Is scientology in your schools?

Humanist, Sept-Oct, 2004 by Robin Jacobs

SCIENTOLOGY OR SCIENCE?

Because Narconon lecturers often approach individual schools rather than school districts in order to secure a public school audience for the program, the possibility is increased that individual administrators and teachers will be unfamiliar not only with the Scientology connection but with specific ideas that show up in Narconon lectures which appear to be unique or integral to Scientology teachings. As a result, elements that might be questioned if subjected to broader scrutiny often pass beneath the radar at the local level.

For example, how much of the public is familiar with the idea of a "tone scale" of emotions? Yet this Scientology idea has been included in Narconon public school lectures. How many have heard of the "communication drill," a Scientology activity designed to create a comfort zone for students? This too has frequently been reported as part of the Narconon approach.

One of the fundamental elements of the Narconon rehabilitation and prevention program is the claim that drugs are stored in fat and can thus remain in the body and create drug cravings and flashbacks for years. According to the St. Petersburg Times, to deal with this problem Narconon offers "a detoxification program mirroring a Scientology ritual called the purification rundown." In order to rid clients' bodies of drugs, saunas and exercise equipment are used to induce heavy sweating and thus sweat the drugs out. Vitamin treatments with niacin are also part of this effort. The Boston Herald, checking this claim, interviewed William Jarvis, a professor of public health at Loma Linda University in Southern California. Jarvis said, "The idea of sweating out poisons is kind of an old wives' tale. It's all pretty hokey." He added that, according to a 1990 report from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, salt and water are the only substances that the regimen would remove from the body.

The October 12, 1990, Daily Oklahoman reported on an evaluation of Narconon conducted by psychiatrist John Chelf, who concluded: "No scientifically well-controlled, independent, long-term, outcome studies were found that directly and clearly established the effectiveness of the entire Narconon program in the treatment of chemical dependency." Two years later the Oklahoma Board of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services declared that "Narconon's program is not safe" and declined state certification for the Chilocco New Life Center, a Narconon residential facility on an Indian reservation near Newkirk.

In response to allegations of pseudoscience, Narconon provides supporting commentary from James Dahlgren, M.D., of the UCLA School of Medicine; G. Megan Shields, M.D., Narconon's medical director; and other physicians. Cited are assorted professional papers that give support to at least parts of Narconon's claims. And Narconon offers testimonials from numbers of people who have benefited from the program, one of the more famous being Kirstie Alley of "Cheers" fame. "A longtime Scientologist, she says the anti-drug program's Purification Rundown saved her life by helping her kick a cocaine habit," the Boston Herald reported. The St. Petersburg Times added,