This is what you get for an amount of money way above average annual salary

The Narconon programme consists of four parts taken in nine steps, each of which is discussed in more detail

1. Drug-Free Withdrawal
2. Narconon Therapeutic TRs Course
3. The Narconon New Life Detoxification Program
4. Life Improvement Courses, consisting of:

A. The Narconon Learning Improvement Course
B. The Narconon Perception and Communication Course
C. The Narconon Ups and Downs in Life Course
D. The Narconon Personal Values and Integrity Course
E. The Narconon Changing Conditions in Life Course
F. The Narconon THE WAY TO HAPPINESS® Course  

1. Drug-Free Withdrawal

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]

The Narconon First Step Program, otherwise commonly referred to as:
"Drug Free Withdrawal", is essentially an orientation stage. It aims to get an addict to cease drug use without using "bridging" drugs such as methadone or painkillers to relieve the often agonising withdrawal symptoms which result.

Although Narconon denies that it is a "cold turkey" approach, it is that, in effect.
Such methods pose significant risks

The only alleviation that Narconon provides are:

courses of vitamins - (not a great deal of use to someone whose brain chemistry has been altered by drugs) - and

"simple procedures to help the addict to keep his attention extroverted on his environment
and to remain in control of his cravings"
["Narconon: A Workable Program" freedommag.org].

These procedures are supervised by a "Withdrawal Specialist", whose activities are described by Narconon's Stone Hawk, Michigan branch:

During the "Drug-Free" Withdrawal stage, a Withdrawal Specialist administers to the client, who is trained in different techniques to help the person cope with the withdrawal period. These techniques involve the use of a Vitamin regime supplemented with amino acids and minerals. During this stage "assists" are also incorporated to help get the individual oriented with his/her environment, to get them in communication with the body's natural healing processes and to deliver the person from the constant obsession to use that is common in the withdrawing drug addict.
The Three Phases of Narconon® Program

"Assists" are a Scientology form of "laying on hands" or faith healing, claimed (without the support of any hard evidence) to relieve the physical effects of illnesses and injuries. They are very definitely a religious practice, despite Narconon's claims to be secular. In brief, they involve another person - in this case, presumably the Withdrawal Specialist - placing a finger on a sore body part and instructing the client to "Feel my finger." The client is supposed to acknowledge that the finger has been felt. This drill is performed repeatedly on and around the affected area until the client "has a cognition". According to L. Ron Hubbard, this is accompanied by "a surge of electrical charge".

Needless to say: this somewhat bizarre practice has no medical value whatsoever and is based on fundamental misconceptions about how the nervous system actually works
(see "Hubbard's Junk Science - Touch Assists" for more).

A fuller description of the use of assists can be found in the online Scientology Handbook, "Helping Others Recover from Illness and Injuries"

Strangely, Narconon's disavowal of drugs does not appear to have been universal. The State of Oklahoma found that "Narconon clients are routinely administered clonidine", a hypertensive agent used to lower blood pressure and reduce withdrawal symptoms from various addictive substances. "Clonidine for smoking cessation (Cochrane Review)"

Narconon Oklahoma's medical director, Dr. Ray Stowers, admitted in an hearing in Oklahoma City on October 24, 1991 that he and his staff also prescribed Valium and sedatives to patients going through difficult withdrawals.

However, the State of Oklahoma found that:

"Narconon fails to provide adequate supervision for clients prescribed this medication given this drug's risks and potential for adverse consequences. Such failure to adequately supervise endangers the safety, health and/or the physical or mental well being of the Narconon clients."
["Findings of Fact regarding the Narconon-Chilocco Application For Certification", Board of Mental Health, State of Oklahoma, 13 December 1991]

It is not clear whether this was an isolated incident but it does suggest that at least one medical doctor hired by Narconon felt that a drug-free approach was not sufficient. Dr Stowers, for his part, no longer appears to be working for Narconon.

2. Narconon Therapeutic TRs Course

Narconon has described the second stage of its rehabilitation programme as follows:

This course extroverts the individual and gets him/her into better communication with others and with the environment around him/her. This is accomplished through a series of simple Training Routines (TRs). Each TR is a specific drill (exercise) on one part of communication. Together, the TRs show how to get oneself understood and how to communicate better with others.
[Pamphlet issued by Narconon Chilocco, Oklahoma c. 1992]

This element of the Narconon programme is lifted directly from the (self-proclaimed) religious practices of Scientology, an issue which is discussed in "Narconon and Scientology: Doctrines". It was described in considerable detail in a report written for the California State Department of Health in 1974:

These "TR's" or Training Routines are a part of Scientology/Dianetics often referred to as "Brainwashing". They include staring into the eyes of the teacher for hours on end without blinking, and shouting at an ashtray. A full description of the basic TR's can be found by clicking this link

The ostensible rationale for this part of the programme is that drug addicts are "out of communication" with the world around them. In Hubbard's view, "drugs tend to push a person into experiences of the past and stick his attention in those moments, [so] processes which pull more of a person's attention outward help unstick him from his past." ^A

In Scientology, the procedures making up the Narconon Therapeutic TRs Course are collectively called "Objective Processes", intended to "bring about interaction between the individual and the existing physical universe" by "orienting the person in the present time of the physical universe". ^B

Further disinformation on the TRs can be found in the Scientology Handbook's "Communication" chapter (although not in the book's online edition, oddly enough).

3. The Narconon New Life Detoxification Program

This is the part of the program where drug residues and other toxic substances are removed from the body. These residues are locked in the fatty tissues of the body and can be released into the blood stream years after the individual stops taking drugs. These residues can cause the cravings for drugs and are one of the main reasons that an individual returns to taking drugs. The Narconon program removes these residues through an exact regimen of exercise, sauna and nutritional supplements.
[Pamphlet issued by Narconon Chilocco, Oklahoma c. 1992.]

The New Life Detoxification Program is by far the most controversial part of Narconon's therapy. It is also one of the most recently developed elements, having been devised by L. Ron Hubbard in 1978. It has attracted particular criticism for two main reasons:

* The Scientology connection. The programme is virtually a straight copy - the Church of Scientology calls it a "secularized adaptation" - of the Scientology "Purification Rundown", devised for the spiritual benefit of L. Ron Hubbard's followers.

* Safety. The programme poses serious potential risks to health, including heat exhaustion, breathing difficulties and liver damage, due to its use of massive vitamin overdoses and sauna sessions up to ten times longer than the recommended safe maximum. This has attracted considerable criticism from doctors and has resulted in the programme being targeted by bans and advisory warnings in Russia, California and possibly the United Kingdom.

Narconon also produces a "picture book" - essentially a cartoon book showing the supposed advantages of the programme, and its various stages - which is virtually identical to a similar Scientology book and makes some very contentious claims. See "The New Life Detoxification Program Picture Book" for a detailed examination of this publication and the claims that it makes.

Narconon itself acknowledges that the New Life Detoxification Program is a physically demanding therapy which is not suitable for everybody - it advises those with kidney or heart problems or anaemia not to undergo the full programme. It involves the use of saunas (at temperatures of 140-180°F, or 60-82°C for periods of up to five hours at a time), exercise (usually running) and ingestion of so-called "drug bombs" of massive doses of vitamins, minerals and vegetable oils.

Each of the components of this stage (saunas, exercise and dietary supplements) is related to L. Ron Hubbard's theory that drugs are stored in body fat. An article by a group of Narconon's medical advisers describes their linked purposes: ["Human Detoxification - An Overview" - ]

* Niacin. "Stimulates lipid mobilization by triggering the release of free fatty acids into the bloodstream."

* Exercise. "Increases circulation, which ensures quick distribution of the niacin throughout the body and carries mobilized toxins to the excretory routes."

* Sauna. Sweating is a "primary elimination route for toxins", so the use of the sauna is designed to force sweating.

* Oils. "These are provided to prevent mobilized toxins from being re-absorbed by the intestines to meet body needs for lipids."

* Vitamins and mineral supplements. "These replace vitamins, minerals and electrolytes lost due to increased sweating and [to] correct deficiencies".

In fact, this stage of the Narconon programme suffers particularly badly from Hubbard's haphazard and error-strewn approach to medical science. Despite the endorsements by a number of Scientologist doctors and assorted "experts", many of the principles upon which the New Life Detoxification Program are medically unproven and some are even physically impossible. The issues raised by this part of the programme are discussed at greater length in "Hubbard's Junk Science".

4. Life Improvement Courses

The last major element of the Narconon therapeutic programme is a series of six courses. Each of these very closely follows an original Scientology version, as an examination of each reveals

* The Narconon Learning Improvement Course

This course gives the individual the ability to recognize and overcome the three main barriers to study and learning. The individual also learns how to fully use a dictionary, how to do demonstrations of concepts so he/she can easily understand them and how to spot and handle any difficulties in his/her studies.
[Pamphlet issued by Narconon Chilocco, Oklahoma c. 1992]

Based on the "Study Technology" originally devised by L. Ron Hubbard to train Scientologists. The course chiefly involves learning "how to fully use a dictionary", reflecting Hubbard's belief that people feel "bent, dizzy, sort of dead" if they do not fully understand every possible meaning of a word. In practice, this can involve writing out definitions for every word in a sentence, including "and", "it", "the", and so on. The course also involves "demonstrating concepts" using clay models, a technique which Scientology refers to as a "clay demo".

* The Narconon Perception and Communication Course

In this course the individual does a series of exercises designed to fully extrovert his/her attention and focus it on the environment. This greatly raises his/her perception and the ability to handle the environment and control his/her life. The individual also helps another person through the same exercises, which increases his/her responsibility and ability to handle life and help others.
[Pamphlet issued by Narconon Chilocco, Oklahoma c. 1992]

Essentially a "retread" of the earlier Therapeutic TRs Course. The same training routines (TR's) are performed again.

* The Narconon Ups and Downs in Life Course

This course gives the individual the ability to spot and handle those influences in the environment that could cause the individual to revert back to drug use. The individual learns the characteristics of the social and anti-social personalities so that he/she can spot the differences and better choose his/her friends and associates.
[Pamphlet issued by Narconon Chilocco, Oklahoma c. 1992]

Another course taken directly from Scientology (it even has the same title). This is essentially an indoctrination course in Scientology's world view that people can be defined as "social" or "antisocial" personalities, the "antisocial" ones comprising about 20% of the population and being responsible for war, crime, income tax, psychiatry, etc.

* The Narconon Personal Values and Integrity Course

This course gives the individual information that will improve survival potential; it teaches the individual what is needed to survive. It also gives the individual knowledge about personal ethics, honesty and integrity and shows him/her how to correct counter-survival behavior.
[Pamphlet issued by Narconon Chilocco, Oklahoma c. 1992]

Also taken directly from Scientology, with an unchanged title. Indoctrinates the recipient in "Scientology Ethics" (often referred to as just "Ethics"), the code of conduct to which Scientologists are expected to adhere.

* The Narconon Changing Conditions in Life Course

This gives the individual the exact step-by-step technology he/she needs to improve his/her life. This technology covers how to apply exact steps to improve conditions in life. It also teaches how to apply this technology to repair previous bad conditions in one's life.
[Pamphlet issued by Narconon Chilocco, Oklahoma c. 1992]

Again taken directly from Scientology, albeit with a slightly different title (there, it is referred to as the "How to Improve Conditions in Life Course".

* The Narconon THE WAY TO HAPPINESS® Course

This course teaches the individual a moral code, which is a guide to living a happier life based on the book "The Way to Happiness," written by L. Ron Hubbard.
[Pamphlet issued by Narconon Chilocco, Oklahoma c. 1992]

The Way to Happiness is a fairly short book written in 1981 by Hubbard to "revert [sic] the decline in basic moral values, social decay and further disintegration of integrity and human decency".

There is an official Way to Happiness website (www.twth.org) and the booklet itself can be downloaded in Acrobat format - you will need the Adobe Reader to view it.

It is a fairly harmless work, often anodyne to the point of being obvious: "The way to happiness does not include murdering your friends, your family, or yourself being murdered." Having said that, there are some oddities about some of Hubbard's precepts: he advises "Do not tell harmful lies"  - although one Scientology's advanced TR's is TR-L "Training Routine Lying"

The Church of Scientology has put a huge amount of effort into disseminating it - over 57 million copies are said to have been produced - but its reasons may not be entirely altruistic. Although The Way to Happiness is promoted as "a non-religious work", internal Scientology documents explicitly state that the book is "the largest dissemination project in Scientology history" and "the bridge between broad society and Scientology." ^C

The body distributing the booklet, The Way To Happiness Foundation, is a sister organisation of Narconon - it is one of the four "social reform" groups (Narconon being another) that come under the supervision of the Association for Better Living and Education and ultimately the Church of Scientology, although it is separately incorporated. (See "Narconon and the Scientology Management Structure" for more details of this relationship.)

References

A [The Scientology Handbook, p. 270 (Bridge Publications, 1994).See also under the Step 4 heading.]

B [Hubbard, "Drugs and Objective Processes", HCO Bulletin of 12 May 1980, Technical Volumes of Dianetics & Scientology]

C ["Church Seeks Influence in Schools, Business, Science", Los Angeles Times, Wednesday, 27 June 1990]