Narconon, Criminon, Second Chance

DRUG TREATMENT. Hubbard's purification treatments are the mainstay of Narconon, a Scientology-run chain of 33 alcohol and drug rehabilitation centers -- some in prisons under the name ''Criminon'' -- in 12 countries. Narconon, a classic vehicle for drawing addicts into the cult, now plans to open what it calls the world's largest treatment center, a 1,400-bed facility on an Indian reservation near Newkirk, Okla. (pop. 2,400). At a 1989 ceremony in Newkirk, the Association for Better Living and Education presented Narconon a check for $200,000 and a study praising its work. The association turned out to be part of Scientology itself. Today the town is battling to keep out the cult, which has fought back through such tactics as sending private detectives to snoop on the mayor and the local newspaper publisher.

''Narconon's program is not safe,'' the Oklahoma Board of Mental Health said in a 1992 rejection of Chilocco New Life Center, a Scientology residential hospital on an Indian reservation in Newkirk, Okla.

''No scientifically well-controlled studies were found that documented the safety of the Narconon program,'' the board said.

In a radio interview in December 1997, the head of Narconon UK, John Wood was repeatedly asked to address the allegations that the group is ineffective and that it is a front for Scientology. His response was merely to repeat again that drugs are destructive, that Narconon saves lives and that he was telling the truth. Apparently he did not understand that his own word is not good enough. He also used the interview to hysterically denounce the programme's researcher. A professor of human nutrition consulted by the programme said that there was no experimental evidence for the effectiveness of the programme. A forensic psychiatrist was also consulted, and said that she had known people ''who've looked extremely ill'' after taking the Narconon treatment. You can read a transcript of that radio programme or listen to it in RealAudio.

A variety of useful documents can be found on a separate page by Jeff Lee.