Narconon-Watch.org

Critics of the Narconon Program

When something is as successful as the Narconon Program, it will undoubtedly draw critics, whether out of competition and jealousy, biggotry or just plain lack of correct information. There are a few websites run by a small number of people that try to post negative information about Narconon and scare people away from getting effective help. The result has been that, over the years, some people have died from substance abuse without getting a chance to go through a program like this. The blood is on the hands of the critics, yet they would of course never admit it.

Unfortunately, there is no program out there that will always help 100 percent of people get off drugs. Substance abuse is a very insidious personal, familial and societal infliction, and scaring someone away from a program that has a better chance at helping them than traditional mental health practices is actually pure evil. A good question to ask yourself is: Why would someone not support a group of people and organizations that are helping people get off of drugs?

The Oklahoma Fiasco

Some of the information on the sites is completely out-dated, such as the public fiasco in Oklahoma around 1990. A few individuals sent alarming and false information to a reporter in Newkirk, OK when it was discovered that Narconon was opening a very large residential rehabilitation center. From there it escalated to the Board of Mental Health being sued by Narconon after not granting them certification, despite passing the inspection. The suit was later dropped when Narconon was accredited by CARF and therefore legally allowed to operate. Obviously it was a very big misunderstanding as to what Narconon actually does accomplish, otherwise the state wouldn't have since granted them licensing and certification to operate successfully over the last 16 years in that state. Proof of this is on the Narconon Certifications page of this website.

There are also a few letters from disgruntled clients who really wanted to place blame on Narconon. Keep in mind that this is only a very small number of people over the years that have done this, compared to the literally thousands of people who were very satisfied with their rehabilitation program.

Narconon and Scientology

Another point of contention is Narconon's connection with the Church of Scientology. While the program was developed by L. Ron Hubbard and uses his research and discoveries in the field of drug rehabilitation, it is not the Church of Scientology. In fact, Narconon Centers are not even allowed to use Scientology religious teachings by the Church itself. If someone wanted to know more about Scientology, then going to a Church or reading a religious text would have to be where it's done. You can read more about that on the Narconon and Scientology page of this site as well. Also, there have been some fears that Narconon is a recruitment tool for Scientology, but the small amount of people who do go on to learn more of Hubbard's developments in comparison to the thousands of people who are helped and returned back to society as a member of their own religion is miniscule. And for those that do become Scientologists, well, they're still returned back to society as a drug-free, contributing member.

Since critics of Narconon stem from people criticizing other organizations associated with L. Ron Hubbard, Religious Freedom Watch has information about anti-religious hate groups and individuals attacking organizations such as the Church of Scientology. However, what you'll see is that many of these biggots attack some traditional religions as well as ethnic groups. Check it out for yourself who these people really are exposed before you take what they have to say as being fact.

Traditional Medical/ Mental Health Validity

Critical websites have talked about Hubbard's research not being in line with traditional medical or mental health practices. Guess what? That's the whole point! Traditional medicine today and mental health services are relying more and more on the use of pharmaceuticals to treat conditions. However, someone can not be considered fully rehabilitated if they're still taking these drugs! While Narconon centers do have medical directors and medical staff, the program does not claim to be a medical center - that's what hospitals and medical detoxes and other medical clinics are for - Narconon is a longer-term, drug-free rehabilitation program.

Narconon's Measurement of Success

The published success rates of Narconon have also been attacked and the information from them has been spun into saying something completely different. The fact that Narconon does routine follow-up and graduate aftercare is miles ahead of most programs. A well-known 12-step program in Minnesota proudly boasts on their website that they are one of the only centers that does their own outcome research - and they claim, by their own statistics, that barely over half of their clients remain clean and sober for one year after completing treatment. This is fantastic for most treatment centers that use that model, but Narconon's own outcome research, showing greater than 70 percent of their graduates being drug-free two years after completing is so good that people attack it and don't believe it.

Most treatment centers wouldn't dare to inspect their actual drug-free success rate, so that fact that Narconon does so in itself is ahead of the field. Additionally, the definition of success is relative. While Narconon considers success as being someone alcohol and drug-free two years after completion of the program, the national standard has actually been set much lower than that.

The largest national survey of drug rehab results was completed in 1993 and sponsored by the National Institute of Drug Abuse. It was called the Drug Abuse Treatment Outcome Study (DATOS). In this study that covered 96 treatment centers across the country and approximately 10,000 individuals going through treatment, the best results they found for long-term residential treatment were that there was a 67% reduction in WEEKLY DRUG USE for cocaine and only a 54% decline in weekly heavy alcohol consumption at the one-year follow-up mark. This means that even if someone used drugs twice per month on a regular basis it was still counted as a success. Additionally, 60% of the clients in long-term residential programs had previously sought treatment. And for retention, the very best retention rate they could find was that only 65% of clients stayed in treatment for 3 months or longer, and the worst was only 21%, meaning an average was around 45% retention for that length.

From this data you can see that while there is some success to more traditional programs, their measurements are minimal and pale in comparison to Narconon standards, so of course some envious individuals and groups would try to shoot holes in Narconon follow-up outcomes statistics - simply because they're better.