Cocaine Anonymous (CA) Meetings, 12 Steps, and Addiction Treatment

Updated Aug 8, 2024

Cocaine addiction is a complex disease that has significant short- and long-term implications for a person’s physical and mental health.¹ Treating cocaine addiction often involves behavioral interventions such as individual, family, and group-based counseling.² 12-Step programs such as Cocaine Anonymous are community-based support groups that have demonstrated—through both participant survey results and more empirical study—positive recovery outcomes, including increased abstinence rates in association with consistent meeting attendance and program involvement.³

This article provides information about meeting formats, the 12 Steps, benefits of attending Cocaine Anonymous meetings, and how to find a Cocaine Anonymous meeting near you.

What Is Cocaine Anonymous (CA)?

Cocaine Anonymous (CA) is a community-support group that uses the 12-Step recovery program. Participants support one another in the shared goal of stopping cocaine use. These groups are open to anyone who wishes to quit the use of cocaine and other substances (e.g. alcohol), and there are no membership costs.⁴

Although Cocaine Anonymous is a spiritual program, it does not operate within any specific religion. Thus, people from all religious and non-religious backgrounds should feel welcome.⁴ A primary value of Cocaine Anonymous is anonymity, and members agree to uphold this value by maintaining full confidentiality regarding members present in the meeting and things that are said during the meeting.⁵

Peer support programs like Cocaine Anonymous help to promote recovery and maintaining abstinence.² The relationships fostered in Cocaine Anonymous groups are documented to be a powerful factor in promoting sustained abstinence. This is because meetings allow members to develop social networks with others who are also working toward recovery.³

Cocaine Anonymous Meetings

CA meetings are hosted daily in many parts of the U.S., across the globe, and online. When joining Cocaine Anonymous, people typically find a group in their local community. This group is considered the Home Group and is the group they regularly attend.⁶ There are open and closed meetings. Open meetings can be attended by anyone interested in Cocaine Anonymous, including individuals coping with cocaine addictions and family members and friends of these individuals.⁶ Closed meetings are reserved for Cocaine Anonymous members only.⁶

Meeting formats can vary from focusing on recovery texts to having one or all members share their own experiences. During a Step Study meeting, members discuss the 12 Steps as a group. Book Study meetings include the discussion of a variety of books related to recovery, including Hope, Faith, & Courage Stories from the Fellowship of Cocaine Anonymous and Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, among many others.⁶ Other meeting formats, such as Participation and Speaker meetings, involve hearing members’ experiences and senses of hope and strength.⁶

The 12 Steps of Cocaine Anonymous

Cocaine Anonymous uses a text called the Big Book, which describes the 12 Steps in detail. The Big Book originated in Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), but the principles of AA translate to Cocaine Anonymous. The 12 Steps promote changes in thoughts, attitudes, and perspectives that help to alleviate the burden of active substance use and foster a transformation that is referred to as a “spiritual awakening.”⁷

The 12 Steps of Cocaine Anonymous are:⁷

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 God.
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 God 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 God, praying only for knowledge of God 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 12 Traditions of Cocaine Anonymous

The 12 Traditions of Cocaine Anonymous are the organizational guidelines that outline the values and expectations of self-operating CA groups. These guidelines emphasize the importance of maintaining a supportive group, which is essential for individual recovery. This is achieved through members having the shared goal of stopping the use of cocaine and other substances and practicing full confidentiality regarding every interaction within Cocaine Anonymous.

The group functions to inspire and support individuals continuing to cope with their addictions. The group observes a Higher Power as the “ultimate authority.” Members work collaboratively toward Cocaine Anonymous’ shared goal of fellowship and recovery. To protect the integrity of the group’s mission of fellowship and recovery, Cocaine Anonymous does not associate with any other outside entity or promote ideologies that may create controversy, and it is fully self-supported, declining contributions from outside entities.⁸

Benefits of Cocaine Anonymous

Cocaine Anonymous is a no-cost, widely available resource open to anyone who has the desire to stop using cocaine. Cocaine Anonymous incorporates principles of spirituality but does not focus on one religion; thus, people from all religious and non-religious backgrounds should feel welcome.⁴Individual therapy and 12-Step programs are essential resources for recovery.

Research conducted in relation to Alcoholics Anonymous suggests that people who participated in individual addiction treatment followed by long-term involvement in a 12-Step program were more likely to be in remission 16 years later compared to those who only pursued one or the other.⁹ Joining a 12-Step program like Cocaine Anonymous after completing initial rehabilitation can be a useful resource for maintaining abstinence and is frequently encouraged as part of many addiction recovery treatment plans.²

Cocaine Anonymous offers a community of people who are working toward the same goal—abstinence from cocaine. Receiving support from others who have gone through, or are going through similar experiences is a valuable component of recovery. Research supports the fellowship or community cultivated among members all coping with the same issue as a primary reason that 12-Step programs are effective for long-term abstinence.³

Find a Cocaine Anonymous Meeting Near Me

If you are battling with cocaine addiction and want to stop using, consider attending a Cocaine Anonymous meeting in your local community. Attending a meeting may help you to connect with others who are coping with the same problem and will support your journey to recovery. There is no cost to attend and your participation is completely confidential.

To learn more about Cocaine Anonymous meetings in your area, you can search online for “cocaine anonymous meetings near me” or call the Cocaine Anonymous helpline for your state. To find the best contact number for your area, visit the Cocaine Anonymous directory.

American Addiction Centers (AAC) is a leading treatment provider and has trusted rehab facilities across the country. If you are interested in starting the path to recovery or you want to help a friend or loved one, you can easily verify your insurance with us online right away. You can also call us free at to learn more about your treatment options at our cocaine rehab centers.