18 August 2012
Dear Anna,
The show on Narconon you are promoting comes with a price—the happiness and success of the addicts who decide against Narconon because of it, but for whom Narconon is the last chance and the route out of the slavery of their drug addiction.
For more than 25 years I have watched people turn around their lives through Narconon. I ran a Narconon rehab center for ten years before becoming president of Narconon International in 1995. My commitment to Narconon is based on one thing: the tens of thousands of lives it has saved.
Young men and young women walk into our centers crippled by addiction, many of them having gone through three, four or more rehab programs before coming to Narconon. By the time they get to us, most of them have little or no hope of kicking their habit. To then see these same young men and young women come out the other end of the Narconon program happy, self-confident, and drug-free is the most gratifying experience you can imagine—well worth any work it takes to help bring this about.
I don’t believe NBC has an inkling of what it takes to rehabilitate addicts and I think you have bought into the vested interests in this field that influence public policy and news trends in an attempt to discredit programs not based on the medical model. There are effective nonmedical programs. Narconon is a leader in the field of alternative drug free drug rehabilitation. We are proud of our results.
Narconon is an alternative social education model. We do not use drugs to get people off drugs. It is not a medical model. Do you have any idea how much hard work and courage it takes to work with addicts and turn them around? Many of our most passionate and caring staff have come through the program and decided to stay on to help others.
Some of the staff have records. Would you prevent them from helping others after they paid their dues and turned their lives around? Would you stigmatize them forever? Their work is based on compassion and an understanding of what these young people are experiencing.
To criticize our program because former addicts are working to give back to those who need their help is not only reprehensible, it is bigoted.
Narconon Arrowhead requires all staff to complete mandatory training as established by the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health & Substance Abuse Services (ODMHSAS) and CARF (Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities) before they can provide treatment services to public. Their initial training is updated annually and Narconon Arrowhead withdrawal personnel are trained in the physical signs of withdrawal, the taking of vital signs, the implication of those vital signs and the handling of emergency procedures. Further, some of the Narconon Arrowhead staff take additional training offered by ODMHSAS that includes training for certification as a Behavioral Health Case Managers and training and recognition as a Peer Recovery Support Specialists.
You have a serious responsibility here to present the truth about Narconon. If you continue to misrepresent our program, you run the risk of turning addicts away from the very thing that will save their lives, of preventing addicts from availing themselves of their last chance for a decent, honest, drug-free life.
Parents come to me in tears to thank me for saving the lives of their children. Please think twice about what you are doing to them and their children, and do a balanced and truthful job of presenting the Narconon program and its results.
For more information, please see: http://news.narconon.org/response-to-nbcrockcenter/
Sincerely,
Clark Carr
President
Narconon International