Addiction recovery groups adapt to closures due to coronavirus

Recovery and sobriety groups across the Las Vegas Valley also have had to adapt to mass closures and shutdowns amid the spread of the coronavirus.

Some 12-step program groups locally have decided to stop meeting and others have chosen to meet virtually over video chat or through conference calls, but there were still many options for people looking to continue their recovery from addiction.

Hotline workers with programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous said last week that how each group adjusts is largely dependent on what the individual groups decide to do.

The prevailing suggestion from hotline workers this week was for people to call the hotlines themselves to find out which groups are meeting and which have made adjustments.

Those numbers are:

— Alcoholics Anonymous: 702-598-1888

— Narcotics Anonymous: 1-888-495-3222

— Cocaine Anonymous: 702-758-5139

The Las Vegas Recovery Center lists these and other program contact information on its website.

At the Triangle Club, which hosts groups for programs from AA and Cocaine Anonymous to Gamblers Anonymous, meetings are now held outdoors at the club’s facility located at 4600 S. Nellis Blvd. The idea is to spread people far enough apart to meeting the social distancing standard of 6 feet but also to keep people working through the steps of recovery.

A volunteer at the Triangle Club who wished to remain anonymous in this story stressed the importance of attending a meeting right now as people are asked to remain at home from work and keep out of public places.

“They tell you part of your recovery is going to meetings,” they said. “Right now, it’s a good time to go because people are living in fear. When you live in fear, you tend to fall off the bandwagon.”

On Thursday, AA’s headquarters in New York recommended groups hold meetings digitally through platforms such as Zoom or Google Hangouts.

And locally there are AA meetings over the phone held each day at 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. The Las Vegas Central Office for AA listed the phone number as 712-432-0075. The passcode is 654443#.

An email sent to the Region 51 Narcotics Anonymous chapter, which covers southern Nevada, was not returned this week, but a list of group meetings can be found on the Region 51 website.

Contact Dalton LaFerney at dlaferney@reviewjournal.com or at 702-383-0288. Follow @daltonlaferney on Twitter.