We are a fellowship of people who share our experience, strength and hope with each other that we may solve our common problem and help others to recover from addiction.
We have found that many people, health practitioners, and even other addicts don't take the dangers of this drug seriously. We've developed a community who have first-hand experience and are reclaiming our lives. The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop using. There are no dues or fees for membership; we are self-supporting through our own contributions. We are not allied with any sect, denomination, politics, organization, or institution; do not wish to engage in any controversy, neither endorse nor oppose any causes. Our primary purpose is to stay clean and help other addicts to achieve relief from substance abuse.
We talk about things like cravings, relapses, vitamin B-12(cobalamin) deficiency, neuropathy, clean time, self-esteem, and most importantly, that things will be OK if we stop using this substance and put in the work of self-improvement.
Our experience has shown us that this is a highly addictive substance. Prolonged or even short-term use can lead to a host of extremely serious health and safety issues.
These can include (but are not limited to):
- Temporary and/or permanent brain damage
- Total loss of mobility
- Acute vitamin B12 deficiency
- Neuropathy
- Oxygen deprivation
- Psychosis
- Freeze burns
With medical attention and vitamin supplementation, these symptoms can be slowed and treated, but recovery is typically slow and sometimes incomplete. Recovery requires complete abstinence from nitrous oxide.
The Practical 12 Steps
We use a modified version of the 12 steps which does not require belief in any higher power, and which emphasizes self-efficacy and practical steps rather than powerlessness. We welcome people engaging in any methodology or program, and people of any faith or lack of faith. Fellowship and community are the priorities for us.
1. Admitted we were caught in a self-destructive cycle and currently lacked the tools to stop it.
2. Trusted that a healthy lifestyle was attainable through social support and consistent self improvement.
3. Committed to a lifestyle of recovery, focusing only on what we could control.
4. Made a comprehensive list of our resentments, fears and harmful actions.
5. Shared our lists with a trustworthy person.
6. Made a list of our unhealthy character traits.
7. Began cultivating healthy character traits through consistent positive behavior.
8. Determined the best way to make amends to those we had harmed.
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would cause harm.
10. Practiced daily self reflection and continued making amends whenever necessary.
11. We started meditating.
12. Sought to retain our newfound recovery lifestyle by teaching it to those willing to learn and by surrounding ourselves with healthy people.
NO 2 Nitrous Oxide 12 Traditions
We keep what we have only with vigilance, and just as freedom for the individual comes from the Twelve Steps, so freedom for the group springs from our Traditions. As long as the ties that bind us together are stronger than those that would tear us apart, all will be well.
1. Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends on our unity.
2. For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority: Our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern.
3. The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop using.
4. Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or the organization as a whole.
5. Each group has but one primary purpose—to carry the message to the addict who still suffers.
6. Any group ought never endorse, finance, or lend the No2N2O name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property, or prestige divert us from our primary purpose.
7. Our group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions.
8. We should remain forever nonprofessional, but our service centers may employ special workers.
9. No2N2O as such, ought never be organized, but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve.
10. No to Nitrous Oxide has no opinion on outside issues; hence the No2N2O 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.