In what could be argued as laying the foundations for future recruitment, the Scientology staffed and funded drug rehabilitation group, Narconon has been providing schools in California and other states throughout the US, free anti-drug programs of education for a number of years.

Although the group argues that there is a clear line of operation between the Church of Scientology and Narconon, the fact is concepts straight out of Scientology, including medical theories that some addiction experts described as “irresponsible” and “pseudoscience,” have been taught to American school students.

Third graders and above have been introduced to some of the beliefs and methods of Scientology without their knowledge, or the knowledge of their parents.

A Controversial Program

In 2004 all of this came to head after the San Francisco Chronicle did an expose on the Narconon curriculum in schools, and its close link with Scientology.

This resulted in the California Department of Education spending up to $30,000 to review the Narconon program before issuing a strong warning to schools.

“Narconon’s drug prevention program does not reflect accurate, widely-accepted medical and scientific evidence,” Jack O’Connell, then the state superintendent of public instruction, told schools in a letter posted on the department’s website Feb. 24, 2005.

However, by 2004 Narconon officials stated that their lectures in U.S schools had already reached 1.7 million children in just ten years.

And while the warning may have prevented Narconon lecturers from entering some schools for a while, (districts including Los Angeles and San Francisco banned Narconon outright), the fact the Department of Education lacks the authority to oust programs altogether, has meant that over time Narconon has found its way back into the classroom.

In 2013, Clarke Carr, Narconon’s president, said that school lectures had been given in 24 US states and 39 different countries.

What’s in the Narconon Anti Drug Program?

The Narconon anti-drug instructions involves key Scientology concepts: namely that the body stores all kinds of toxins indefinitely in fat, where they wreak havoc on the mind until they are “sweated out”.

Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard created Narconon in 1966 with William Benitez, an Arizona inmate and addict turned anti-drug crusader.

Early versions of the rehabilitation program involved vitamins and exercise. However, in 1978, Hubbard added his “tissue-cleansing regimen” of niacin and sauna, which “greatly reduces or eliminates cravings for drugs that stem from hidden drug toxins,”

Since then Narconon has grown under the umbrella of Scientology into a global network of drug treatment centers, as well as providing these free education programs for elementary, middle and high school students.

It is not an exaggeration to say that Scientology, via its link with Narconon has found a back door into public classrooms. Even a rudimentary look reveals a crossover of church language, materials, concepts, personnel and finances.

“Narconon, to me, is Scientology,” said Lee Saltz a drug counselor with the Los Angeles school district. “We don’t use their curriculum because it’s not grounded in science. But they bypass our office and go directly to the schools. They’re very persistent.”

Narconon speakers tell students that the body stores drugs indefinitely in fat, where they cause drug cravings and flashbacks.

Students are also told that sweating through exercise or sauna rids the body of these “poisons.”

And, some teachers said, the speakers tell students that the drug residues produce a colored ooze when exiting the body.

Like the Church of Scientology, Narconon embraces Hubbard’s belief that experiences are recorded in three-dimensional images in the mind. When a person takes drugs they are “scrambling” these pictures.

Clarke Carr has explained the take home message of the lectures, “this is how we basically explain it to them (the students). Drugs scramble pictures. When people take drugs, they affect the mental pictures.”

Scientologists believe that scrambled pictures interfere with one’s ability to “go clear,” a state of mental purity that is a goal of the religion.

It is clear that the belief systems of Scientology and Narconon are one and the same thing.

Despite department warnings, and the ongoing controversy surrounding the Church and the obvious pseudo-science of these lectures, they continue to be held in public classrooms in front of impressionable young students throughout the US and the world.

As we all know, the pervasive tentacles of Scientology run deep.

(Sources / Image Credits: Scientologynews.org, Pinterest, au.org, Narconexposed, SFgate.com, Wikipedia)