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[Dead End]

This thread is for any and all information pertaining to Narconon, Scientology's cash-cow/front group and recruitment hub posing as a "drug-rehab center"...

[mefree]

Narconon is a Scientology front group that is deceptive in several ways:

Let's start with the name Narconon. It sounds a bit like Narcotics Anonymous doesn't it? Well, it's not.

Next, have you noticed how Narconon is constantly advertising under support groups in newspapers? Narconon is not a support group. Groups like Narcotics Anonymous are self-supporting through their own contributions. In other words, they pass a basket and members throw in a couple of bucks. Narconon is officially a non-profit business but, is known to charge heavy monthly fees.

Last but not least, Narconon takes advantage of people with substance abuse problems and families at a most vulnerable time in their lives. The addict and family are looking for answers and have unfortunately found a deceptive cult.

I will post more on this later and add some links.

[The Entity]

http://www.crackpots.us/
 
 http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Narconon/detox.htm
 
 http://www.anti-scientologie.ch/narconon-testimony.htm
 
 http://www.rickross.com/reference/scientology/narconon/narconon25.html
 
 http://www.holysmoke.org/narconon/narconon-heroin-guilty.htm
 
 http://www.narcononvictims.com/
 
 http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Stop-Narconon/
 Tax Info:
 http://www.xenu-directory.net/documents/corporate/990s.php?ntt=77
 
 In CA:
 http://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/he/at/narcononevaluation.asp

[Lorelei]

http://www.stop-narconon.org

http://www.narconon-exposed.org

[ethercat]

Narconon runs literally hundreds of websites that pretend to be unbiased referral sites, but they all refer people to narconon and only to narconon.  If you search on "drug rehab" and <insert any city, state, etc.>, chances are your results will include over 50% narconon referral sites.  (I'd probably say closer to 90%, but I haven't done any actual research on this, so I'll stick with a conservative 50%).  Lots of people get sucked in this way.  Here's a link to someone who is fighting it, with a soundalike, no less: http://www.california-rehab-referral.com/

[mefree]

Great resource. I had not seen this. Thanks EC.

[Raven]

Article about the separation of church and state in our schools which slightly mentions narconon
http://www.northcountrygazette.org/2009/04/23/still_religion/

[FYIANON]

A good place to go get help for those who were in narconon: http://free-from-scientology.blogspot.com/

[ChefXenu]

Last year I recorded a talk with a young lady who had completed the narCONon course and was on staff for a while, and a young man who had spent time in a drug rehab program run by a Christian organization. 

Part 1 of 4:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRKvYOj_1ic&feature=channel_page

Part 2/4:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhPSkynYqUE&feature=related

Part 3/4:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOOzfFlq9pg&feature=related

Part 4/4:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEY49IgfVDQ&feature=related

[ethercat]

Last year I recorded a talk with a young lady who had completed the narCONon course and was on staff for a while, and a young man who had spent time in a drug rehab program run by a Christian organization. 

Part 1 of 4:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRKvYOj_1ic&feature=channel_page

Part 2/4:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhPSkynYqUE&feature=related

Part 3/4:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOOzfFlq9pg&feature=related

Part 4/4:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEY49IgfVDQ&feature=related

Thank you for posting these.  I've watched the first one, and plan to watch the other 3 this weekend.  The young lady certainly seems to know her scientology-speak.

[Lorelei]

The disturbing thing for me is that they artificially inflate their "success rate" percentage (often citing a ludicrous "success rate" of 70% or more) when actual studies of the Narconon "program" prove their actual success rate is around 6.6%, and their treatment includes the same introductory materials given to fledgling Scientologists (the Training Routines / Way To Happiness things in particular) and their "detox treatment" (in addition to being dangerous and harmful to the liver) is, in all aspects, identical to the Scientology "Purification Rundown" treatment.

In case 6.6% sounds like a reasonable figure, note that addicts who DO NOTHING AT ALL but attempt to use their own willpower without outside support have reported a success rate of around 11%. This is not much better, but it underscores the fact that NarCONon's program is WORSE than DOING NOTHING AT ALL.

"Students" at NarCONon have also asked why protesters are protesting "a belief system," meaning Scientology, which further implies that NarCONon is (a) NOT secular, as is claimed and (b) pushing Scientology materials onto vulnerable addicts. That protesters are NOT protesting ANY belief systems is a moot point; Scientology considers any exposure of its human rights abuses, deceptive business practices and front groups to be "religious persecution," even though their BELIEFS are not what is being protested. Their BELIEFS may indeed be quite strange (many experts who study cults classify Scientology as a space alien / New Age self-help sect), but the FOCUS of all protests I have seen has been on their illegal activities and deceptive practices, and has NOT been on arguing that believing in things (such as Lord Xenu and infestations of body thetans--angry dead space alien ghosts, basically--being the cause of all human woes and illnesses) is ridiculous.

[mefree]

Check out these comments left at the end of a Baltimore Sun article on the SP Times Series:


http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/faith/2009/06/explosive_series_on_scientolog.html

I went to Narconon, Scientology's Drug and Alcohol Program. I have been sober and thriving (doing incredible) for 5 years now, but in no thanks to Narconon. My drug "counselor" was a drug addict that 'graduated' as a patient DURING my detox. Then she got thrown out 2 weeks later after building my trust, for doing Heroin. It was a dreadful place, absolutely dreadful. The intake counselor, the day after I got there, got thrown out for drinking and abusing Listerine. The night watchmen, two days later, got thrown out for smoking crack. That is just the tip of the iceberg, really. I dont want to give too much away, but I wound up finding out way more than I wanted to...I got sucked in and had a hell of a time breaking free. I befriended an ex-sea org member, who is seriously, seriously screwed up. A beautiful person, but Sci did a number on her. Her family are still all Scientologists, and they treat her terribly for leaving the "church". Her father is on his 5th wife and treats her like dirt. It is such a shame. I have tons of stories, of crazy things I have seen and heard first hand. Everyone who I have met who is a high level Sci is seriously creepy. The vibe is so odd. I feel bad for them. I understand what a minf-F and brainwash this is. The stories of DM are all absolutely true. And there are still so many secrets and lies to come out. I LOVE all the brave people who are finally speaking out. Seriously, its very, very brave. Fair Game is no joke. - PK

[Lorelei]

Complaints and lawsuits.

Man goes to Narconon rehab for help and gets held against his will;
made to endure Scientology teachings and bizarre anti-gay attacks.
Wife sues Narconon. Says Deception, Civil / Human Rights Abuse, Intolerant Culture.

Locatelli vs Narconon Southern California ,Narconon Joshua Hills, et al
http://www.scribd.com/doc/17125312/Complaint-vs-Narconon-Nevada-Narconon-Southern-California

Alternate link to PDF: http://www.indybay.org/uploads/2009/07/06/narconon_locatelli_2009complaint.pdf

Digg it: http://digg.com/health/Scientology_s_Narconon_Sued_for_Deception_and_Abuses

More on the Locatellis:

Sarah Locatelli vs Narconon Southern California, Narconon Joshua Hills et al

Man goes to Narconon rehab for help and gets held against his will; made to endure Scientology teachings and bizarre verbal attacks. Wife sues.
A lawsuit was filed in Nevada County, CA last week by a woman who paid for
rehabilitation help for her now husband, only to find out that she was repeatedly deceived and the services were not as promised. Sarah Locatelli of Grass Valley, CA states Narconon denied her then fiance Daniel Locatelli any medical care when he needed it and kept him against his will when he asked to leave. He was also made subject to verbal attacks, often of an anti gay substance. He finally escaped after 4 days.

Background:

Locatelli filed suit against Newport Beach's Narconon Southern California and Narconon Joshua Hills, then located at what is now the location of Narconon Palm Spring on Hopper Rd, Palm Desert Springs - now at 82652 Lordsburg Dr in Indio Riverside County in CA This was after repeated requests for a refund were ignored.

Among the claims against the facilities and their employees and agents are breach of contract, fraud in the inducement, negligent misrepresentation and fraudulent misrepresentation. A referral help site unknowingly run by Narconon and its agents is noted, as well as statements made to Mr. Locatelli during the 'therapy' which show a culture of hostility and intolerance.

The case centers on Narconon, a part of the secular arm of the Church of Scientology. As Mr. Locateii came to find out, Narconon hides the fact outright or tells victims they are not affiliated with Scientology and yet the program components are the same as Scientology classes most just under a different title.

There is a history of complaints against Narconon where this is voiced. Multiple unsuspecting victims in complaints filed with state agencies and in courts across the country over the last 10 years have complained about the degrading nature of the routines, the false promises of therapy and human rights abuses victims were subjected to while there. Scientology is currently being sued by former staff members for similar and more horrific civil and human rights abuses and labor law violations in the state of California.

NarCONon "helps people":

Lillian Weaver [75 year old California resident] agrees. " I trusted these people. That was a big mistake."
"I am paying the credit card balance Narconon lied about and told BBB that it had been refunded when it wasn't. To help my son after that fiasco, I've had to use up my savings for another program and my retirement money to repay the credit card balance Narconon is refusing to give me back. It was not supposed to be that way and it's just plain wrong. These people have no conscience at all" says Weaver.

Mrs. Weaver says "Because of my son's medical problems, the referral Hotline gave our number to a man claiming to be a medical doctor who told us that Narconon was the best program to fit his needs. Well, "Dr. David Morris" of GA turned out to be a scientologist with an agenda - and a chiropractor, in violation of GA state Chiropractic disclosure laws."

...[her son was] kept against [his] will when [he] wanted to leave... Mrs. Weaver's son had his diabetes and thyroid medicines & glucometer withheld for 2 days upon entry, endangering his health especially as he lacked a thyroid to produce what the medicine was necessary for!

Of the $26,000 Mrs. Weaver paid Narconon Southern California, she so far has only received a $15,000 chargeback credit from Bank of America after their thorough investigation and consideration of all the facts. Discover VISA, however, refused to accept the documentation and statements, closing her case witout any arbitration rights allowed. Narconon, however, wrote in response to Weaver's Better Business Bureau of So California complaint, that she'd received all her money back from all credit cards, so Mrs. Weaver is still trying to get them to pay back the balance of $11,000 via BBB. It would cost her more to go to court than the amount of the claim, so she is avoiding that last as a last resort.

[E.K. of Washington State] is one of the few who got his money without having to sign the traditional gag agreement, Although he promised not to badmouth Narconon, his complaint was already in the hands of others ( myself included )before the time of their settlement.

In E.K.'s case, his checks to "Narconon Nevada" were deposited into a Narconon of Southern California bank account in Las Vegas, NV instead of being sent to CA as he was told would happen. As they are not licensed in NV and their corporation status in NV was revoked last year, the settlement was probably made in part just to shut him up and make the problem go away. I have used that complaint as the basis of his information for this article, with his permission. You can read it in full here.

E.K.'s daughter became ill from the mega doses of vitamins they put her on. Both parent's loved ones suffered physically and emotionally due to this, the deception and the facility's subsequent negligence against the one the loved one once they arrived.

E.K. sent his daughter to what was supposed to be a licensed, medically based traditional theraputic program in NV owned by Narconon of Southern California. Within days he found out that the facility and their counselors were not licensed, there were no medical professionals or care on site as promised for his daughter's gallbladder disease which was exacerbated by the voluminous amount of vitamins they insisted she ingest. She was so ill and in pain that he called and insisted they take his daughter to the airport so he could transport her to another rehab center or he would fly out and get her himself. He only received a refund when he reported the situation to the FBI Internet fraud unit, to all 3 state Attorney General offices and the NV licensing agencies.

Sarah Locatelli of Grass Valley, CA states the Narconon program using Scientology practices, made Daniel Locatelli subject to verbal attacks, often of an anti gay substance. He was denied medical care when he needed it and the staff kept him and his belongings against his will when he asked to leave. He finally escaped after 4 days.

The Locatelli family, like thousand of others, first became victims of Narconon and it's internet and telephone deceptive trade practices. Mrs. Locatelli did everything she could to locate the best care they could afford for Daniel yet he wound up in the care of The Church of Scientology without her even knowing it. She found what was supposed to be a referral hotline, which in fact is run by Narconon and it's agents for the sole purpose of sending it's victims to Narconon.

Mr. Locatelli, having attended both facilities for a total of 4 days, was held hostage held against his will, denied medical attention while ill and made to endure the church's questionable practices and it's hostility toward homosexuality and indifference to the most basic of civil and human rights. Due to the vulgar nature of the verbal attacks, the program training routine 'bullbaiting' quotes noted in the complaint will not be mentioned here.

Scientology's attempt to gloss over the bad publicity:

Narconon appears to have attempted a preemptive strike against [the Locatelli lawsuit]. Narconon has been pushing the envelope as far as fluff PR is concerned, especially in recent weeks. They have put out press releases with specific cities in the headline in hopes it gets picked up in a local newsfeed, and have put out a lot of fluff about a specific person, "Ramsy/Ramsey Darwish" (although he's mentioned in earlier press releases, just not as much as recently).

This "recovered graduate" appeared on CNN July 1 with Rick Sanchez. (Sidenote: LOL at Darwish being "backed up" by a psychiatrist!) Darwish's name has been in several press releases over the last few weeks in an attempt to put some credibility behind Narconon. His name can also be found on Vince Daniels site, and on Ripoff Report (http://ripoffreport.com).

Link: http://www.edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0907/01/cnr.07.html

MORE:

Daily Pilot (July 7, 2009) - "Woman claims rehab home preached Scientology"
http://www.dailypilot.com/articles/2009/07/07/topstory/dpt-narconon070809.txt

Yet MORE info:

This is a consumer complaint that resulted in a fast refund to keep it quiet. I had a copy of it before it went out, so I am posting it.

This is an ongoing problem with internet telecommunication fraud and deception. Narconon Nevada is an unregistered, unlicensed, and revoked organization run by Narconon Southern California, doing business in NV illegally and yet they are rated as one of the top employers in Lincoln County NV by the state department of labor and Training! You have to read this to see how deceptive this rehabilitation business really is.

P.S.: Narconon is Scientology

Source: http://www.scribd.com/doc/17125312/Complaint-vs-Narconon-Nevada-Narconon-Southern-California

[mefree]

Think they were bull-baiting the poor guy?

[ethercat]

Think they were bull-baiting the poor guy?

I'm sure they were.  It's part of their "rehab" treatment.  By the way, here are some "course packs" from the narconon program, grab 'em while they're there:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=TWGVL8G2
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=YEQWPRAW
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=KTJ95MB1
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=WCR26YYA
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=M1OHU2CF
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=HVH6J1C5
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=M3ZVB1B0
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=U70HBDS7

Unfortunately, the 2nd one of the series is missing.  I hope it will turn up eventually.

[Lorelei]

Think they were bull-baiting the poor guy?

I'm sure they were.  It's part of their "rehab" treatment.  By the way, here are some "course packs" from the narconon program

I agree, it sounds like classic bullbaiting tech to me.

Speaking of tech, I believe someone has already done this, but comparing the Narconon materials to Scilon indoctrination materials could be useful for future "Narconon Is Scientology" letter harpoons...though I tend to prefer sticking to the "it is medically unsound and fraudulent" angle, myself.

[ethercat]

Speaking of tech, I believe someone has already done this, but comparing the Narconon materials to Scilon indoctrination materials could be useful for future "Narconon Is Scientology" letter harpoons...though I tend to prefer sticking to the "it is medically unsound and fraudulent" angle, myself.

Yes, indeed; the fabulous Chris Owen did it with academic aplomb, both of the angles you mention, housed on Dave Touretzky's site: http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Narconon/index.html or http://narconon-exposed.net for short.

[Lorelei]

Yes, indeed; the fabulous Chris Owen did it with academic aplomb, both of the angles you mention, housed on Dave Touretzky's site: http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Narconon/index.html or http://narconon-exposed.net for short.

I love that site! In fact, I recommended it, above. Oops!

I get propernounitis sometimes...I know the info, and I know the info is out there on the web somewhere (or in one of my books), but the exact location takes longer to dig out of my mental file folders.

[ethercat]

I love that site! In fact, I recommended it, above. Oops!

So you did!   

[Lorelei]

More:

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/07/06/18605842.php

Tiffany Pharmer, the director of Narconon Joshua Hills, runs an assisted living home and is a real estate sales woman with Coldwell Banker's Yeoman Group in the Palms Springs area. Both Daniel and Tiffiany Pharmer are unlicensed substance abuse counselors and were required to train and be certified within 5 years but let their registration with California Association of Addiction Recovery Resources expire last December indicating that they were never trained as required.

For E.K., a Cease and Desist Order went out to the Narconon in NV for all unlicensed counselors and specifically to the executive director of their Narconon Rainbow Canyon facility, who had claimed on the internet to be licensed but was found to not. While owned by the Southern California organization, Nevada and it's stringent laws oversaw the matter for E.K. and Washington helped represent him as a constituent Locatelli says that she's had a complaint in with the California Alcohol and Drug program for over 1 year and they have a separate team investigating all complaints on Narconons in California.

ADP does, however, have a separate investigator on complaints about other programs using Narconon under different names, such as San Francisco County programs New Life Center SF( aka Social Betterment Development Company / SBDC) and Alternative To Meds Center, both of which are not licensed. ATMC was denied a license and the City of San Francisco denied them a use permit for this unlicensed activity, but they still operate (to the dismay of the community). Both are considered dangerous programs. Recently a negligent death case was settled against New Life SF and owner Richard Prescott ( former director of Narconon Northern CA) after a patient committed suicide while on medication under nonexistent onsite medical care promised.

The Little Hoover Commission and the Justin Foundation, who investigate and keep tabs on the state of affair of CA rehabs have isolated the loopholes that tie the hands of state agencies and give bad programs the free reign to victimize consumers, providing low to no quality care substance abuse services. One should read these reports before going or sending a loved one to a rehab facility, especially in the state of California. ADP was unavailable for comment.

A personal blog account about how Scientology (Narconon) failed: http://digg.com/people/Narconon_Scientology_Failed_This_Loving_New_Dad


More info about previously linked story:
http://www.dailypilot.com/articles/2009/07/07/topstory/dpt-narconon070809.txt