Commission, Chamber, School Board City Leaders Call For
The Newkirk Herald Journal (?)
Newkirk's School Board, City Commission, and Chamber of
Commerce have jointly sent a 67 page document to 16 State and
National leaders asking them to support a special review of the
Narconon-Chilocco drug rehabilitation program and it's connection
with Scientology.
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The cover letter of the package of exhibits says in part,
"Based on this information, it appears that Narconon's
primary objective is Scientology recruitment and not drug abuse
treatment. Our community is very concerned and we are requesting
your help in obtaining a complete review of their operation and
the licensing procedure which allows Narconon to operate in
Oklahoma. It is signed by the Mayor, the President of the Newkirk
Board of Education, and the President of the Newkirk Chamber of
Commerce.
The first exhibit alleges that there have been several
instances of misrepresentation made by Narconon to the community,
and the balance of the package contains individual documents,
media reports, and sources of further information that the
signers hope will cause officials to take a second look at
Narconon.
Mayor Garry Bilger feels that it is pretty well documented
that Narconon is a Scientology controlled organization. He points
to a ceremony held at Chilocco on April 8, 1989. At the ceremony
Bilger observed a representative of the Association For Better
Living and Education (ABLE) "donate" at $200,000.00
check to Narconon for seed money to get the project started.
Bilger contends that at the ceremony an obvious effort was
made to have everyone believe that ABLE and Narconon were two
entirely separate organizations that had nothing to do with each
other until then. But Narconon's own promotional material says it
is owned by ABLE. And ABLE turns out to be one of the many
organizations on the Scientology organization chart.
At a public meeting in Newkirk on May 8, 1989, Mr. Leroy
Bridges of the State Mental health Department told a group of
about 80 people that there would be "no Oklahoma
patients" treated at the facility, except for a few indigent
Indians. Mr. Bridges also said that no state money would be
involved. But a document in the package, written sometime before
July 1988, allegedly by Mr. John Duff, president of Narconon
International, lists local and Oklahoma people as the top
priorities in the Narconon marketing plan. It also lists
"State Contracts that pay for beds," as a priority.
At the same meeting, Mr. Bridges told the citizens of Newkirk
that Narconon had voluntarily placed itself under jurisdiction of
the state for matters of law enforcement and inspection of their
program and facilities. However, a letter from Sheriff Glenn
Guinn included in the package says, "As I understand it. I
have no authority on Chilocco land. Everything at Chilocco comes
under the F.B.I., and we have one F.B.I. agent in this area
stationed at Enid."
The document allegedly authored by Mr. Duff also says that it
is "essential" to procure state certification and
licensing "because we will be providing services to both
Indian and Non-Indian people paid through a fee for service,
insurance coverage and possible state contracts. State licensing
is mandatory for us to be able to accept Non-Indian
clientele."
The package sent to the state says, "We find it curious
that Narconon wants to be licensed in order to collect on state
contracts and insurance policies from people Mr. Bridges has
flatly said would not be served at the facility."
Narconon has consistently said it is not connected with the
Church of Scientology, but the material in the package sent to
the state seems to indicate that except for a "cold
turkey" detoxification period, nearly all of the rest of the
treatment consists of courses and programs also found on the
Church of Scientology's religious progress chart known as
"The Bridge To Total Freedom."
City leaders are also questioning the cure rates claimed by
Narconon. They consider it an exaggerated figure and say they
have seen no data to support it. Several individuals involved in
drug and alcohol rehabilitation in this area have said the cure
rate for any program is between 15% and 30% at best. Narconon
spokesmen have said that the con version rate of Narconon
patients to Scientology is, variously, between 1% and 3%, and
"under 10%." But an evaluation Team Report made to the
California State Department of Health said "it was clear
that nearly all the patients hoped to become
Scientologists." Other reports from former Scientology
members and Narconon patients puts the figure at between 50% and
75%.
Other exhibits contained in the package mailed to state
officials consists of charts, news reports from around the
country and several foreign countries, a radio transcript, and 13
pages of references for further reading or information which city
leaders hope will be enough to convince the state that it needs
to take a much closer look at this project before it is licensed
for operation in the State of Oklahoma.
The name "Narconon"® is trademarked to the Scientology
organization through one of their many front groups. The name
"Scientology"® is also trademarked to the "Church"
of Scientology. Neither this web page, nor this web site, nor any of the
individuals mentioned herein assisting to educate the public about the
dangers of the Narconon scam are members of or representitives of the
Scientology organization.
If you or a loved one needs help -- real help -- there are
a number of rehabilitation programs you can contact. The real
Narcotics Anonymous organization
can get you in touch with real people who can help you.
Click [HERE] to visit Narcotics
Anonymous's web site. Narcotics Anonymous's telephone number is
1 (818) 773-9999.
Return to The NarCONon exposure's main Index page.
Forward: For a systematic, detailed, professional exposure of
Scientology's "Narconon" front group, visit the
Narconon Exposed web site.
State Review Of Narconon
®
Program At Chilocco Indian School
North Of Town
17 August 1989
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