Schools Bar Anti-Drug Program
L.A. district warns against the use of presentations by a group linked
to the Church of Scientology. The state plans an investigation.

By Duke Helfand and Cara Mia DiMassa
Times Staff Writers


June 24, 2004

Los Angeles school officials are warning campuses not to use a drug
prevention program linked to the Church of Scientology while
California's schools chief has ordered an investigation to determine
whether the anti-drug presentations are scientifically sound and free
from the religion's influence.

The target of the district and state actions is Narconon, a drug
prevention and rehabilitation program that bases its ideas partly on
the research and controversial teachings of Scientology founder L. Ron
Hubbard.

Narconon has conducted educational assemblies and classes, usually one
session of about an hour each, in some schools in Los Angeles, San
Francisco and other cities.

In the "Truth About Drugs" lectures, Narconon "presenters" tell
students about the negative mental, emotional and physical effects of
drugs (including theories on how they are stored and metabolized in
body tissue and how drugs deplete vitamins and nutrients).

In a memo sent to schools last week, Los Angeles Unified School
District Assistant Supt. Maria Reza said the Narconon presentations
are "not based on science" and warned schools to use only drug
prevention materials that are "research validated" and approved by the
district.

L.A. Unified's chief operating officer, Tim Buresh, said in an
interview Wednesday that the district would conduct a review of the
program and decide soon whether to issue a more forceful statement
against Narconon. "If we become aware of a program that has
questionable content, we will advise people against that," Buresh
said.

Narconon leaders said they offered the program free. Buresh said the
district would look at whether any school funds had been spent on the
lectures or related materials.

District officials said the lectures had been given at about 15 Los
Angeles district schools, but they were uncertain which ones.

Similarly, state Supt. of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell said his
office had no way to know how many California schools played host to
Narconon because individual teachers may have invited speakers without
formal approval or records. Narconon leaders said presentations had
been given at more than 350 California schools since 2000.

O'Connell expressed concern about the lectures after learning about
Narconon's activities in some schools from a series of articles
earlier this month in the San Francisco Chronicle. He asked his staff
to evaluate the program, a probe that is expected to take several
months.

"We want information disseminated in our schools to be factual,
accurate and helpful," O'Connell said Wednesday. "We certainly don't
want untested and unscientific theories presented as truthful."

Clark Carr, president of Hollywood-based Narconon International, said
the that school presentations were based on sound principles and that
the program had no motive beyond wanting to keep youngsters off of
drugs. He insisted the classes did not include any proselytizing for
Scientology.

"If people had never heard of Mr. Hubbard, the lectures would still
stand up, because they are based on real science," Carr said. "We
don't use scare tactics. We come in with the straight facts. We're
helping kids get off drugs. We've been doing it for a long time. We're
going to continue doing it."

Carr said the organization approaches individual school health
teachers or principals, informs them of the program and asks if they
are interested in a presentation.

The Narconon program dates to the mid-1960s, when an Arizona prison
inmate used Hubbard's teachings to battle his heroin addiction.

Inspired by Hubbard's belief that personal abilities can help people
overcome their problems, William Benitez founded Narconon in 1966 and
eventually helped spread the program with others influenced by
Hubbard. Hubbard died in 1986.

Narconon later built on Hubbard's research into drug withdrawal and
detoxification to establish rehabilitation procedures, including the
use of vitamins and mineral supplements to ease symptoms and intensive
sweating in saunas to reduce the residual effects of drug use,
according to a Narconon website and interviews. The site provides
links to several studies that the group says support Narconon's
procedures.

Carr said that Narconon presenters deliver a narrow piece of the
overall approach in their school lectures, focusing on prevention and
leaving out information about rehabilitation techniques, such as
sweating in saunas.

Narconon's educational programs are now one part of a vast enterprise
that includes drug rehabilitation and treatment centers and a series
of books and videos aimed at helping people live drug-free.

The debate over Narconon began after officials in the San Francisco
Unified School District raised questions about the program's
scientific validity and its presentations at more than two dozen
schools there.

San Francisco officials sent Narconon Drug Prevention and Education
Inc., a Narconon affiliate, a letter in February asking the Los
Angeles-based group to clarify several aspects of its classroom
presentations, including a statement that "all drugs are basically
poisons."

In a written response, the group's director, Tony Bylsma, insisted
that the statement was accurate based on "recognized and professional
sources."

Narconon has surfaced in other school districts, including Santa Ana,
where the group presented a lecture to a health class at Saddleback
High School in 1996 and has not returned since, said district
spokeswoman Lucy Arajuo-Cook.

Arajuo-Cook said district Supt. Al Mijares was concerned about the
issue when he learned about it Wednesday. She said the district would
issue a notice to ensure that "no one does anything on their own" and
that the group is not invited to any future classes.


Times staff writer Joel Rubin contributed to this report.
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