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Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I

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Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello and welcome to This Day in History Class,

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Speaker 1: a show that proves it's never too late to make history.

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Speaker 1: I'm Gabelusier, and today we're looking at the origin of

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Speaker 1: Narcotics Anonymous, a global support network for people who wish

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Speaker 1: to overcome their addictions and maintain a drug free lifestyle.

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Speaker 1: The day was October five, nine fifty three. The modern

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Speaker 1: incarnation of Narcotics Anonymous held its first recovery meeting in

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Speaker 1: Los Angeles, California. The purpose of the meeting, end of

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Speaker 1: the organization in general, was to help its members stop

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Speaker 1: using addictive substances and offer support for their recovery from

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Speaker 1: the effects of addiction. Alcoholics Anonymous or a A had

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Speaker 1: been around since nineteen thirty five, but it focused solely

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Speaker 1: on alcohol. In contrast, Narcotics Anonymous or an A was

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Speaker 1: founded to support those with substance abuse problems of any kind,

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Speaker 1: whether it be an addiction to illegal drugs, prescription drugs, alcohol,

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Speaker 1: or any combination of the three. The group has no

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Speaker 1: affiliation with any government, religious institution, medical group, or law

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Speaker 1: enforcement agency. An A membership has always been and still

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Speaker 1: is completely free with the only requirement being a desire

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Speaker 1: to live a sober life. The creation of Narcotics Anonymous

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Speaker 1: was a direct response to the American culture of the

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Speaker 1: nineteen fifties. Following World War Two, stringent new anti drug

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Speaker 1: laws were enacted in an effort to curtail the growing

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Speaker 1: epidemic of narcotic addiction. This included internal possession laws that

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Speaker 1: enabled police to arrest known addicts even when they didn't

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Speaker 1: have a legal drug is on their person. There were

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Speaker 1: also loitering addict laws aimed at preventing drug users from

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Speaker 1: gathering in public. These measures made it difficult for recovering

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Speaker 1: addicts to hold or attend informal support meetings, and those

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Speaker 1: who did were subject to police surveillance, intimidation, or arrest.

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Speaker 1: That targeted crackdown led many people with multiple addictions to

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Speaker 1: seek help at Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, where they were less

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Speaker 1: likely to be scrutinized by police. However, many a A

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Speaker 1: groups at the time didn't want recovering drug addicts at

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Speaker 1: their meetings. Some explicitly banned them from attending, while others

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Speaker 1: allowed them to attend open meetings but didn't admit them

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Speaker 1: to close meetings or recognize them as full members of

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Speaker 1: the group. The pushback drug users received led to the

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Speaker 1: formation of Narcotics Anonymous, and while similar groups had already

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Speaker 1: hosted sporadic meetings in New York City, including ones using

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Speaker 1: the n A name, the group that ultimately became the

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Speaker 1: one we know today was formed in southern California in

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Speaker 1: the early nineteen fifties. The man credited with its founding

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Speaker 1: was a recovering drug user himself. His name was James

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Speaker 1: Patrick Kinnon, or, as he was more commonly known, Jimmy Kay,

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Speaker 1: a local roofer in the Los Angeles area, Kinon got

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Speaker 1: hooked on codeine pills and alcohol in the nineteen forties.

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Speaker 1: His substance abuse laid waste to every facet of his life,

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Speaker 1: leaving him, as he put it, bankrupt, physically, mentally, and spiritually,

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Speaker 1: an abject failure as a man, a husband, and a father.

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Speaker 1: Recognizing the dire need for change, Jimmy Kay began his

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Speaker 1: recovery in nineteen fifty He started out by attending AA

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Speaker 1: meetings in North Hollywood, but quickly realized that he and

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Speaker 1: others like him needed more support than the alcohol centric

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Speaker 1: group was willing to provide. With this in mind, Kinon

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Speaker 1: got in touch with a man named Dan E. C

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Speaker 1: who had started an n A group of his own

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Speaker 1: in New York City. Both men recognized the benefits of

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Speaker 1: the a a s famous twelve step program and were

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Speaker 1: eager to apply that model to help those who were

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Speaker 1: struggling with drug use or multiple addictions. By that time,

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Speaker 1: Kinnon had also connected with other former drug users in

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Speaker 1: his area who were interested in developing a group for

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Speaker 1: recovering addicts. They began meeting informally in July of nineteen

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Speaker 1: fifty three to discuss and develop the by laws of

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Speaker 1: the organization. Originally, the group called itself the San Fernando

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Speaker 1: Valley a A slash n A, but that changed on

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Speaker 1: September when the a A officially authorized the group to

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Speaker 1: use its twelve step program and traditions. The one condition

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Speaker 1: for that usage was that they stopped using the A

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Speaker 1: A name, leading the group to simply call itself Narcotics Anonymous.

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Speaker 1: Most founding members believed Kinon was the best person to

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Speaker 1: lead the new group, and although he was reluctant to

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Speaker 1: take on that responsibility, he eventually accepted the nomination, becoming

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Speaker 1: the first president of Narcotics Anonymous With the group's name, principles,

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Speaker 1: and leadership now established, it was time to find a

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Speaker 1: location to host their first official meeting. That was no

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Speaker 1: easy task due to the widespread stigma addics faced, but

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Speaker 1: eventually a Salvation Army hall in the San Fernando Valley

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Speaker 1: agreed to open its space to the group. The first

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Speaker 1: documented meeting of Narconics Anonymous was held there on October fifth,

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Speaker 1: nineteen fifty three. The arrangement with the Salvation Army wasn't permanent, though,

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Speaker 1: and subsequent weekly meetings were held at different members apartments

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Speaker 1: for the first several years of the group's existence. These

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Speaker 1: early gatherings became known as rabbit meetings because they hopped

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Speaker 1: from place to place each week. One of the group's

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Speaker 1: first expenditures was a set of green glass coffee cups

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Speaker 1: and saucers. Most members didn't known enough mugs to go

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Speaker 1: around at the meetings, so Jimmy Kay brought these with

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Speaker 1: him to everyone. In nineteen fifty four, the group outlined

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Speaker 1: the purpose of Narcotics Anonymous in an issue of The Key,

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Speaker 1: a widely circulated newsletter that began in a prison hospital

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Speaker 1: in Lexington, Kentucky. It said, in part quote, this is

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Speaker 1: an informal group of drug addicts banded together to help

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Speaker 1: one another renew their strength and remaining free of drug addiction.

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Speaker 1: It shall be the purpose of this group to endeavor

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Speaker 1: to foster a means of rehabilitation for the addict and

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Speaker 1: to carry a message of hope for the future to

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Speaker 1: those who have become enslaved by the use of habit

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Speaker 1: forming drugs. Narcotics Anonymous grew slowly in its first few decades,

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Speaker 1: but membership gradually increased and new meetings began to be

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Speaker 1: held in large cities across the country. In the early

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Speaker 1: nineteen seventies, NA meetings were also held in Australia, signal

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Speaker 1: ling the group's transition into an international organization. Not long after,

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Speaker 1: n A meeting sprang up across the globe in countries

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Speaker 1: such as Brazil, Columbia, Germany, India, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand

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Speaker 1: and Great Britain. In three the group published its defining literature,

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Speaker 1: the Basic Text, which laid out the history, purpose and

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Speaker 1: overall approach of the group in great detail. That booklet

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Speaker 1: led to an explosion in an A membership, and by

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Speaker 1: the end of the year, nearly three thousand meetings were

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Speaker 1: held worldwide in more than a dozen countries. As recognition

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Speaker 1: of the drug epidemic has grown, so too has Narcotics Anonymous. Today,

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Speaker 1: the group hosts more than seventy thousand weekly meetings in

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Speaker 1: one hundred and forty four countries, making it one of

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Speaker 1: the world's oldest and largest groups devoted to mutual recovery.

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Speaker 1: The idea behind Narcotics Anonymous wasn't wholly original, and Jimmy

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Speaker 1: Kay wasn't the first person to organize such a group,

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Speaker 1: but his vision and dedication ensured and as survival. As

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Speaker 1: members came and went, he stood fast and made sure

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Speaker 1: recovering addicts always had a welcoming place to find support

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Speaker 1: and fellowship. He was also living proof of the therapeutic

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Speaker 1: value of the group's peer support method, offering hope to

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Speaker 1: millions who sought to overcome their addictions. Jimmy Kay passed

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Speaker 1: away on July nine, eight five. He had been clean

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Speaker 1: for more than thirty five years. I'm Gay Blusier and

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Speaker 1: hopefully you now know a little more about history today

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Speaker 1: than you did yesterday. You can learn even more about

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Speaker 1: history by following us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at

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Speaker 1: T D I HC Show and if you have any

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Speaker 1: comments or suggestions, feel free to send them my way

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Speaker 1: at this day at I heart media dot com. Thanks

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Speaker 1: to Chandler Mays for producing the show, and thanks to

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Speaker 1: you for listening. I'll see you back here again tomorrow

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Speaker 1: for another day in History class