What does Narconon mean?

The word “Narconon” was actually coined from “Narcotics-None.”  The name is appropriate because the Narconon program is a drug-free program.

How did the Narconon program start?

On August 2, 1965, William Benitez, an inmate at Arizona State Prison, jumped down from his double bunk in the old cell block where he was housed and wrote on his calendar: “Decision to set-up Narcotic Foundation.”  He then circled the 18^th of the month—the day he planned to approach prison officials to request permission to set-up a drug rehabilitation program inside the prison walls.

For Benitez, this marked a turning point in his life.  It was the end of a search for a solution to his own problem of drug abuse.  And it was the beginning of his efforts to share what he had learned with others who were in the same boat—people hopelessly addicted to drugs.

While in prison Mr. Benitez read L. Ron Hubbard’s book, Fundamentals of Thought. “I read it over and over, and then purchased additional books by Mr. Hubbard and studied them very carefully for months,” explains Mr. Benitez.  “The material identified human abilities and their development, so basic, I was amazed.  I had never run across such workability before in all the multitude of other works I had studied.”

He gained approval from prison officials to start a program for twenty convicted drug abusers.  At first officials feared that such a program might pose security problems.  They had little reason to believe that a reformed drug abuser, a repeatedly convicted felon, would accomplish much with other abusers and expected the trial program to fold rapidly.  Instead, they were surprised to see it soon begin to gain immense popularity amongst inmates.  More and more prisoners were requesting to do the program.

A year later, in 1967, Mr. Benitez was offered an early release from prison.  However, he requested an alternative sentence which would enable him to stay in prison longer so that he could continue to develop the Narconon research program there.  “It was the best decision I ever made in my life,” he says.  “It was also the toughest.  I would have loved to walk away from that court a free man.”

Through his continued work, the Narconon program grew to over 300 inmates in Arizona State Prison.  And the word spread.  Inmates continued working and being rehabilitated with the Narconon program.  Narconon continued to grow, and by the time William was released, the program had already begun to expand into other prisons across the United States.  In 1972, the first residential program opened in Los Angeles, followed soon after by residential programs opening in Canada, Sweden and other parts of the United States.  Although its origin lies in the penal system, the Narconon program today focuses primarily on residential rehabilitation centers and drug education services.

Why is the Narconon program so effective?

The Narconon program is set-up on a gradient scale so that as a student progresses through the program, their ability to face and handle their problems increases.  Each step builds on itself and helps the student to handle the next step of the program. For example, we do not expect someone just coming down from the Withdrawal step to be able to fully confront all of their issues which led to drug usage, this takes time and requires the full Narconon Drug Rehabilitation Program.

The first issue the Narconon Drug Treatment Program deals with is handling the student’s physical wellness.  This is done by means of the Withdrawal Program, a Communication Course and the New Life Detoxification Program (sauna sweat-out).  Once the student’s body is rehabilitated, we then address the mental aspect.  The latter courses in the program deal with helping the student to be able to deal with their current environment, to not be weighed down by past bad experiences, and to take responsibility for their past misdeeds as well as fix them so they no longer commit harmful acts.

How is the Narconon program different from other treatment programs?

In the Narconon Vista Bay Rehab Program, an addiction to one drug is not simply replaced with a dependency upon another drug.  A substance abuser or user is brought to a point where they are actually free from any compulsion to take drugs or alcohol.

In a very real sense, the Narconon program might also be called the most complete drug rehabilitation program in existence.  This is not to say that other programs or systems have not successfully gotten people off drugs or alcohol.  But the Narconon program brings a number of innovations to the field of drug rehabilitation.