Narconon

Narconon International (commonly known as Narconon) is a Scientology organization which promotes the theories of founder L. Ron Hubbard regarding substance abuse treatment and addiction. Its parent company is the Association for Better Living and Education (ABLE), which is owned and controlled by the Church of Scientology. Headquartered in Hollywood, California, United States, Narconon operates several dozen residential centers worldwide, chiefly in the U.S. and western Europe. The organization was formed in 1966 by Scientologist William Benitez with Hubbard's help, and was incorporated in 1970. While both Scientology and Narconon state that Narconon is a secular program independent of the church's religious doctrines, and that it provides legitimate drug education and rehabilitation, the organization has been described by many government reports and former patients as a Scientology front group. Hubbard's writings, which underlie the program, assert that drugs and their metabolites are stored in the body's fatty tissue, causing the addict's cravings when partially released later on, and can be flushed out through a regimen known as Purification Rundown, which involves exercise, sauna and intake of high doses of vitamins. This hypothesis is contradicted by experimental evidence, and is not medically accepted. There are no independently recognized studies that confirm the efficacy of the Narconon program. The program has garnered considerable controversy as a result of its origins in Scientology and its methods. Its drug rehabilitation treatment has been described as "medically unsafe", "quackery" and "medical fraud", while academic and medical experts have dismissed its educational program as containing "factual errors in basic concepts such as physical and mental effects, addiction and even spelling". Narconon's facilities have been the location of several deaths, some of which have been linked to a lack of trained medical personnel on site.