Narconon
A Real Solution to the Problem of Drugs
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| Narconon Florida in Clearwater is part of the international
network of 100 Narconon centers providing drug rehabilitation, education and prevention
services from the sunny southern United States to the frozen tundra of Siberia.
The Narconon program, involving withdrawal, detoxification and study courses to
help students master life skills, is acclaimed world wide for its results: an
average of more than 70% of students completing the program remain drug-free.
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When Ted lost the job he had held for 17 years and his house went into foreclosure
not long after that, it was almost an anticlimax. After all, his wife and children
had already left him and he could not remember ever being anything but deeply
in debt.
At 42 years old, crack cocaine was ruling his life, a life that seemed little
more than a constant struggle with paranoia, a sick body and isolation from the
rest of the world.
Alone, broke and taking a hard look at his life, Ted was desperate to make
a change but did not know how. He wanted help so bad that he loaded crack into
his car and parked next to a cop, trying to get up enough nerve to attract the
officer's attention and get arrested. He even failed at that. Finally he called
his father, opening up about his addiction for the first time.
Ted was lucky. His father was very supportive and helped him enroll with an
inpatient drug rehab program in Tampa. Sixty days later, Ted came out of the program
off crack and on a mission to stay clean. That resolve, however, lasted for only
three months when Ted relapsed.
Then he heard about the Narconon outpatient drug rehab program in Clearwater.
"Narconon is the most common sense program to kick a drug habit," Ted said,
now clean for 12 months after doing the Narconon program. "It cleans the body
to where you don't have the urges to do the drugs."
Founded in 1966 by Arizona State inmate William Benitez, Narconon has grown
internationally, with drug rehabilitation and drug prevention education programs
funded by governments and social reform groups around the world. Based on the
drug detoxification protocols developed by L. Ron Hubbard, Narconon does not use
drugs nor does it treat drug abuse as an illness.
"The addict has been found not to want to be an addict, but is driven by pain
and environmental hopelessness. As soon as an addict can feel healthier and more
competent mentally and physically without drugs than he does on drugs, he ceases
to require drugs," L. Ron Hubbard said.
The Narconon program is based on the premise that drug residuals remain stored
in the body fat and can cause an addict to reexperience cravings for drugs even
after he has stopped taking them. When a person is under stress or engaged in
strenuous activity, tiny residuals seep out of the body fat and reenter the bloodstream.
The individual suddenly gets a small "taste" of the drug and instantly wants more.
Thus, even when many addicts stop taking drugs, they later relapse.
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"If I hadn't come off the drugs, I'd
be dead.
...I did the Narconon program. Now, I have a future."
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The Narconon program uses a regimen of vitamins, exercise and sauna to rid the
body of drug residuals and enable the individual to free himself from drug cravings.
The Narconon Clearwater program was recently reviewed by Dr. Betty Buchan,
Vice President of Research at Operation PAR, an addiction research and treatment
program located in five counties of the Tampa Bay area. In her position, Dr. Buchan
evaluates different types of methods for substance abuse treatment in the Tampa
Bay community.
"The thing that impressed me the most in the Narconon program is that it uses
a natural healing approach toward substance abuse. Diet, exercise, nutrition,
rest, lots of clean water intake — these are some of the most important aspects
of developing a healthy body. Narconon's primary focus is a healthy body and healthy
mind. When you have these, you are less likely to abuse drugs," Buchan said.
Individuals, like Ted, who have completed the Narconon drug detoxification
say it saved their lives.
"If I hadn't come off the drugs, I'd be dead. When I did the Narconon program,
I felt healthier almost immediately so I could deal with situations in life much
better. Now I have a future," Ted said.
A Different Kind of Addiction
Unfortunately, street drugs are not the only substances causing life-threatening
addictions in American society today.
When Norma, a grandmother of six, started having a very rapid heartbeat two
years ago, she was rushed to the emergency room at a local hospital. The hospital
had her undergo a series of heart tests and put her on a drug that is often prescribed
for anxiety.
Although a full battery of tests showed no heart problems, Norma was kept on
the drug daily for three months. A whole set of new symptoms appeared. She became
agoraphobic. Her muscles twitched so badly it was almost impossible to draw blood
from her arm. She couldn't carry on a conversation or focus. She became fearful
of anything that moved.
Norma felt these new symptoms could only be the result of taking the drug,
as she had never experienced them before the prescription. Nothing had been found
to be physically wrong with her in all her testing, so she went back to the doctor
for advice. The doctor recommended she take yet another drug.
Taking a second drug to compensate for problems created by the first one did
not make sense to Norma. On her own, she decided to stop taking the drug. It was
then she discovered she had become addicted.
Withdrawal was a nightmare. She felt like there were bugs crawling all over
her. Sounds and light were magnified a thousand times. Her body vibrated and she
felt like she was not connected in any way to the world.
Miraculously, she was able to wean herself off the drug. She was lucky — serious
complications that can result during withdrawal from even low dosages of some
drugs include epileptic seizures and death.
Being off the drug, however, did not mean being free of its effects. Norma
still suffered intense cravings for it and daily had to resist the urge to start
again.
She urgently needed a solution.
The Narconon Program
Fortunately, Norma found out about the Narconon program from her chiropractor;
finally she found the help she needed.
Norma's first step in her battle to free herself from the drug cravings was
the Narconon detoxification program. Narconon requires comprehensive medical testing
prior to detoxification.
"Norma had completed a full battery of tests under her medical doctor who then
allowed her to do the detoxification program," said Clearwater Narconon Director
Cheryl Alderman.
Utilizing Narconon's nutritionally based detox program along with the specialized
procedures to help her through some of the worst periods, Norma was able to free
herself entirely from the drug.
"Narconon saved my life. There is no way I could have come off without that
program and the constant support of Cheryl [Narconon Director]. I could not have
made it through," Norma said.
Similar words echo in nations around the world, as thousands are freed from
the chains of drug addiction, and are able to lead drug-free lives and restore
their families, often for the first time in years.
Narconon has inpatient facilities in Georgia, Oklahoma, Southern and Northern California and Toronto. For more information on Narconon, call (727) 779-1011 or visit their website at www.narconon.org
