What is Narconon?

Narconon (meaning no drugs) began in 1966 through the efforts of Arizona State Prison inmate William Benitez. A hard-core addict from the age of thirteen, then serving his fourth prison term, Benitez had unsuccessfully tried numerous ways to kick his drug habit.

In Mr. Benitez’s words:

“My failure to come off drugs wasn’t due to not wanting to. Believe me, I really tried. I read and read . . . Freud, Jung, Menninger – and studied one philosophy after another, everything I could get my hands on to find out about myself. I underwent psychiatric aid and participated in all sorts of programs and as time went on, I knew less about myself instead of more. The only thing that kept me from putting a gun to my head was that I knew someday I would make it. I felt so sorry for my friends who were constantly trying to get off drugs. I wanted to help them and yet I couldn’t even help myself. . . . I was so tired of the life of addiction, thieving, prostitution and all that goes with it. On my fourth and last trip to Arizona State Penitentiary, I was tried as a habitual criminal, which sentence carried a mandatory fifteen years to life, of which I received fifteen to sixteen years. It was at this point that I began to go into agreement with the idea that once you were an addict, you remained an addict.”

His search for solutions led him to L. Ron Hubbard’s Scientology: The Fundamentals of Thought, and with the principles in this book, he was at last able to kick his addiction.

As Mr. Benitez continued his studies, he soon realized that Mr. Hubbard’s mental and spiritual discoveries offered the first real hope for addicts, and began applying that material to help other inmates.

“When first applied to a pilot group at Arizona State Penitentiary in 1966,” Mr. Benitez reported, “it consisted only of the basic communication exercises. Yet, seven out of ten of the first group in their own words, ’made it.’ Their success spread at grass-roots level to other prisons, and drawing on further research by L. Ron Hubbard, the program was expanded.”

An initial group of ten grew to one hundred inmates within the first year, and, although originally organized to help heroin addicts, Narconon’s usefulness and workability led to enormous interest from the general prison population. In 1967 prison officials granted permission for any inmate to join the group, and thereafter Narconon was opened to all who wished to improve their lives.

Mr. Benitez wrote to L. Ron Hubbard, who encouraged him to expand the program. The Church of Scientology in Phoenix also assisted by donating materials, and the most effective drug rehabilitation program in the world was born.

By 1970, Mr. Benitez had been released from prison and traveled to Los Angeles to assist in opening the national office of Narconon. This became known as Narconon US, and commenced a program of drug rehabilitation that was soon to spread throughout the United States.

Initial Narconon programs in institutions such as California’s Rehabilitation Center in Norco, the California Men’s Colony in San Luis Obispo and the Youth Training School in Ontario, California, were well received and highly successful.

An official evaluation of the ten-month program at the Youth Training School showed that disciplinary offenses among the control group increased 10 percent during the second five-month period, while those of the Narconon group decreased by 81 percent. The grade average of the control group increased from C to C+, while that of the Narconon group increased from C­ to B­.

Narconon successes continued to mount. In May 1972, a program was started at the Ventura School for Boys and Girls in Ventura, California. After considerable expansion it later received funding from the California Youth Authority.

That same year, Narconon opened its first residential programs, making it possible to take an addict through the Narconon withdrawal program and other Narconon courses. This expansion was an important step for Narconon as it brought all stages of rehabilitation into the safety of a residential environment.

The need for effective drug rehabilitation technology is today greater than ever before, for the scope of the problem is vast. Internationally, the illegal narcotics industry generates estimated annual revenues of $500 billion to $1 trillion.
This astonishing statistic is only one indicator of the many social repercussions of drug abuse. Criminals on drugs, for example, are responsible for the vast majority of all crimes committed. According to US Justice Department studies, three out of four suspects arrested for crimes of violence test positive for illegal drugs.

To meet this crucial need for effective drug rehabilitation, Narconon has expanded greatly in the years since its founding. As the program moved into other countries, Narconon International was formed to direct the drug education and rehabilitation activities and provide assistance and support to Narconon centers and their staffs throughout the world. Narconon International has a goal to achieve a drug-free Earth. It provides effective and complete drug rehabilitation for those enslaved by drugs and works to prevent our future generations from ever becoming addicted. Located in Los Angeles, Narconon International today supervises worldwide drug education and drug rehabilitation programs.

Today, commensurate with the more than a quarter-million drug-free lives achieved through L. Ron Hubbard’s technology has been the expansion of Narconon centers internationally. Narconon centers providing rehabilitation and/or education services are currently administered in 50 centers located in 21 countries: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, the United Kingdom and the United States. In addition, an estimated one million people worldwide have availed themselves of Narconon’s drug education services, including more than 115,000 schoolchildren in 1997 alone.

Narconon also operates one of the largest training and rehabilitation facilities of its kind in the world, the Narconon International New Life Center. This facility brings a new life to many in need of rehabilitation, with the highest quality and most effective drug rehabilitation program available in the world. It is also here that Narconon personnel come from many countries for training to administer this Narconon program to others. Narconon New Life Center is the international training center, turning out highly qualified and competent staff fully trained in L. Ron Hubbard’s technology. These dedicated Narconon staff return to their cities and countries to bring a new life to drug and alcohol abusers throughout the world.

Narconon’s efficacy comes entirely from the technology developed by L. Ron Hubbard who, years before the drug crisis became headline news internationally, had extensively researched the antisocial side effects of drugs.

He discovered the insidious effects not only of illegal or “street” drugs but also of alcohol and psychiatric drugs – the latter often far more devastating and injurious than the original condition they were intended to “cure.”

Narconon utilizes a completely drug-free rehabilitation program to restore life to drug and alcohol abusers and give them back control of their lives.

 

In a field loaded with drug programs that substitute addictions with yet more drugs, L. Ron Hubbard developed exact techniques to deal with the physical and mental damage brought about by substance abuse. None of these techniques involve the use of methadone or any other substitute drug.

	Among the thousands who have been salvaged by Narconon are once hard-core heroin addicts at this Mexican prison.

The Narconon program today consists of a series of exercises, drills and study steps done in a precise sequence. The techniques and learning programs help the individual withdraw from current drug use, get into communication with others and the environment, remove the residual drugs from his body, gain control of himself and his environment and reach the point where he can take responsibility not only for himself, but also for others. The Narconon program consists of the following:

1. Drug-Free Withdrawal – The first step of the Narconon program helps the individual cease current drug use rapidly and with minimal discomfort through proper nutrition, vitamins and care from experienced Narconon staff. Various assists help the person come off the drugs with minimal discomfort.

2. The Narconon Therapeutic TR Course – Once withdrawal is complete, a series of communication drills (called training routines, or “TRs”) are used to extrovert the person and raise his ability to confront his life – that is, to comfortably face others and situations in his environment. Each TR increases the person’s ability to face life and communicate with others.

3. The Narconon New Life Detoxification Procedure – Next, the person cleanses his body of drug residues and other toxic substances through a regimen of exercise, sauna and nutritional supplements as described in the book Clear Body, Clear Mind: The Effective Purification Program by L. Ron Hubbard. Drug residues remain locked in the fatty tissues of the body and can be released into the bloodstream years after the person has stopped taking drugs, thus rekindling old cravings for drugs. This step purges the body of these residues and other toxins.

4. Narconon’s Learning Improvement Course – Here, the individual gains the ability to study and retain knowledge, along with the ability to recognize and overcome the barriers to study. He can now proceed with further educational steps to prepare him to lead a productive and ethical life.

5. Narconon Communication and Perception Course – On this step, the individual repeats the TRs, plus additional exercises which get him into full communication with others and his environment. The exercises pull the person’s attention off himself, where it has been fixed by drugs, and out to the world around him. He also helps another person on the course do the exercises, which not only gives him increased responsibility, but a tremendous sense of pride and satisfaction because of this newly gained ability to help others.

6. Narconon’s Ups and Downs in Life Course – Now the individual gains the knowledge to spot and handle those influences in his environment that would cause him to lose any gains he has made. He learns the characteristics of the antisocial personality and the social personality so he can recognize the two, spot the differences between them and better choose his friends and associates. Completing this course makes a person less susceptible to those who would influence a reversion to drugs.

 

7. Narconon’s Personal Values and Integrity Course – Here the individual gains the data he needs to improve his survival potential. The course teaches him about the eight dynamics, ethics, honesty and integrity, showing him how to correct antisocial behavior by ridding himself of the effects of past harmful deeds.

8. The Narconon Changing Conditions in Life Course – This course covers the ethics technology of L. Ron Hubbard and shows the individual exactly how to apply it to improve conditions in his life, something he needs if he is to reassert his self-determinism.

9. Narconon’s “The Way to Happiness” Course – Based on a nonsectarian moral code called The Way to Happiness, this course gives the individual a guide to living a life where real happiness is attainable.

This comprehensive program addresses and handles the reason why the individual started using drugs in the first place and arms him with the knowledge and certainty he needs to lead a happy, drug-free life. Vocational training programs are also available to develop needed job skills so graduates can better support themselves.

To learn more visit the official Narconon web site: http://www.narconon.org