Sunshine Summit Lodge Narconon is Dirty and Unsafe

[Sunshine]

I believe Narconon Fresh Start JLB Ranch Warner Springs is used to provide a drug withdrawal facility. http://www.drugrehab.com/jlb_ranch.html .

Due to Narconon Fresh Start Warner Springs Major Use Permit (MUP P01-020) from MUP P01-020 below:

B. Upon certification by the Director of Planning and Land Use for occupancy or establishment of use allowed by this Major Use Permit, the following conditions shall apply:
1. Outdoor activities shall be limited to the hours between 8:30 a.m. and 8:00 p.m.

2.  Active use of the property shall be restricted to the approximate 2-acre developed portion of the overall 30-acre site, located nearest SR 79. The remainder of the property may be used for passive activities including walking, small group discussions and meditation.

3. The following security measures shall be in force at all times:
a. There will be no students at the Narconon Warner Springs facility that are medically dependent, or that would potentially need emergency medical care for withdrawal from drugs or alcohol.

[Mary_McConnell]

I believe Narconon Fresh Start JLB Ranch Warner Springs is used to provide a drug withdrawal facility. http://www.drugrehab.com/jlb_ranch.html .

Due to Narconon Fresh Start Warner Springs Major Use Permit (MUP P01-020) from MUP P01-020 below:

B. Upon certification by the Director of Planning and Land Use for occupancy or establishment of use allowed by this Major Use Permit, the following conditions shall apply:
1. Outdoor activities shall be limited to the hours between 8:30 a.m. and 8:00 p.m.

2.  Active use of the property shall be restricted to the approximate 2-acre developed portion of the overall 30-acre site, located nearest SR 79. The remainder of the property may be used for passive activities including walking, small group discussions and meditation.

3. The following security measures shall be in force at all times:
a. There will be no students at the Narconon Warner Springs facility that are medically dependent, or that would potentially need emergency medical care for withdrawal from drugs or alcohol.

This makes sense except that NN contracts the medical detox out, as they are a 'drug free' detox company. JLB Ranch would have, according to their scheme, to be like Orange County Detox or one of the others they subcontract to. So if this is true, that JLB Ranch might just be used for detox, then Narconon is running a 'squirrel' program, lol

** i really need an editor

[Sunshine]

I think they still farm out the medical detox , this is for the “or that would potentially  need emergency medical care for withdrawal from drugs  or alcohol”.

According to the Major Use Permit individuals that enter the program are suppose to be “drug free”.

Staff Response: The applicant submitted a description of daily operations as part of the security plan requested by staff. Since students at the Narconon Warner Springs facility would not include medically supervised drug withdrawals and all students would attend of their own accord, this would not be a “lock-down” or gated and secured facility. Therefore, the security plan consists of the regimented daily routine and class schedule for students, the statement by the applicant that all employees act as security personnel and the fact that a designated security officer is on duty at all times. With the concurrence of the applicant, facility operation measures have been made on-going conditions of approval. These measures include requirements that all students receive a medical “drug free” clearance before attending Narconon Warner Springs, that all visitors be approved by staff, and that all students remain at the site and be accompanied by staff when going off-site for any reason. The applicant has stated that an evening staff of three personnel on-site is adequate and appropriate for their program. There are no staffing ratio standards directed by The Zoning Ordinance for these types of facilities and the Planning Commission did not require the applicant to house additional staff on-site. A condition of approval does however require a 6-month and 12-month review of the facility after operation, to evaluate input from the local fire and sheriff departments as well as any complaints received by the Department of Planning and Land Use (DPLU) regarding operation and security. The Director of DPLU would file a report with the Planning Commission if the evaluation shows violations of use permit conditions or a threat to security in the area.

[Mary_McConnell]

Good! Sorry I misunderstood. Thanks for the clarification and your good work!

[Sunshine]

If one of the requirements to be admitted to Warner Springs is the client must have a medical drug free clearance, why do they have a sauna?

[Mary_McConnell]

If one of the requirements to be admitted to Warner Springs is the client must have a medical drug free clearance, why do they have a sauna?

The sauna stage is later, after withdrawal and come of the other stept. The sauna is to 'rid the body of toxins' - Hubbard's Clear Body Clear Mind' baloney

[ethercat]

Thanks for the info, Sunshine.

3. The following security measures shall be in force at all times:
a. There will be no students at the Narconon Warner Springs facility that are medically dependent, or that would potentially need emergency medical care for withdrawal from drugs or alcohol.

It's unfortunate that the clause is in there about "emergency medical care for withdrawal from drugs or alcohol," because the "students" might need emergency care not related to withdrawal, but related to the sauna, for instance, from heatstroke or dehydration.

[Mary_McConnell]

Thanks for the info, Sunshine.

3. The following security measures shall be in force at all times:
a. There will be no students at the Narconon Warner Springs facility that are medically dependent, or that would potentially need emergency medical care for withdrawal from drugs or alcohol.

It's unfortunate that the clause is in there about "emergency medical care for withdrawal from drugs or alcohol," because the "students" might need emergency care not related to withdrawal, but related to the sauna, for instance, from heatstroke or dehydration.

The sauna is not used in withdrawal

[ethercat]

Thanks for the info, Sunshine.

3. The following security measures shall be in force at all times:
a. There will be no students at the Narconon Warner Springs facility that are medically dependent, or that would potentially need emergency medical care for withdrawal from drugs or alcohol.

It's unfortunate that the clause is in there about "emergency medical care for withdrawal from drugs or alcohol," because the "students" might need emergency care not related to withdrawal, but related to the sauna, for instance, from heatstroke or dehydration.

The sauna is not used in withdrawal

I know, that's why I'm saying it's unfortunate the clause is in there.  The sauna can result in medical emergencies not related to withdrawal, but still requiring emergency care. 

It would be better if it said "There will be no students at the Narconon Warner Springs facility that are medically dependent, or that would potentially need emergency medical care related to the program."   

[Sunshine]

I guess you need to define what is meant by a medical drug free clearance, to me the individual has been examined by a qualified doctor and has no drugs it their system, therefore no need for the sauna.

[mefree]

I guess you need to define what is meant by a medical drug free clearance, to me the individual has been examined by a qualified doctor and has no drugs it their system, therefore no need for the sauna.

Yes, but Scientology believes these toxins stay in the system for years later.

How The Narconon® Program Handles Drug Cravings

Physical drug cravings often brought on by environmental factors are one of the number one reasons for relapse. In most cases, after a few days or weeks drugs can become untraceable in both the urine and blood. However there are drug metabolites that store in the fatty tissue of the body which can remain there for several years after a person stops using. Because these metabolites can re-release into the blood stream and cause physical drug cravings and other symptoms a program was founded to help rid the body of these toxins.

From NN Arrowhead site

[Sunshine]

If that is the case then they are not drug free and should not be at Narconon Fresh Start Warner Springs.

Narconon states that drugs can reside in the body for years and to remove the drug residue requires their sauna detox program.  Does anyone know how they test the individual to determine if they are drug free?

[ethercat]

I believe they just use the regular purchased drug test kits, but I'm not sure.  (Maybe David Love can weigh in, he might know.)

NN is so unscientific!  They talk about metabolites, and yet, metabolites are what the drug tests test for.  I guess the tests can't detect the "super-duper-invisible metabolites" (SDI-metabolites) that Hubbard says stay in the body for years.

Another question might be: How do they determine that the sauna has removed all of these SDI-metabolites if the tests won't detect them?  Hmmm, NN?

[Cigul]

I was at Warner Springs (AKA) Sunshine Summit Lodge from April to October 2011 (yes, btw, I was there for the inspection that led to the deficiency report). I was there as student and staff. They use a five panel dip test for the usual suspects and as I recall a separate test for Suboxone. These are the same urine drug tests that anyone can purchase at any pharmacy. There was no fancy equipment/drug screens used at any time to measure drug residue found in sweat. They did not measure that at anytime to my knowledge, nor did I ever see any equipment that could have been used to do so.

[ethercat]

I was at Warner Springs (AKA) Sunshine Summit Lodge from April to October 2011 (yes, btw, I was there for the inspection that led to the deficiency report). I was there as student and staff. They use a five panel dip test for the usual suspects and as I recall a separate test for Suboxone. These are the same urine drug tests that anyone can purchase at any pharmacy. There was no fancy equipment/drug screens used at any time to measure drug residue found in sweat. They did not measure that at anytime to my knowledge, nor did I ever see any equipment that could have been used to do so.

Welcome to TP, Cigul - it's great to have your input!  Thanks for clarifying how they do their drug tests.   

Based on your experience there, would you say that the deficiency report was accurate?

[Sunshine]

Hi Cigul,
Thanks for the information, so how did they determine an individual was drug free?

[Cigul]

In regards to the first question: absolutely the deficiency report was accurate. It would take a lengthy reply to go point by point but let it suffice to say that the rooms and buildings were typically filthy and in poor repair and food storage was far from sanitary. And the inspection came on a good day. It wasn't long after that the plumbing failed and raw sewage was flowing in the walkways. I also know that all staff had to immediately get physicals and TB tests. So, yes. Quite accurate.

As to Sunshine's question, if I understand it correctly: UA's were given randomly to staff and students to ensure that there was no ongoing drug use. These had nothing to do with sauna itself. The sauna "tech" explained that niacin is a kind of magic vitamin that will "run out" radiation, drug residuals, illness, old sunburns or injuries, etc. A person would start at 200 mgs of niacin. If they had no reaction, the next day they would take 300, and so on. Let's say one begins to react (flushing, burning, itching) at 400 mg. They would take the same dose until They stopped reacting. Then they would go up another 100 mg. The reaction is seen as the niacin busting up and ridding the body of toxins. The tech says "what turns it on turns it off." So one.continues to take more and more niacin until there ceases to be any reaction (for most this happens at 2500mg but I saw students go up as high as 5000 mg. Once the reaction has stopped, the person is considered free of all drug residuals. That is how they measure it. With a quack theory that most doctors would laugh out of town. There is no actual, scientific process for measuring.

[Sunshine]

Thanks for explaining the process to me; it’s interesting that you mentioned the raw sewage, inadequate septic system was one of the appeal items presented to the Board of Supervisors during their Major Use Permit hearing.

If possible could you commit on the number of staff and clients that were at the facility and did you live onsite?

[BigBeard]

Cigul,

What you describe sounds like the victim/student's body is building up a tolerance to the lower dose, so they jack up the dose to get the symptoms of excess niacin going again. Those symptoms being:

Risks Of Using Excess Niacin

Excess intake of vitamin B3 or Niacin can cuase acute flushing, stomachache, headache, and chronic toxicity can occur causing, or increasing the risk of, diabetes, liver damage, gastritis, possibly gout, and eye damage.

High dosages of niacin can have sever gastrointestinal side effects like:

    Diarrhea
    Bloating
    Nausea
    Flatulence

Sudden drop in blood pressure can be caused due to high dose of niacin.

Long term side effects can damage vital organs of the body. Such side effects include:

    Liver disorders (hepatoxicity) within a few weeks
    Jaundice
    Peptic ulcer
    Blurred vision
    Dry or scaly skin
    Peptic ulcer

Or put another way, El Ron took the symptoms resulting from a niacin overdose, and claimed they were the signs his bogus 'purification/drug removal' program was working. Talk about a scam!

[Mary_McConnell]

Good informative thread!