When Scientologists are shown the glossy pictures of the new “Ideal Orgs” they can’t help but be impressed. After all, pictures don’t lie. And neither does Scientology senior management. Or do they?? Here is what the good Scientologists in the UK were shown as proof of Scientology growth.
The promise.
I am sure that some of the older members were saying to themselves, “It’s about bloody time” for England had been exposed to Scientology for many years now. But alas, since the Great Mariner had set sail with his bathtub navy, the Sea Org, in the 60’s, growth in Scientology has been moribund. At the moment critics estimate the number of Scientologists in the UK to be in the single digit thousands.
Too bad for the dedicated cultists that the above picture was a sham and a deception. If they took a drive today this is what they would see. For more than five years they have been raising money on this project. But where has it all gone?? It certainly hasn’t been spent on renovations. As it is the buildings are quickly deteriorating.
Another Scientology lie.
Geez, honey, are we at the right place? This is bad. Let’s take a look around back.
What a dump! It would take ten OT’s and a boy to fix this mess.
This property has been like this for years nows Pictures are from http://idleorgs.com/
To the Scientologists on the 2011, “Maiden Voyage” of the cult’s infamous slave ship, Freewinds, thepicture they were given of the new Ideal Org in Zürich looked very upbeat and appealing. Progress was certainly being made on clearing the planet!! Just look at the wonderful building that was of the many products of their donations. Why this event was called the “Maiden Voyage” I don’t know since Scientology has owned this ship for years. But anyway, these are not your ordinary small fry members doing the TR’S or The purification Rundown. Nope, these were the heavy hitters taking the upper level OT courses. After years of giving, giving and taking courses they were there for the God-like powers of the OT’s. They must have thrilled at the sight of the new center in Zürich.
But as so often happens within the cult of Scientology the upper level trainees were being hand a big, glossy colored bit of camel dung. Here is what the building looks like today.
For more on the amazing buiding program of Scientology go here: http://idleorgs.com/
A story by Tony Ortega in the Village Voice Blog tells of the deceit and lies perpetrated by Narconon officials and supporters. In the article, dated today 8/29/12 it also contains a statement by Gary Smith, the head of Narconon Arrowhead in the state of Oklahoma, saying words to the effect that Narconon is not Scientology!!! For those of us who watch the Scientology creature Narconon this makes juicy reading.
Court Testimony: Narconon Intentionally Deceived a Florida Drug Court About Its Licensing.
There’s been a lot of attention focused on Scientology’s flagship drug rehab in Oklahoma — called Narconon Arrowhead — because of recent deaths there and investigations by multiple local and state agencies.
But as we indicated previously, there are also serious questions being asked about Narconon’s facility in the Atlanta area. The 2008 death of Narconon patient and employee Patrick Desmond produced a lawsuit by his family, and documents in that case provide a startling look at the deceptions that appear to be a part of the Narconon business model.
We now have court testimony from the lawsuit which shows that Narconon deceived a Florida drug court in order to keep quiet that it didn’t have licensing to house patients.
The Florida drug court, meanwhile, tells the Voice that it now knows it was lied to. And it isn’t happy about it.
Patrick Desmond was sent by his family to the Atlanta drug rehab center after being sentenced for six months by the Brevard County, Florida drug court. Desmond’s sentence required that he be sent to an in-patient facility, somewhere he would be housed and closely monitored as he fought his addictions.
What the Desmonds and the Brevard County court didn’t know was that Narconon in Georgia has never been licensed to run that kind of facility. By state law, it can’t house anyone, or provide around-the-clock monitoring. Its licensing is strictly for an out-patient facility.
It’s in-patient rehab centers, however, that really bring in the big money. Narconon centers that house clients typically charge about $30,000 for a three-month program.
In Atlanta, however, Narconon’s executive director Mary Rieser had tried and failed to get the kind of licensing that would allow her to house patients at the rehab facility.
So instead, court records show, she asked a Scientologist couple to lease a set of apartments at a nearby complex called One Sovereign Place, and then began placing four Narconon patients in each apartment there. Prospective clients, like the Desmonds, were not told that Rieser had no license to be running an in-patient facility — but they were charged like they were sending their loved ones to a legitimate in-patient rehab.
What’s worse, investigations by Narconon Georgia’s parent company, Narconon International, found that drug use was rampant at One Sovereign Place, with employees (who tended to be former patients) joining in. Desmond, court records suggest, was using Oxycontin at the apartment complex, and one night went out with a friend, tried heroin, overdosed, and died. The Desmond family, in their lawsuit, wants to tell a jury that Narconon was negligent by allowing their son to be so unsupervised at the unlicensed housing complex.
We wondered, however: how has Narconon Georgia convinced drug courts to send patients to a supposedly in-patient facility, while not arousing the interest of Georgia state officials, who consider it an out-patient rehab?
We got an answer to that question in the deposition of a former Narconon Georgia employee, Allison Riepe, which was made public this week.
Like other Narconon employees, Riepe was a former patient and a recovering addict herself. She had numerous jobs at the center, but at the time Desmond was there in 2007 and 2008, she was a legal liaison who handled all the communication with drug courts.
During her deposition, which was taken January 26, she was shown letterhead that was used for official Narconon Georgia correspondence. On it, the facility was described as an “Out-Patient Drug Treatment Program and Education.”
But then she was shown another letter, this one sent to Desmond’s probation officer at the Brevard County, Florida drug court, which had something different on its letterhead. The word “out-patient” had been removed, and Narconon was now described as “Drug Education and Rehabilitation.”
Riepe was asked about the change.
“I took it to Mary and I said, obviously I can’t send this, it says ‘out-patient drug rehab’ and that’s not going to work because this person is court ordered to be in an in-patient facility, so what am I suppose to do with it? And she said take the ‘out-patient’ out.”
“OK, So you knew that Patrick was sentenced to an in-patient facility?” asked attorney Rebecca Franklin.
But lies, scandal and lawsuits are to be found wherever Scientology rears its ugly head. From the start the Narconon program attracted some publicity they would rather have done without. Here, the our vault of former Scientology members we have the story of Mark Jones was the former head of Narconon for the USA until he quit Scientology. He is interviewed in a three-part series in Turlsa done in 1989 that exposes Narconon as a front group for the cult. Too bad these warnings were not heeded until four people had died at the hands of Scientology quacks and crooks.
Narconon, the “non-medical” addiction cure center located in the thinly populated Pittsburg County, Oklahoma is once again the center of attention in the most recent case of an unexplained death. This is the third such death in seven months, the fourth in the last three years. This article of 8-23-2012, by Dana Hertneky, can be found; with links and video, on the News 9 site: http://www.newson6.com/story/19356312/family-of-deceased-patient-file-lawsuit-against-narconon
OKLAHOMA CITY –
Family members of a woman who recently died at a Scientology drug rehab center file a lawsuit against Narconon Arrowhead, this as a former employee comes to Oklahoma, to protest the facility.
Hllary Holton entered in Narconon’s Arrowhead facility for help with her prescription drug addiction in April. Less than 48 hours later she was dead. In a lawsuit filed Thursday, attorneys say Holton had a medical condition, but employees at Narconon didn’t provide her with the care, or medication she needed.
“I would have died in there, just like they did,” said Colin Henderson.
Henderson was a patient at Narconon Arrowhead back in 2007. He says he had the same problem with his heart medicine.
He left after just weeks, but has been working to shut down the facility ever since 2009. That was about the same time that David Love Edgar left Narconon’s Quebec facility. He was not only a patient but employee.
“It was hell, it really was. I saw people taken away in ambulances,” said Edgar.
The two men met for the first time Thursday. They are in Oklahoma for this weekend’s protest to bring awareness to their cause.
“If they don’t shut it down, in my opinion, I think they’re putting their political careers on the line, because if another person dies, you’re not just going to have 100 people come from other countries, but from around the world,” said Edgar.
Love also brought with him piles of documents he will share with Oklahoma Sen. Tom Ivester, Investor has said he wants stricter regulations of Narconon Arrowhead. The documents detail how officials in Quebec were able to force the facility there to close.
“If our state doesn’t move quick enough, somebody else is going to die,” said Henderson.
Love and Henderson believe if Narconon here in Oklahoma is shut down, facilities across the United States will follow. The protest is Saturday at 1 p.m. in McAlester.
Pittsburg County drug rehab facility Narconon Arrowhead under microscope with 3rd death in 7 months
CANADIAN, Okla. – A drug rehab facility in Pittsburg County is coming under scrutiny after authorities say three of its patients died there in the past seven months.
On Thursday, 20-year-old Stacy Murphy, of Owasso, died after just six weeks at Narconon Arrowhead .
Murphy’s father, Robert Murphy, says his daughter got hooked on painkillers and sought help at the drug and rehab facility.
“There’s no way Stacy should have died,” said Murphy. “This should not have happened.”
The cold-turkey program touts a more than 70-percent success rate and has been linked to Scientology.
Murphy says he found out Stacy overdosed and died on Friday morning. He says he was told by workers Stacy left the facility for a little while and returned. When she got back, she tested positive for opiates. Murphy says officials left Stacy in a room where she later died. “She did not have 24-hour staff, she did not have a physician, she did not have a Narconon shot. Her parents were not called. Nothing was done to save my daughter’s life,” said Murphy.
Murphy says he didn’t know about the other deaths until weeks after his daughter’s enrollment.
Murphy hopes Narconon Arrowhead is held accountable.
“There needs to be something done about this place,” he said. “It’s not safe. Too many people have died there.”
This story has been a hot item on the Internet, here is a sample of what’s out the. This is from “After Net,” by Maia Szalaviz, dated July, 31, 2012.
Is Scientology’s Narconon Killing Patients?
With seven deaths since 2005, Scientology’s Narconon flagship may finally face criminal charges. The bigger scandal is that faith-based addiction programs are embraced as primary treatment. Where does that leave AA?
Narconon, the Scientology-affiliated rehab is under investigation by the state of Oklahoma, following three patient deaths within the last nine months. Last Wednesday, the inquiry into the July 19 death of 20-year-old Stacy Murphy was expanded to include the April death of 21-year-old Hillary Holten and the October death of 32-year-old Gabriel Graves. The state district attorney has asked the sheriff’s department to deepen its investigation.
The involvement of law-enforcement agencies—not simply regulatory authorities—suggests the possibility of criminal charges against those involved with the deaths. The facility, Narconon Arrowhead, is located near Canadian, Oklahoma. It is not only licensed by the state and listed on the federal addiction program locator, but also accredited by CARF, an organization that claims on its website to “focus on quality, results” in certifying treatment programs.
The 2009 death of 28-year-old Kaysie Dianne Wernick, who was transferred from Narconon Arrowhead to a nearby hospital while suffering a respiratory infection, resulted in an out-of-court settlement of a civil negligence lawsuit, the terms of which have not been disclosed. There have been Three other death at that Narconon facility alone since 2005. Over the years, as “The Fix,” has reported, numerous deaths and many lawsuits have been linked to the international Narconon program.
Oklahoma assistant district attorney Richard Hull told the “Tulsa World,” that, “After looking at the [earlier] report and additional witness statements, the District Attorney’s Office has requested the Sheriff’s Office to further investigate,” and that full autopsy and toxicology reports have not yet been received. A spokesperson for Narconon Arrowhead told “Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Weekly,”
that program staff found the deaths “deeply saddening” and their loss “has taken an extreme emotional toll on us as well.” Narconon representatives have also told the media that they are cooperating fully with the investigation.
As The Fix reported earlier, the Narconon program is based on Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard’s “Purification Rundown,” which was originally devised as part of the process required for conversion into Scientology. It involves taking high doses of vitamins and spending four to five hours a day in 150-degree saunas. This is believed to “detoxify” the body and remove drug “residue” that Hubbard claimed was responsible for craving.
There is no scientific evidence, however, that drug “residue” causes craving or that mega-doses of vitamins and marathon super-hot saunas are effective elements in addiction treatment. Indeed, for people who are medically fragile or who have recently taken certain classes of drugs including alcohol, amphetamines and cocaine, intense heat without breaks for relief could potentially lead to hyperthermia, which can be deadly. One study found that 25% of deaths in saunas were associated with alcohol or stimulant use.
Narconon also shares Scientology’s fierce opposition to psychiatry and the use of psychiatric medications, meaning that even if the rest of its methods were evidence-based, it would not be able to effectively treat half of all people with addictions who suffer from co-existing conditions like depression, nor would it utilize the state-of-the-art treatments that include medication. The belief that all psychiatric conditions can be treated via Hubbard’s techniques would not seem to support effective screening and referral for care for these disorders.
In fact, when Narconon was originally fishing for official and popular support to build Narconon Arrowhead rehab in the late 1980s, the Oklahoma State Board of Mental Health flatly denied approval, pointing out that there was no credible evidence that the program (which also included indoctrination in the teachings of Hubbard) was effective for chemical dependency.
In a society where addiction cures are big business Scientology, the greediest of all money-hungry cults, has stuck it’s long snout into the money dish. Since the reputation of Scientology is so very bad they have to do it by a front-group or proxy. In this case it is the phoney drug rehab known as Narconon. It is pure Scientology from top to bottom. This article from the Village Voice Blogby Tony Ortega, August 18, 2012, lays the whole lie bare.
Lucas Catton
“A week ago, we reported that a former “employee” at Scientology’s flagship drug treatment center in Oklahoma — Narconon Arrowhead — told us that the controversial center was delivering Scientology training rather than drug education, and that its officials have been concerned for years that its state certification was “extremely vulnerable.” (The center is currently under investigation by local and state agencies for four deaths that have occurred there, three since last October.)
We didn’t name that source, but now, he’s come forward on his own.
We can now say that it is a former president of Narconon Arrowhead, Lucas Catton, who spoke to us about the troubled facility’s past, and about his involvement not only in promoting the place, but also helping to operate its deceptive Internet referral network. . .
As for the program itself, it was Catton who confirmed to me that its “students” learn almost nothing about drug addiction or drug education. Instead, they are trained almost exactly the same way beginning Scientologists are.
“It is true that there’s very little drug information. You do the training routines, the sauna program, learning improvement, the objectives. You learn about Scientology’s ethics. About overts and withholds. You do ‘conditions,’ and then The Way to Happiness, and then you’re done. You feel bright and polished, but there’s no real addressing of what the real problem is for each person,” he said, naming the various steps of early Scientology training, such as hour-long staring exercises and talking to inanimate objects such as ashtrays. . .
Catton then spent the next five years operating dozens of highly profitable websites that refer people to Narconon centers.
The websites are designed to be as generic as possible, saying nothing about Scientology, and they are created to capture people searching online for information about rehab centers. Convincing people who call in for more information to send someone to a Narconon center then earns that referer a commission, typically ten percent of the $30,000 Narconon centers charge.”
Canadian activist David Love, a former addict and Narconon counselor has some scathing words about their so-called treatment program. This is from his blog:
Narconon Aftercare Relapses
“The fact that a patient is likely to relapse soon after completing the Scientology rehab program called Narconon can perhaps best be described as a “predetermined failure”. Contrary to what Narconon claims, Narconon’s actual success rate is not 70%, an imaginary number that is closer to the relapse rate. Narconon executives and other Scientology staff members know well that most patients will relapse, with many returning several times for a so-called repair and forking out thousands of dollars each time.
Narconon websites and brochures profess that Narconon has qualified professional counselors who tend to the individual needs of each patient, when, in fact, many of these Narconon “counselors” have no training whatsoever, except for the Scientology courses taken at each Narconon and a certificate printed in fancy colors. This alone is what Narconon means by “certified counselor”. . .
When patients complete the Narconon program, which consists of studying eight Scientology books with Narconon stamped on them and completing the toxic sauna Purification Rundown, many are more confused and unable to cope than when they first arrived. In this vulnerable state, being recruited onto staff by a keen Scientology staff member is no big chore. “Saving lives” is the motto each morning at the military-style roll-call. Playing God in a science-fiction adventure of deception and abuse may be a fitting way to describe the plot of the Narconon story.
Patients are paired as “twins” to perform all the Scientology training routines and auditing sessions. Patients are yelling at ashtrays: “Ashtray, stand up!” “Sit back down on that chair!” Other patients are commanded: “You, look at that wall.” “You, touch that wall.”
Some patients can be seen walking back and forth between a table on which lies a book and a windowsill on which stands a green wine bottle. One of the patients commands the other: “You, look at that bottle.” “You, walk over to that bottle.” “What color is the bottle?” “What is the temperature?” “What does it weigh?” The patient who receives the commands then turns around, obeying the same commands for the book on the table. This routine can go on for days at a time.
Some patients go into hypnotic-type trances while others have near-psychotic breaks and end up in the Ethics Office for misbehaving. Here they are interrogated and screened for possible connections to a “Suppressive Person” outside Narconon. If the Ethics Officer decides you are connected to a Suppressive Person, you may be advised to disconnect from family and loved ones.”
The question that has to be asked at some point is what on earth are the good Christian people of Bible-belt Oklahoma doing allowing Narconon, a fake drug rehabilitation program, to be licensed in their state? Narconon is not just “affiliated” with Scientology.
It IS Scientology. The money that Narconon makes goes right into the coffers of Scientology. The sales people of Scientology that refer people to Narconon (they get a commission) may try to hide the Scientology origins and links to Narconon but the practices of Narconon are one-hundred percent L. Ron Hubbard. There are a number of web sites that expose this connection, here is one of them http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Narconon/
Scientology was founded by the science fiction author L. Ron Hubbard, d. 1986. Although he got poor grades in the three years that he attended college at George Washington University, and failed nuclear physics, he considered himself an expert on just about everything under the sun. This included medicine, the treatment of diseases and science in general.
Pictured above Hubbard hooks his “E-Meter” (a primitive lie detector) to a tomato plant. He achieved much notoriety for his views on talking plants; this particular picture made it into “Newsweek Magazine” during the 1960’s. This is the level of thinking that can be found in Scientology. No matter if you are looking at Hubbard’s quaint ideas about curing cancer or his system for removing faulty behavior in your previous life it is all the same. There is no “Science” in “Scientology.” For more information about Hubbard’s adventures in botany read this chapter of Russell Miller’s biography of Hubbard, “Bare Faced Messiah.” http://www.xenu.net/archive/books/bfm/bfm14.htm
Here is what Hubbard’s son, who worked closely with his father on many projects, had to say about the great thinker and founder of Scientology.
Narconon, a front group and cash cow for the cult of Scientology is facing more questions.
“Scientology Drug Program Narconon’s Licensing “Extremely Vulnerable” After Oklahoma Deaths, Says Insider.” Story by Tony Ortega, Village Voice Blog, 8/11/12.
Scientology is facing crises on several fronts: flagging membership, internal schisms, relentless Internet exposure, and whole new levels of public consciousness and mocking because of a celebrity divorce and an upcoming movie with Oscar buzz.
But perhaps the most surprising component of the church’s recent rise in negative attention seemed to come out of nowhere, and may turn out to be one of the biggest challenges it’s facing.
Scientology’s drug treatment program, Narconon, is being consumed in a conflagration of its own making.
As with just about every other Scientology controversy, Narconon’s problems are not new. Throughout its history, it’s faced protests, as well as debunking by experts.
But this time, its problems seem of another magnitude. There are not only four deaths at the flagship Oklahoma facility under investigation — three just since October — but Narconon is also mired in litigation in Michigan and Georgia, it was chased out of Quebec, and has also apparently given up on the UK.
“All these Narconon centers are run on the same principles. They use deception to get people in, they make false claims about their effectiveness, and the person sending patients there is actually a salesman working on commission,” says Carnegie Mellon professor Dave Touretzky, who has been studying Narconon for years and maintains an extensive online archive of information about the drug treatment program’s many controversies.
Now, with unprecedented attention drawn to it, Naconon’s vulnerability comes into sharp focus: If Scientology itself often gets a pass because it calls itself a church, Narconon cannot claim that privilege. If Scientology is made up of people who have voluntarily joined to explore their past lives, Narconon patients — and the parents or court officers who send them there — often have no idea of the program’s connection to the controversial church. Although it is endorsed by celebrities, Narconon’s less glamorous reality puts very vulnerable people in risky settings. And, increasingly, public officials are beginning to question how such an unusual program could be licensed to do business in their jurisdictions.
With the media’s interest in all things Scientology heightened, Narconon could be in serious trouble.
As with all of Scientology there is precious little Science involved in Narconon. It claims an absurdly high “cure” rate which is backed up by a couple studies provided by another Scientology front group. This particular lie, made to encourage the unwary to use this bogus service, is on a par with the Scientology lie that they have 8 million members.
Lies are the hallmark of Scientology; and as a branch of Scientology the promotional literature and their web sites of Narconon is saturated with false claims.
A good chunk of the Narconon program relies on Hubbard’s “Purification Rundown.” This involves spending long amount of time in a sauna to sweat out body toxins and large doses of various vitamins. What this amounts to is non-scientific trash as related to addiction problems. Worse yet the vitamins taken in large amounts can be toxic which can be a big issue with anyone with liver disease.
Nutritional science was in its infancy when Hubbard dreamed up this treatment. But of course Scientologists are forever frozen in time unable to change or modify any of Hubbard’s techniques. So the fruits of new knowledge are wasted on them. Below former addict and Narconon staff member David Love talks about the Purification Rundown.
Androvillans's Blog 