be organized; but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve.
Cocaine Anonymous has no opinion on outside issues; hence the C.A. name ought never be drawn into public controversy.
Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio, television and films.
Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our Traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.

The Twelve Traditions are reprinted with permission of Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. Permission to reprint and adapt the Twelve Traditions does not mean that A.A. is affiliated with this program. A.A. is a program of recovery from alcoholism. Use of the Traditions in connection with programs and activities which are patterned after A.A. but which address other problems does not imply otherwise. THE TWELVE TRADITIONS OF ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS: 1. Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon A.A. unity. 2. For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority—a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern. 3. The only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking. 4. Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or A.A. as a whole. 5. Each group has but one primary purpose—to carry its message to the alcoholic who still suffers. 6. An A.A. group ought never endorse, finance, or lend the A.A. name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property and prestige divert us from our primary purpose. 7. Every A.A. group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions. 8. Alcoholics Anonymous should remain forever nonprofessional, but our service centers may employ special workers. 9. A.A., as such, ought never be organized; but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve. 10. Alcoholics Anonymous has no opinion on outside issues; hence the A.A. name ought never be drawn into public controversy. 11. Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio and films. 12. Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our Traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.

The Twelve Concepts of Cocaine Anonymous

As the Twelve Steps of Cocaine Anonymous are our recipe for individual recovery, the Twelve Traditions of Cocaine Anonymous are our recipe for group unity and the Twelve Concepts are our recipe for world service.

The final responsibility and the ultimate authority for C.A. World Services should always reside in the collective conscience of our whole Fellowship.
The C.A. Groups delegate to the World Service Conference the complete authority for the active maintenance of our world services and thereby make the Conference — excepting for any change in the Twelve Traditions — the actual voice and the effective conscience for our whole Fellowship.
As a traditional means of creating and maintaining a clearly defined working relation between the Groups, the Conference, the World Service Board of Trustees and its service corporation, staffs, and committees, and of thus insuring their effective leadership, it is here suggested that we endow each of these elements of World Service with a traditional ?Right of Decision.?
Throughout our Conference structure, we ought to maintain at all responsible levels a traditional ?Right of Participation,? taking care that each classification or group of our world servants shall be allowed a voting representation in reasonable proportion to the responsibility that each must discharge.
Throughout our World Service structure, a traditional ?Right of Appeal? ought to prevail, thus assuring us that minority opinion will be heard and that petitions for the redress of personal grievances will be carefully considered.
On behalf of C.A. as a whole, our World Service Conference has the principal responsibility for the maintenance of our world services, and it traditionally has the final decision respecting large matters of general policy and finance. But the Conference also recognizes that the chief initiative and the active responsibility in most of these matters should be exercised primarily by the Trustee members of the Conference when they act among themselves as the World Service Board of Cocaine Anonymous.
The Conference recognizes that the Charter and the Bylaws of the World Service Board are legal instruments; that the Trustees are thereby fully empowered to manage and conduct all of the world service affairs of Cocaine Anonymous. It is further understood that the Conference Charter itself is not a legal document; that it relies instead upon the force of tradition and the power of the C.A. purse for its final effectiveness.
The Trustees of the World Service Board act in two primary capacities: (a) With respect to the larger matters of overall policy and finance, they are the principal planners and administrators. They and their primary committees directly manage these affairs. (b) But with respect to our separately incorporated and constantly active services, the relation of the Trustees is mainly that of custodial oversight which they exercise through their ability to elect all Directors of these entities.
Good service leaders, together with sound and appropriate methods of choosing them are at all levels indispensable for our future functioning and safety.
Every service responsibility should be matched by an equal service authority — the scope of such authority to be always well defined whether by tradition, by resolution, by specific job description or by appropriate charters and bylaws.
While the Trustees hold final responsibility for C.A.’s world service administration, they should always have the assistance of the best possible standing committees and service boards, staffs and consultants. Therefore the composition of these underlying committees and service boards, the personal qualifications of their members, the manner of their induction into service, the system of their rotation, the way in which they are related to each other, the special rights and duties of our staffs and consultants, together with a proper basis for the financial compensation of these special workers will always be matters for serious care and concern.
General Warranties of the Conference: In all its proceedings, the World Service Conference shall observe the spirit of the C.A. Tradition, taking great care that the Conference never becomes the seat of perilous wealth or power; that the sufficient operating funds, plus an ample reserve, be its prudent financial principle; that none of the Conference members shall ever be placed in a position of unqualified authority over any of the others; that all important decisions be reached by discussion, vote, and whenever possible, by substantial unanimity; that no Conference action ever be personally punitive or an incitement to public controversy; that though the Conference may act for the service of Cocaine Anonymous, it shall never perform any acts of government; and that, like the Fellowship of Cocaine Anonymous which it serves, the Conference itself will always remain democratic in thought and action.

*The Twelve Concepts are reprinted and adapted with permission of Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. Permission to reprint and adapt the Twelve Concepts does not mean that A.A. is affiliated with this program. A.A. is a program of recovery from alcoholism. Use of the Concepts in connection with program and activities, which are patterned after A.A. but which address other problems, does not imply otherwise. THE TWELVE CONCEPTS OF ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS: 1. Final responsibility and ultimate authority for A.A. world services shall always reside in the collective conscience of our whole Fellowship. 2. The General Service Conference of A.A. has become, for nearly every practical purpose, the actual voice and the effective conscience for our whole Society in its world affairs. 3. To insure effective leadership, we should endow each element of A.A. – the Conference, the General Service Board and its service corporation, staffs, committees, and executives with traditional “Right of Decision.” 4. At all responsible levels, we ought to maintain a traditional “Right of Participation,” allowing a voting representation in reasonable proportion to the responsibility that each must discharge. 5. Throughout our structure, a traditional “Right of Appeal” ought to prevail, so that minority opinion will be heard and personal grievances receive careful consideration. 6. The Conference recognizes that the chief initiative and active responsibility in most world service matters should be exercised primarily by the trustee members of the Conference acting as the General Service Board. 7. The Charter and Bylaws of the General Service Board are legal instruments, empowering the trustees to manage and conduct all of the world service affairs. The Conference Charter is not a legal document; it relies upon tradition and the A.A. purse for final effectiveness. 8. The trustees are the principal planners and administrators of overall policy and finance. They have custodial oversight of the separately incorporated and constantly active services, exercising this through their ability to elect all the directors of these entities. 9. Good service leadership at all levels is indispensable for our future functioning and safety. Primary world service leadership, once exercised by the founders, must necessarily be assumed by the trustee. 10. Every service responsibility should be matched by an equal service authority, with the scope of such authority always well defined. 11. The Trustees should always have the best possible committees, corporate service directors, executives, staffs and consultants. Composition, qualifications induction procedures, and rights and duties will always be matters of serious concern. 12. The Conference shall observe the spirit of the A.A. tradition, taking care that it never becomes the seat of perilous wealth and power; that the sufficient operating funds and reserves be its prudent financial principle; that it place none of its members in a position of unqualified authority over others; that it reach all important decisions by discussion, vote, and whenever possible, by substantial unanimity; that its actions never be personally punitive nor an incitement to public controversy; that it never perform acts of government, and that, like the Society it serves, it will always remain democratic in thought and action.