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Narconon Romandie, Switzerland
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Narconon Gabbiano, Italy
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All too often, rehabilitation is a revolving door. Addicts “dry out,” return to the pressures and conflicts of life and at the first crisis turn to old “solutions.”
These failures have led many to conclude that addiction is an incurable disease and that addicts can hope for no more than learning to live with a lifelong “illness.” Others advocate replacement drugs, or even “preventive” drugs for youth identified as “high risk” of becoming abusers.
By contrast, the Narconon programme offers a unique, drug-free means for addicts to overcome their dependence on drugs and to live a life totally free of drug cravings.
During the 1960s, L. Ron Hubbard observed that increasing numbers of people were failing in their studies as a result of their experimentation with drugs such as LSD. Combined with the other all-too-evident effects of drugs, he warned that drugs were “the most destructive element in society today.” He had been investigating the problem for some time and shared his breakthroughs in his writings with many people around the world.
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The Narconon programme offers a unique, drug-free means for addicts to overcome drug dependency and gain a life free of drug cravings. Essential elements of the programme are: (1) A unique detoxification programme to eliminate drug residues from the body. (2) The detoxification regimen includes such elements as exercise, low-heat sauna and precisely administered nutritional supplements. (3) The programme also addresses the fundamental reasons why addicts turn to drugs in the first place, further eradicating the compulsion to take them.
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In 1966, William Benitez, an inmate of Arizona State Prison in the United States, was looking for answers to a
heroin addiction he had suffered from since the age of 13. His search led him to Mr. Hubbard’s
Scientology: The Fundamentals of Thought, and with the principles in that book, he was at last able to kick his addiction.
Having handled his own habit, Mr. Benitez wrote to Mr. Hubbard and asked for his help to set up a prison programme to aid other addicts to do the same. In response, Scientologists from Arizona donated their time and energy and provided copies of Mr. Hubbard’s books. Prison officials granted permission for any inmate to join the group, and thereafter Narconon was opened to all who wished to improve their lives.
In 1970 Narconon opened its first national office in Los Angeles. Initial Narconon programmes in institutions such as California’s Rehabilitation Centre in Norco, the California Men’s Colony in San Luis Obispo and the Youth Training School in Ontario, California, were highly successful.
Narconon expanded quickly. The first centre in Europe was established in 1972 by a worker in Stockholm’s Central Children’s Nursery. Narconon centres quickly spread throughout Europe.
Today, Narconon consists of a network of 44 rehabilitation centres and 99 drug education programmes in 37 countries, including Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Holland, Hungary, Italy, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Narconon also provides comprehensive training to other professionals and organisations who seek workable drug rehabilitation and prevention solutions.
The programme consists of a withdrawal phase to help the student cease current drug use with minimal discomfort, followed by techniques and learning programmes to help him get into communication with others and the environment and reach the point where he can take responsibility not only for himself, but for others.
