The safety - or lack of it - of Narconon's programme has been a serious cause of concern for nearly 30 years. As discussed in "Hubbard's Junk Science", the Narconon detoxification programme is based on unproven (and disproved) theories. Unfortunately for Narconon's clients, some of those theories and practices have significant risks and have attracted strong criticism from the medical profession as a result. In this context, it is worth noting that Narconon requires its clients to sign a "Release of Liability, Indemnity Agreement and Contract". An earlier version of this document was examined in the 1974 report commissioned by the California Department of Health:
The most interesting form is entitled "Legal Contract for Narconon Rehabilitation Program." (See attachment.) Among other things this document specifies that the Narconon service "is spiritual guidance not intended to diagnose or treat human ailments of body or mind by other than spiritual means." It additionally specifies that the "service which is subject to this agreement is open to anyone who: a. does not have a purely medical illness which would be curable within the skills of a physical practitioner; b. does not have a history or record of institutionalization in an insane asylum or similar place; c. is not connected with any person or group of known antagonism towards Narconon; d. enrolls on his own determinism and not on orders of any other group or person; e. will use the knowledge gained to help others in the understanding that one has to help others to help himself; f. is willing to abide by the rules governing the program as such may be made known to him in HCO (HCO presumably means Hubbard Communication Office) Policy letters and other authorized publications; g. is not using this service to try to cure an illness."
Item 7 and 9 of the preceding agreement essentially relieves Narconon of any actual or potential legal claim of any sort under any circumstances and in perpetuity. Item 11 "expressly waives the prohibitions of Section 1542 of the Civil Code of California," i.e., certain claims not affected by general release.
["Outline for recovery, House Evaluation" - by Forrest S. Tennant, Jr., M.D., Dr.P.H., Jane Thomas, R.N., Mike Reilly, and Joseph Shannon, M.D., M.P.H. Submitted to Don Z. Miller, Deputy Director, Health Treatment System, State Department of Health, Sacramento, CA, on 31 Oct 1974]
It is worth pointing out that the disclaimer quoted above is virtually identical to its Scientology equivalent, even down to the use of Scientology jargon ("determinism") and references to Scientology policy letters.
There are a number of key concerns regarding Narconon's safety, which have from time to time been major factors in the termination or recommendation of termination of Narconon programmes. These are:
Cold turkey
Narconon's use of what amount to cold turkey methods.
Dangerous detoxification
Narconon's detoxification therapy uses vitamin and mineral doses far above the safe limits.
Poorly trained staff
The great majority of Narconon's staff have no medical training, yet supervise a pseudo-medical course of treatment.
Inappropriate treatment
Some of Narconon's therapeutic methods potentially put clients at risk.
Bad science
A lot of Narconon's therapies are based on bad science, or simply unsupported belief, producing further risks for clients.
Cold Turkey:
The first stage of the Narconon programme, Drug-Free Withdrawal, involves an immediate cessation of drug taking, accompanied by a course of vitamins and dietary supplements. Narconon denies that Drug-Free Withdrawal is actually a "cold turkey" method:
Q. Do people starting the program come off drugs cold turkey?
A. No. If the person is physically addicted to drugs, after an examination is given by a competent physician, he is given the withdrawal program under 24 hour supervision. This approach is drug-free, assisted by vitamins and minerals, with assistance and counseling by a trained withdrawal specialist. The Narconon drug-free withdrawal is with minimal pain and discomfort as attested by many that have gone through the program.
[Narconon drug abuse intervention - http://www.drugabuseintervention.com/faq.html]
Strictly speaking, it is not quite cold turkey; the Encarta dictionary defines it as "a method of stopping drug addiction by not taking any further drugs and not having any other treatment to protect the addict from the withdrawal symptoms". However, the "other treatment" in this case is such that the method used by Narconon is unlikely to be much better than cold turkey. Narconon attempts to alleviate withdrawal symptoms with "specific supplementary vitamins and minerals to minimize the physical problems associated with the initial halting of drug use [and] special and quite unique procedures developed by L. Ron Hubbard, called 'assists'." ["Improving Lives by Ending Drug Addiction" - http://www.able.org/narconon.html]. This appears to be little more than junk science, as the physical effects of drug addiction are certainly not the primary result of vitamin deficiencies. Additionally, the use of "assists" - Scientology faith healing - has no scientific or medical basis whatsoever, being comparable to the "laying on hands" practices of some Christian and New Age sects. (See "Hubbard's Junk Science" for more on the use of vitamins and assists.)
Conventional treatment regimes routinely use drugs to wean addicts off other drugs. Withdrawal symptoms are often extremely painful, so painkillers are often used to help the recovering addict through the worst parts of the process. The strongest painkillers of all are opiates - heroin was originally devised for this purpose and is still used medically in some countries. Methadone, another opiate, is routinely used to reduce dependence on heroin; other painkillers, such as Valium, are also used. This approach has been clinically proven to be effective, particularly where heroin is concerned - as the Australian Drug Foundation puts it,
Many people believe that it is preferable for heroin users to stop taking drugs altogether. Although for some heroin users this is achievable, for others there is a high risk of relapse into heroin use.
["The advantages of methadone treatment", Australian Drug Foundation - http://www.adf.org.au/drughit/facts/methadone.html#advantage]
There is considerable risk in abruptly quitting a substance on which the body has become dependent. Withdrawal symptoms vary between drugs, but for the opiates (such as heroin) they can be severe and physically dangerous. About eight to twelve hours after the last heroin use, an addict's eyes begin to tear and he/she starts to experience flu-like symptoms: sneezing, weakness, depression, muscle cramps, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, increasing in severity and lasting for a week to ten days. Goose bumps and muscle spasms in the legs are also common symptoms. The physical strain of the withdrawal process can be fatal, particularly if patients have weak hearts (or have been weakened by their addiction), which is why a gradual approach to withdrawal is almost universally advocated by doctors. Many addictive drugs, including tobacco, cocaine, heroin and antidepressants, are usually tackled gradually - a treatment which many ex-smokers have used to kick the habit is the "anti-smoking patch", providing gradually smaller doses of nicotine absorbed through the skin.
Narconon rejects this approach, arguing instead for a total cut-off in all cases. A cornerstone of its theoretical basis is that all drugs are bad - not just recreational drugs but, as L. Ron Hubbard himself put it, "both medical and street drugs", ["About the Narconon Program", Narconon International - http://www.narconon.org/about_narconon.htm] on the basis that "Drugs essentially are poisons." ["There Is No Free Ride", Clark Carr, President of Narconon International - http://www.freedommag.org/english/vol30I1/page18.htm] Using drugs to wean an addict off another drug is therefore not allowed. Narconon has described this stage of the programme as follows:
In this first part of the program a person gets a complete physical by our Medical Director, who is on call 24 hours a day. A withdrawal program is then written up according to the individual needs of that person. The program will assist the individual to stop current drug use with minimal discomfort through proper nutrition, vitamins and care from experienced Narconon staff and a qualified nurse who is available 24 hours a day.
[Pamphlet issued by Narconon Chilocco, Oklahoma c. 1992]
This approach was strongly criticised when it was examined by the State of Oklahoma in 1991, with the comment that "the Narconon Program exposes its patients to the risk of delayed withdrawal phenomena such as seizures, delirium and/or hallucinations." ["Findings of Fact regarding the Narconon-Chilocco Application For Certification", Board of Mental Health, State of Oklahoma, 13 December 1991] In a 1974 report to the California State Department of Health on a Los Angeles branch of Narconon, the authors - a panel of doctors - recommended that "Detoxification procedures should be stopped on the premises since their procedures are without proper medical supervision and may be dangerous." ["Outline for recovery, House Evaluation" - by Forrest S. Tennant, Jr., M.D., Dr.P.H., Jane Thomas, R.N., Mike Reilly, and Joseph Shannon, M.D., M.P.H. Submitted to Don Z. Miller, Deputy Director, Health Treatment System, State Department of Health, Sacramento, CA, on 31 Oct 1974]
The same approach is taken for all drugs, despite their different natures. For non-addictive drugs such as cannabis, this poses few risks. The same cannot be said of drugs upon which the body becomes physically dependent, such as heroin or cocaine. The physical and psychological effects of an abrupt cessation of such drugs can be agonising and lethal. Sudden withdrawal from cocaine, for instance, results in acute feelings of anxiety, depression and panic which can provoke suicidal behaviour, while heroin withdrawal can cause extreme pain, diarrhoea, sweating, cramps and uncontrollable craving for the drug. In the case of heroin, these symptoms inspired the expression "going cold turkey" comes from because of the similarity in appearance between the cold and clammy skin of a dead turkey and the appearance of the skin of the drug user. This combination of physical pain and psychological torment is why so many drug addicts find it so difficult to give up, particularly as they know that one fix of the drug would instantly relieve their discomfort. Few medical authorities recommend using cold turkey withdrawal methods, as the consequences can be extremely unpleasant for the addict. In some cases, users of addictive drugs are weaned off by giving them decreasing doses of less harmful drugs, such as method in the case of heroin addicts. This approach is ruled out by Narconon's insistence that no drugs should be used to help addicts overcome withdrawal symptoms.
Dangerous Detoxification:
By far the most contentious element of the Narconon programme is the New Life Detoxification Program, Narconon's equivalent of the Scientology Purification Rundown. This uses a combination of exercise (preferably running), lengthy periods in a sauna and massive doses of vitamins and nutritional supplements, notably niacin and oils. This is supposed to drive "stored" drugs out of body fat but there is little convincing evidence that it actually does this, or that it is even possible to do what it is supposed to do. More worryingly, there is strong evidence that all three elements are potentially or actually risky.
Running may not be safe for all, particularly those with weak hearts (perhaps weakened by drug abuse).
Sauna periods are far beyond what is recommended as safe. Ordinarily, one is strongly advised not to stay in a sauna for longer than about 15-30 minutes. Narconon's clients stay in the sauna for up to five hours at temperatures of up to 80C (170F), ten times longer than the recommended maximum. This poses major risks for health; such a lengthy period of extreme heat can easily lead to hyperthermia, heat exhaustion, salt or potassium depletion, heat stroke and breathing difficulties, which could prove highly dangerous for asthma sufferers. Indeed, Hubbard's book Clear Body Clear Mind, upon which the programme is based and which the supervisors are required to study, includes a list of actions to be taken in the case of overheating, salt or potassium depletion or heat stroke. Such risks would be far less likely if the use of the sauna was not so excessive. It is for this reason that the Californian government's Department of Industrial Relations has declared the use of the Hubbard method to be "inappropriate" for dealing with occupational asthma. [See http://www.dir.ca.gov/imc/asthma.html]
Vitamin "bombs" risk poisoning their users. The State of Oklahoma's examiners reported in 1991 that "The use of high amounts of vitamins and minerals in the amounts described administered by Narconon can be potentially dangerous to the patients of Narconon according to the more credible medical evidence ..." Many of the dosages set by Hubbard far exceed the recommended maximum intakes set by the United States Institute of Medicine's Food and Nutrition Board (FNB). Typically, Hubbard's dosages have not been amended for decades, despite the advance of medical and scientific knowledge; the Scientologists are required (by Hubbard's own instructions) not to alter his doctrines, even where they conflict with proven science. The Food and Nutrition Board is responsible for setting recommended dietary allowances (RDAs) and upper limits (ULs), the maximum level of daily nutrient intake that is likely to pose no risk of adverse effects. In almost every single case, Hubbard recommends dosages well above the safe limits, in some cases as much as 142 times more than the toxic level. The side effects of such huge overdoses range from liver damage, hair loss, brain swelling and nausea up to fatal heart and respiratory failure. The following table shows the levels recommended by Hubbard and the FNB, and the proven consequences of dosages beyond the FNB's upper limits.
Vitamins
NIACIN
Dosages Hubbard
100mg-5,000mg RDA *
14 mg Upper limit *
35 mg
Adverse effects of overdose
Overdoses of Niacin can be extremely dangerous:
At doses of over 50mg, niacin (nicotinic acid) may cause transient itching, flushing, tingling, or headache. Niacinamide in the form that occurs naturally in the body (nicotinamide) is free of these effects. Large doses of niacin may cause nausea and may aggravate a peptic ulcer. Side effects may be reduced by taking the drug on a full stomach. At doses of over 2g daily (which have been used to treat hyperlipidaemia) there is a risk of gout, liver damage, and high blood sugar levels, leading to extreme thirst.
[John A. Henry, British Medical Association New Guide to Medicines and Drugs, 2000 edition]
Hubbard completely misunderstood what niacin does to the body - an issue explored more fully in "Hubbard's Junk Science" - and deprecated nicotinamide as "worthless" because it did not produce the symptoms which he misinterpreted as being desirable indicators.
VITAMIN A
Dosages Hubbard
5,000 IU - 50,000 IU RDA *
700-900 µg Upper limit *
3,000 µg
Adverse effects of overdose
Excessive intake of vitamin A is toxic, at dosages of around 20-25,000 IU daily. The symptoms include brain swelling, weakened bones, conjunctivitis, cirrhosis of the liver, hair loss, diarrhoea, insomnia and fever.
VITAMIN C
Dosages Hubbard
250-1,000mg - 5,000-6,000mg RDA *
75-90 mg Upper limit *
2000 mg
Adverse effects of overdose
Gastrointestinal disturbances, kidney stones, excess iron absorption.
VITAMIN D
Dosages Hubbard
400-2000 IU RDA *
5-15 µg Upper limit *
50 µg
Adverse effects of overdose
Disturbance of calcium metabolism, producing hypercalcaemia - i.e. dangerously raised blood calcium concentrations leading to raised blood pressure, the possibility of brain damage, and kidney damage.
VITAMIN E
Dosages Hubbard
800 IU - 2,400 IU RDA *
15 mg Upper limit *
1,000 mg
Adverse effects of overdose
May include hemorrhagic toxicity.
[Data from Hubbard, Clear Body Clear Mind, and United States Food and Nutrition Board, "Dietary Reference Intakes: Vitamins", http://www.iom.edu/iom/iomhome.nsf/WFiles/webtablevitamins/$file/webtablevitamins.pdf]
Minerals
CALCIUM
Dosages Hubbard
500-3000 mg RDA *
1,000-1,300 mg Upper limit *
2,500 mg
Adverse effects of overdose
Kidney stones, hypercalcemia, milk alkali syndrome, renal insufficiency, constipation, palpitations, reduced iron and zinc absorption.
COPPER
Dosages Hubbard
2-12 mg RDA *
0.9 mg Upper limit *
10 mg
Adverse effects of overdose
Gastrointestinal distress, liver and kidney damage, destruction of red blood cells (haemolytic anaemia).
IRON
Dosages Hubbard
18-108 mg RDA *
9-18 mg Upper limit *
45 mg
Adverse effects of overdose
Gastrointestinal distress, significantly raised risk of heart disease, diabetes and cancer.
MAGNESIUM
Dosages Hubbard
250-1500 mg RDA *
310-420 mg Upper limit *
350 mg
Adverse effects of overdose
Adverse effects rare, but can occur in people with impaired kidney functions. Symptoms include nausea, vomiting, dizziness, muscle weakness. Very large increases can cause fatal respiratory or heart failure.
MANGANESE
Dosages Hubbard
4-24 mg RDA *
1.8-2.3 mg Upper limit *
11 mg
Adverse effects of overdose
Elevated blood concentration and neurotoxicity, producing Parkinson's-like symptoms. Individuals with cirrhosis (liver damage), such as alcoholics, may not be able to properly excrete manganese. Manganese supplements can also cause severe hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) in diabetics.
ZINC
Dosages Hubbard
15-90 mg RDA *
8-11 mg Upper limit *
40 mg
Adverse effects of overdose
Affects metabolism of iron and copper, leading to nausea, vomiting, fever.
[Data from Hubbard, Clear Body Clear Mind, and United States Food and Nutrition Board, "Dietary Reference Intakes: Minerals", http://www.iom.edu/iom/iomhome.nsf/WFiles/webtablevitamins/$file/webtableminerals.pdf]
Poorly Trained Staff:
Another significant concern that has been raised by studies of Narconon's programme has been the quality of the staff. The State of Oklahoma's examiners reported that
Narconon employs staff inadequately educated and trained in the care and treatment of drug and alcohol abuse clients. Such a practice endangers the safety, health and/or the physical or mental well being of the clients of Narconon ...
Narconon hires former students to work at Narconon-Chilocco immediately upon graduation and the former students work directly with the present students. While former patients of drug and alcohol rehabilitation clinics can be employed in such clinics after graduation, the former patient's recovery from his addiction should be established with more passage of time to ensure sobriety and to avoid putting patients in contact with addicts who are not fully recovered. This practice could negatively impact the safety and effectiveness of the program.
["Findings of Fact regarding the Narconon-Chilocco Application For Certification by the Board of Mental Health", State of Oklahoma, 13 December 1991]
There is some anecdotal evidence to support in practice the Oklahomans' concern about the suitability of the individuals hired by Narconon. The organisation's hiring practices were strongly criticised in an open letter published on the Internet in 2002, written by an ex-staff member at Narconon Southern California who had been treated and subsequently worked there from June 2000 to about February 2001:
[S]everal of the staff members [at Narconon Southern California] relapsed while working at Narconon and Narconon Southern California admitted for treatment numerous staff members from the Narconon facilities in Northern California and Oklahoma who had relapsed while working at those facilities.
Narconon patients are heavily pressured in to become staff members upon graduation. ... When I returned to Narconon as a patient in December of 2000, I was immediately put to work at the Narconon facility as a "detoxification specialist". I had no medical training, was not at all familiar with how to care for and treat people detoxifying from drugs and alcohol, yet worked several hours a day performing such duties. I had added to my list of duties computer work because of my background in the Internet. Working 12-hour shifts as both a detoxification specialist and online marketer for Narconon, I spent no time working on any of the methods Narconon claimed would help my rehabilitation. Concerned over this and the financial situation I was falling in to being unable to get a job or support myself, I was pressured by Narconon staff members to sign a contract to work for them. Already having worked 12 hours a day, 6 days a week for no reimbursement from Narconon and being told my work on their behalf was part of my "rehabilitation program", I had no money and my family was having trouble supporting me. Finally, Narconon staff members told me working long-term for them was the only solution and the only way I would get paid for the work I was doing. Hesitantly but succumbing to intense pressure from the staff at Narconon, I signed the 5-year employment and obligation contract so as to finally get reimbursed for the work I had already done for them. Furthermore, I was told that it was my duty to work for them. Narconon staff members told me I would relapse if I went to work anywhere else and tried to live life on my own. They told me I was indebted to them for my sobriety and therefore owed them at least several years of work.
[Open letter to California Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs, 20 January 2002 - http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=keiv6uktalkkmqp0uat8qoigvird595ufs%404ax.com&oe=UTF-8&output=gplain]
In addition, the fact that most Narconon staff have only basic training in medical matters means that they may not be able to properly recognise serious medical symptoms. A (usually Scientologist) doctor gives written clearance to individuals to undergo the "detoxification" process, but the process itself is supervised by a non-medical individual known as the "New Life Detoxification Program In-Charge". In 1974, this was such a major concern to the California State Department of Health's inspection team that it recommended that "detoxification procedures should be stopped on the premises since their procedures are without proper medical supervision and may be dangerous." A similar concern was raised by the State of Oklahoma's team in 1991, which pointed out that the lack of medical expertise could lead to symptoms being missed or misdiagnosed.
Training courses
The Detoxification Program In-Charge has to undergo a training course, which is one of the few documents to have leaked out of Narconon, albeit in an incomplete form. The "New Life Detoxification Program In-Charge Course" is effectively a Scientology training document - it is very similar to the "Purification Rundown Program In-Charge Course" used by the Church of Scientology - and is copyrighted by the Church of Spiritual Technology in its business alias of the "L. Ron Hubbard Library". It gives a unique insight into the training given to Narconon staff members.
The course requires the trainee to have done the "Narconon Withdrawal Specialist Course" - a Withdrawal Specialist is a supervisor of Narconon's Drug-Free Withdrawal programme, trained in the proper regime of vitamins (as defined by Hubbard) and in the use of "touch assists", a form of Scientology faith healing. Like other Narconon courses, it is conducted using Hubbard's "study technology". The entire course takes "One week full time (8 hours per day, five days per week)."
The first element which the trainee has to study is Hubbard's "Study Lectures", starting with "Studying: Introduction". (This lecture, incidentally, is undeniably Scientology, being littered with Scientology jargons and concepts; it is a Scientology practitioner's training course borrowed from Hubbard's "Saint Hill Special Briefing Course" and is listed as one of the "Scientology Books and Materials" on the official Scientology website. See http://www.scientology.org/wis/WISENG/42/64.htm). The trainee has to demonstrate "What fixed opinions have to do with judgment". The ostensible purpose of this question is to encourage the trainee to be receptive to new ideas; Hubbard deprecates "know it alls" who rely on received wisdom. In practice, as the lecture itself makes clear, the aim is to encourage the trainee to dispense with "theoretical" knowledge gleaned from books or lectures that might contradict Hubbard's "practical" (but pseudoscientific) knowledge. It is almost certainly no coincidence that this particular element of an hour-long lecture should be virtually the first item studied by trainees, as it would put the trainee in an appropriate frame of mind to ingest the rest of Hubbard's pseudoscience - the thought that "this can't be right" would be put aside as being an inappropriate "fixed opinion".
The next lecture to be studied (another Scientology lecture from the Saint Hill Special Briefing Course) is "Studying: Data Assimilation", with the trainee required to demonstrate "Why a subject might seem incomprehensible". This refers to Hubbard's doctrine that "THE ONLY REASON A PERSON GIVES UP A STUDY OR BECOMES CONFUSED OR UNABLE TO LEARN IS BECAUSE HE HAS GONE PAST A WORD THAT WAS NOT UNDERSTOOD" (How to Use a Dictionary, p. 282; capitalization as in the original.) In other words, a concept is not incomprehensible because it is badly worded, or incorrect, or simply nonsensical; it occurs because the terminology is not understood by the student. This sets up the next stage of the trainee's appropriate frame of mind: all disagreement is dismissed as misunderstanding, making Hubbard's pseudoscientific statements infallible. For instance, he claims that radiation is stored in the body and can be flushed out, making the person practically immune even to a nuclear war. If that concept is rejected, as it ought to be, the reason (to the Scientologists) is not that the statement itself is wrong, but merely that the person studying it has failed to understand it.
The third lecture on the course (Scientology again) is "A Summary of Study", requiring the trainee to demonstrate "Why, when you have detached the significance from the action and separated these two things apart, you can have schooling but you can't have education." Hubbard makes the point that theoretical knowledge (the "significance") is distinct from the practical knowledge (the "action" or "doingness") but they should not be separated, as otherwise they become useless on their own. In the example given in the In-Charge Course, the trainee is required to know both the theoretical basis of the New Life Detoxification Program and its practical application.
The next section could best be described as the practical element of the course, as it requires the student to "handle" various situations that might be encountered in supervising the detoxification programme. Some are clearly medical:
a. What actions you could take if a person was feeling too warm, feeling faint, or if his body temperature got too high while in the sauna.
b. Why it is advisable NOT to fall asleep in the sauna.
DEMO: Why it is important that one drink plenty of liquid while on the program.
DEMO: Why a person's liquid intake must be sufficiently large to compensate for the liquid lost through sweating.
DEMO: Why a woman should not do the New Life Detoxification Program during pregnancy or while she is breast-feeding a child.
Other items are possible scenarios involving interaction with Narconon's clients:
a. A person with a history of taking drugs heavily over a number of years is beginning the New Life Detox Program. He only wants to do the program for 2½ hours per day.
b. A student on the New Life Detox Program reports that after 3 hours in the sauna he becomes tired and gets no further gain.
c. A student on the program appears to be suffering from a vitamin deficiency.
d. A student originates that he feels he has fully completed the program but is not yet up to taking 5000 mg of niacin.
e. A person on the New Life Detoxification Program originates he is complete. You read his daily report and find he has experienced drug reactions on the program that day.
f. A person turns on a severe reaction during his time in the sauna one day. The next day he states that he does not want to continue the program.
The first block of actions quoted above are virtually all of the items which could be described as "medical"; virtually all of the rest of the course relates to the programme's delivery and administration. Many of the items in this section instruct the trainee in the pseudoscience behind the detoxification programme, notably Hubbard's claims that radiation accumulates in the body; one of the items to be studied is "The New Life Detoxification Program and Atomic War", an adaptation of a Hubbard bulletin which informs Scientologists that detoxification can make them immune to atomic fallout. The trainee is required to demonstrate "What is meant by the cumulative effect of radiation and how ridding a body of radiation lessens the effect of any future exposure to it."
Section D requires the trainee to read and comprehend sections of Hubbard's book Clear Body, Clear Mind, specifically the foreword, introduction and appendix. These selections are significant. The introduction, by Narconon's medical advisor (and Scientologist) Dr. Megan Shields, waxes lyrical about the Purification programme:
No breakthrough was made at all until L. Ron Hubbard attacked this problem head-on ...
The Purification program developed by L. Ron Hubbard is the only procedure of its kind and it is the only detoxification program that actually works. This program is one of the major discoveries of our times. It is also one of the most vital actions that must be done to salvage a civilization that is dying from the devastating effects of drugs and toxins.
[Megan G. Shields M.D., in Hubbard, Clear Body, Clear Mind]
The appendix is a series of anonymised "success stories" praising the programme's effectiveness in "running out" such things as drugs, industrial toxins, Agent Orange and even nuclear fallout. One of the latter comes from a native of Utah exposed to fallout from the Nevada atomic tests:
It should be noted what happened one night in the sauna. After I had been in there for some three hours I turned on a tremendous amount of radiation. There was no redness with the niacin, merely the tremendous heat and pain I felt when I got a good deal of radiation from atomic blasts in 1953. I almost died from radiation burns at that time. I received a great deal of atomic radiation from drinking water that had been filled with fallout. In the sauna I experienced the full return of that moment. I felt the grief and the anger and the pain and the swelling of the face and the blisters and the pain through to the bones. I then went back into the sauna and was able to “blow off” a good deal of this feeling by further sauna exposure.
I feel I have now run out all the drugs and the extreme radiation that I was exposed to in this lifetime. I regained my affinity for people and have a greater love and tolerance for them as a result of the drugs being removed. There have been times on this program when I felt such exhilaration and felt the way I felt when I was a kid . . . My energy level has picked up tremendously.
My friends that I grew up with have not been so fortunate. The atomic tests or the fallout from those tests in Nevada, falling on Utah, have done such a great deal of damage to so many lives. Some of my friends in Utah are dead as a result of those tests. My life would have gone by the boards if I had not had this program. There is a deep sense of gratitude to L. Ron Hubbard for this program. H.J.
[in Hubbard, Clear Body, Clear Mind, p. 85]
This happens to be none other than Heber Jentszch, President of the Church of Scientology International, who can hardly be described as an unbiased assessor of the programme's virtues. The evident aim of this section of the In-Charge Course is to convince the trainee of the programme's effectiveness.
The final third of the course focuses on managing the clients undergoing the detoxification programme, ensuring that the proper paperwork is done and forms are signed. This includes taking care of the "legal rudiments" (sic), such as:
*Read the section in the manual entitled "Release of Liability, Indemnity Agreement and Contract."
*Read the section in the manual entitled "Medical Declaration for Participation in the Narconon New Life Detoxification Program."
c. Ensure the participant has signed the legal waivers used by Narconon for persons doing the program.
d. Ensure the participant receives a physical examination by a qualified medical doctor and written medical okay to do the program.
Scientology is very careful to provide legal protection for itself, and this trait appears to have been passed on to Narconon. Scientology's Purification Rundown likewise requires a prior examination by a qualified medical doctor and legal waivers to be signed. In the Scientology version, the waiver requires its signatory to "AGREE TO ACCEPT ANY AND ALL KNOWN OR UNKNOWN RISKS OF INJURY, LOSS OR DAMAGE" (capitalisation in original), "AGREE NOT TO MAKE CLAIMS AGAINST, SUE, ATTACH THE PROPERTY OF, OR PROSECUTE the Church [and its employees] ... for physical, mental or emotional injury or property damage resulting from the negligence or other acts, howsoever caused, of any Releasee or of any employee, agent or contractor of the Church, its affiliates, or other Releasee, in any way relating to my participation in the Service" and indemnify them "from all actions, claims or demands I, my heirs, distributees, guardians, legal representatives or assigns now have or may hereafter have for physical, mental or emotional injury or property damage resulting in any way from my participation in the Service." It is not clear whether Narconon or Scientology clarify the risks to those undergoing the purification/detoxification programmes. Since Hubbard himself plays down, misunderstands or simply doesn't mention many of the risks, it is doubtful that those managing his programmes take a more rigorous approach. The California State Board of Health team observed in its 1974 report that
We were not provided with and must presume that there is no informed consent document specifying the risks involved in withdrawal from hypnotics/tranquilizer medications such as convulsive episodes during barbiturate withdrawal [even though] the legal contract described above apparently relieves Narconon of any legal responsibilities for any such risk.
["Outline for recovery, House Evaluation" - by Forrest S. Tennant, Jr., M.D., Dr.P.H., Jane Thomas, R.N., Mike Reilly, and Joseph Shannon, M.D., M.P.H. Submitted to Don Z. Miller, Deputy Director, Health Treatment System, State Department of Health, Sacramento, CA, on 31 Oct 1974]
Inappropriate Treatment:
A significant problem identified by the State of Oklahoma's investigative team in 1991 was the use of Narconon's own clients in the delivery of the Narconon programme:
Narconon permits clients under treatment for drug and alcohol abuse to handle and provide medications to fellow Narconon clients, to supervise the sauna treatment of fellow Narconon clients, and to supervise Narconon clients with psychiatric disorders. Such practices endanger the client's health and safety and are not in accord with acceptable drug and alcohol treatment.
Part of the Narconon treatment program involves touch assists between patients. Touch assists involve massages between patients in rooms by themselves. Narconon has both male and female patients who are involved in the drug and alcohol rehabilitation program. This practice of touch assists could likely lead to improper sexual contact between drug addicts or alcoholics in the process of recovery. An accepted standard in such programs is for the patients to keep their hands to themselves. The practice of touch assists between male and female patients who are recovering drug addicts or alcoholics in private rooms renders the program unsafe in this respect.
["Findings of Fact regarding the Narconon-Chilocco Application For Certification by the Board of Mental Health", State of Oklahoma, 13 December 1991]
This is, in fact, a standard Scientology practice which in its Scientology context is known as "co-auditing", where two trainee Scientologists cooperate in "auditing" each other. Significantly, it is also used in Scientology's own drug rehabilitation course:
[T]wo people pair up and work with each other on drills ... on a co-audit, meaning cooperative auditing, basis. (Auditing is the application of Scientology processes to another for his benefit.) Students study, drill and then audit many different processes on each other, helping another and being helped in return to become more in present time and oriented to the environment, all of which can greatly raise a person’s potential for success.
["Answers to Drugs" - http://www.scientologyhandbook.org/sh7_3.htm]
This provides another illustration of how Narconon's practices are informed more by Scientology's beliefs than by recognised practice in dealing with addiction.
Bad Science:
Any therapy which aims to modify the workings of the body - which Narconon clearly does, principally through its detoxification process - necessarily has to rely on having a good scientific basis for its methodology. Narconon fails badly on this score. As is discussed in more detail in "Hubbard's Junk Science", Narconon's therapy is based on a ramshackle assortment of unproven and physically impossible theories of drug effects and rehabilitation. To make matters worse, those who deliver Narconon's courses - individuals who are invariably either Scientologists or graduates of Narconon - have been encouraged to develop an unquestioning trust of Hubbard's theories, which are treated as infallible. Worse still, as those theories are officially part of the "sacred scriptures" of the Church of Scientology, they are not subject to the normal scientific process and. By Hubbard's express orders, they cannot be modified even if new medical evidence shows them to be untrue or unsafe.
This presents real risks to Narconon's clients. As "Dangerous Detoxification" explains, the Hubbard therapy relies on massive overdoses of vitamins and minerals, often as much as ten times more than the safe limits. Toxic side-effects such as the intense and uncomfortable flushes caused by niacin overdoses are regarded as desirable, thanks to Hubbard's misunderstanding of what actually causes such symptoms. Other side-effects are interpreted as being the result of toxins being sweated out, even though all the medical evidence points to sweat being only a very minor mechanism in the excretion of toxins from the body.
The abrupt cessation of drug ingestion is also a serious risk. Hubbard claims that a combination of vitamins and "assists" (a Scientology version of "laying on hands") can help an addict to overcome withdrawal symptoms. There is no medical evidence to support this, particularly where physical symptoms are concerned; neither vitamins nor faith healing will do anything to help restore the equilibrium of a drug addict's brain chemistry. Indeed, Narconon is actively hostile to chemicals that are designed to modify brain chemistry - in common with its Scientology origins, it disparages psychiatry and takes the (entirely ideological) line that anything that affects the mind is a spiritual rather than a medical issue, despite all the evidence to the contrary.
When the State of Oklahoma examined Narconon's therapeutic methods in 1991, its reporting team noted the risks caused by Narconon's bad science:
The Narconon program presents a potential risk to the patients of the Narconon program that delayed withdrawal phenomena such as seizures, delirium or hallucination that are occasionally seen several days after cessation of drugs such as benzodiazepines, may be misinterpreted by Narconon's non-medical staff as the effect of mobilizing the drug from fat during the sauna sweat-out procedure period. There is also a potential risk that the reported re-experience of the abused drugs' effect during the sauna sweat-out program may be the result of misinterpreted symptoms of hyperthermia or electrolyte imbalance ...
There is credible evidence by way of witness testimony and review of Narconon charts which reflect that there were patients who had psychiatric problems who were taken off of their previously prescribed psychiatric medication who did not do well and subsequently developed psychiatric problems. This evidence indicates a lack of safety and effectiveness in connection with the program.
Clients of Narconon suffering from psychiatric illness, when taken off their prescribed medications, did poorly in the Narconon program and were placed in a segregated facility called destem [sic - probably "destim", i.e. "destimulation"]. This practice endangers the safety, health and/or the physical and mental well being of Narconon's clients.
["Findings of Fact regarding the Narconon-Chilocco Application For Certification by the Board of Mental Health, State of Oklahoma", 13 December 1991]
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