Hubbard, you see, was a humanitarian and deserved the Nobel Peace
Prize for his humanitarian work. Only just forget the fact that he
was actually a conman criminal whose only aims and goals were to
swindle and rook as many people out of as much money for as long as
possible.
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http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/06/23/EDG9E79P551..DTL
The results behind Narconon's 'Truth About Drugs' program
Clark Carr
Wednesday, June 23, 2004
Four of the 25 cities selected by federal Drug Czar John Walters
as focal points for a national campaign to reduce demand for and
abuse of drugs in the United States are in California. According
to a chart on illicit drug use among the 25 cities nationwide
(www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov), San Francisco had the second
highest rate of drug-related emergency-room admissions (8,575)
and drug-related arrests (14,351).
But one does not need to look at a chart. Walking down the
street, stepping over homeless addicts downtown, the problem
is all too real. We all think that it takes a long, long time
to become the broken-down wreck, but many younger enrollees
in our drug rehab program have reported that they became
fixated in one weekend on methamphetamine, a drug that the
National Institute on Drug Abuse reports is used increasingly
in San Francisco. As adults responsible for the future of
such young people, we cannot do less than give our absolute
best to help them face what will prove to be one of their
hardest challenges in life -- to avoid the gauntlet of drug
experimentation leading to drug addiction.
This is the formidable task facing drug prevention.
The Narconon drug prevention network has recognized this since
our graduates, their friends and family volunteered to go into
schools 30 years ago to give youth what came to be known as
"The Truth About Drugs" lectures. It became our hallmark.
Narconon lecturers are people who have been there. We never
use scare tactics. The last way to keep a curious kid from
experimenting with drugs is to tell him he mustn't look in
the dangerous black box of drugs. Nor tell her lurid tales
that are as titillating as monster movies, a kid favorite.
Developing over time as a grassroots effort worldwide,
Narconon lectures gradually rose to reach hundreds of
thousands of youth and adults annually -- 440,000 in 2003.
The drug-prevention talks are based on the same principles
that effectively brought recovering drug addicts through to
stable, drug-free, ethical and productive lives.
The Narconon program was founded in 1966 by William Benitez,
a heroin addict still trying to recover although he was by
then in his sixth prison term. He read prodigiously and came
across works by author and humanitarian L. Ron Hubbard. The
key concept he got from reading Hubbard was that he should
focus on raising his abilities rather than on his problems.
He could choose between accommodating himself to live with
his problem or he could address it as a disability that
would surrender to new skills he developed to achieve a
drug-free life.
Hubbard was a remarkable man whose contributions cover many
fields. All of his research was focused on means to help
mankind. In doing this, he not only founded the Scientology
religion, but developed methods that address social problems.
Not to do so, he felt, in view of societal decay so prevalent,
would have been a grave omission. He was perfectly aware that
the solutions he proposed needed to be secular in nature so
they would be available to help everyone. The Narconon
organization, in fact, is formally licensed to use only the
secular research of Hubbard relevant to drug rehabilitation
and prevention.
One of Hubbard's discoveries in the late 1970s was that drug
residuals and other toxins accumulate in the body and cause
unwanted effects. This has been borne out in scientific
research. For example, Darryl Inaba, who ran the Haight-Ashbury
Free Clinic for many years, wrote in his book "Uppers,
Downers, All Arounders -- Physical and Mental Effects of
Psychoactive Drugs": "One great concern about marijuana is
that it persists in the body of a chronic user for up to 3
months, though the major effects last only 4 to 6 hours after
smoking. These residual amounts in the body can disrupt some
physiological, mental and emotional functions." In addition
to more than a dozen published papers available at
www.detoxacademy.org, there are many other citations in
scientific journals (including Forensic Science International)
regarding drug and other toxins lodging in tissue and coming
out in sweat and urine. This is an important discovery.
Hubbard's regimen to rid the body of these residuals has
formed a part of the Narconon rehabilitation program since
the 1970s. Neither the rehabilitation program nor its detox
regimen is included in Narconon drug- education lectures,
however. What is covered in the lectures is that because
toxic residues can stay in the body, they can have damaging
effects on the individual even after drug use has ceased.
Lecturing to youth in schools is thus a key element of
Narconon drug prevention, along with public-awareness
campaigns, media releases, community events and work with
other concerned community coalitions. We look forward to
exploring with school district and educational department
staffs how Narconon can even better respond to the needs
of future generations.
The results? In a sample survey of more than 1,000 students
after our lectures in California, 86 percent stated that
despite a prior attitude of interest in drug use, they now
were no longer interested. This is what every parent and
every teacher wants.
Clark Carr is president of Narconon International
(www.narconon.org). A certified chemical dependency
counselor, he ran a Narconon residential center for
10 years and has for the last nine years represented
the Narconon network, speaking at scientific conferences
on rehabilitation and prevention worldwide.
---
Where to find Fahrenheit 9/11: http://www.f911tix.com/
For activists: Not Ordered Text Server at http://www.notserver.com/
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