Date: Wed, August 9, 2006 3:41 am
From: "Eric F."
Subject: truth in an AA meeting; smoking
Hey Orange, hope this finds you well. I wanted to drop you a note about the
recent goings on in my life. I quit smoking at the first of the year but
picked them up again in May ( I guess that means I was a "dry smoker"?
"smokeless smoker"? "still had a smoker's mind"? LOL) I'm quitting them
again this morning — on my own power, much like I did when I quit taking the
first drink. I had quit going to AA meetings for a while because I had to do
it to get the last vestiges of the cult programming out of my head. I
recently returned to the meetings for a couple of reasons. First, there are
some good people that I really care for there. Second, and more importantly,
there are a growing number of like minded people there who have seen through
the lies and refuse to bow to the groupthink pressure. We keep going because
we want to offer some real and solid advice to the people who are just
beginning to get sober. The great thing is that there are some people who
have only been exposed to the AA poison for a year or so who are starting to
come around and wake up to the fact that they have been decieved. This has
caused no end to the consternation of the old-timers in the group. What
really cements things for the people who listen to me is how I tell them
that the old-timers will caome and warn them about being around me because I
am "spiritually sick" and other such slander.
Hi again, Eric,
It's good to hear from you again.
Yes, please quit smoking again, and stay quit. The life you save may be more than just your own.
I've been going back through the propaganda and debating techniques page
this morning. Thanks again for putting such a valuable tool online for us.
It has such great info for people looking for the truth about AA and for
those of us who wish to expose the lies. I admit, though, that I have to use
some of these same techniques at times. But when I use them and then
demonstrate the parallel from the AA literature, the light bulbs begin to
turn on!
Yes. Sometimes I find myself in that situation too. By and large though, I find that I can
get by with using only the good (honest, truthful, non-deceptive) ones.
Another thing that I felt that I had to do in a meeting was to announce that
if I ever heard of any sponsors telling someone to quit taking medication
prescribed to them by a Doctor or Psychiatrist, then I would turn them in to
the Attorney General's office for investigation of practicing medicine
without a license. That got me some evil looks from the old-timers, but a
lot of people came and thanked me for saying that. Apparently there is a lot
more pressure to quit psychiatric medications than even I realized.
Far out!!
Givem' hell. Telling people not to take their doctor-prescribed medications is just so
stupid — homicidally stupid, and pig-headed and obtuse and superstitious.
I really enjoyed James' site,
BlameDenial.
I'm sorry that he feels the need
to back out of the endeavor, but I truly hope he finds peace and happiness.
My plans are to start writing my experiences of being indoctrinated into 12
step cultism and my recovery from the 12 steps, probably in a blog type of
forum. I have a politcal blog that draws a small amount of traffic, but I
know how to get quick bursts of hits when needed. I think that the more
things like that we can get out there with the truth in them, the more
people can be reached and helped.
James is back at it. He decided not to quit the project after all. He has
new videos
up too.
If you would be interested in starting a message board for the orange
papers site, I would be glad to help. It can be done free of charge on
proboards or something like that.
Funny coincidence — I've been thinking the same thing. I know that there is some popular
free software for doing it out there; it's just a matter of find it and install it.
There was something like a message board on my previous host but I never used it.
After
the experience with Rick Ross and his "forum", it occurred to me that I could do
a better job of it just by not censoring people.
Have a great day, enjoy your waterfowl and sunshine, and know that there are
legions of people grateful to you.
Date: Wed, August 9, 2006 4:35 pm
From: "Eric F."
Subject: Recovering from Recovery blog
Hey Orange, hope your day was great. I've started my blog that I mentioned
in my email this morning, The title is "Recovering from Recovery" and can be
found at
http://freedomfrom12steps.blogspot.com/. I'll put up a link to your
site in the side bar. Thanks again for all the work you've done to bring the
truth about AA out in the open. You've been an inspiration to myself and
many others.
Eric A. F.
Well thanks for the compliment, and good luck with your blog.
And have a good day.
== Orange
* orange@orange-papers.info *
* AA and Recovery Cult Debunking *
* http://www.Orange-Papers.org/ *
** "Laughter is the best medicine,
** and it's cheaper.
** == Victor Borge
It takes a lot of guts to tell the truth about these folks.
Hi David,
Thanks for the compliment.
Have a good day.
== Orange
* orange@orange-papers.info *
* AA and Recovery Cult Debunking *
* http://www.Orange-Papers.org/ *
** "When in the company of deluded people,
** keep your own counsel." == Buddha
Date: Thu, August 10, 2006 10:12 am
From: "Andy M."
Dear Orange,
I felt a need to write again just to express a bit of gratitude and appreciation
for all the work you've put into this project. I had really been close to
suicidal despair though long-term sober and drug-free because I felt so
ostracized, discredited and belittled in AA as one of the few people who dared to
think and speak for himself "in the rooms" locally. You can't win if you take part
in this AA thing, you are always in the wrong if you disagree with, or object to,
the "program". The AA hard-liners try to rob you of any credit for remaining sober
by re-defining sobriety in some nebulous pseudo-spiritual way. It is very
encouraging to see that the tide seems to be turning and there are intelligent and
feeling people putting up a resistance to this totalitarian control. I used to
think that AA was essentially a well-meaning organization, if a little misguided
in some ways. Now I'm not so sure. The more one looks into it all, the more
dubious it all seems.
Take care,
Andy
Hi Andy,
Thanks for all of the compliments, and I'm happy to hear that this web site helped you.
That really makes it worth it.
Have a good day.
== Orange
* orange@orange-papers.info *
* AA and Recovery Cult Debunking *
* http://www.Orange-Papers.org/ *
** The finest structure can house the worst evil.
I have to start an alcohol treatment program which, will be requiring me
to attend 4 AA meetings a week. I have 4 weeks to get a temp sponsor.
Is there anything I can do or say to cause every potential sponsor to
not want to be my sponsor?
Hi Steve,
Darn! I think I'm answering this too late to do you any good. But my first attempt
would be to start telling the truth about A.A. — the whole truth, the whole history,
and all of the details in the crazy history of Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob, and all of the untrue
things that Bill wrote in the Big Book.
Few true-believer oldtimers can handle that.
Oh well, have a good day anyway.
== Orange
* orange@orange-papers.info *
* AA and Recovery Cult Debunking *
* http://www.Orange-Papers.org/ *
** Telling lies about recovery isn't funny, and
** it isn't spiritual, and it isn't okay.
Date: Fri, 11 Aug 2006 15:28
From: Steve
If you are the guy who wrote the orange-papers, I have a question for you:
How did you get and stay sober?
I tried to cut back and then quit with the help of my doctor. Did not
work for very long. Then a fun-filled family intervention and a couple
nights stay in detox followed by months of AA meetings didn't keep me
sober. Then after having months of sobriety and a few lapses wound me up
in a treatment center, I'm back in AA hoping for something, anything to
keep me sober. I've tried Smart, but the online meetings are slow,
tedious and boring.
I know the vast majority of people who quit do it on their own. I read
Pete Hamill's memoir "A Drinking Life" and he just quit one day.
I read and could not believe most of the crap in Jim Frey's "A Million Little Pieces".
I read Caroline Knapp's "Drinking: A Love Story" and was amazed that she
could quit drinking but not smoking and that killed her at 42 years old.
Killed Bill, too.
I've been to your site many times but I never got an answer. How'd ya do it?
Steve
Hello Steve,
Thanks for the question.
Basically, I just got sick and tired of being sick and tired, and decided that I didn't want to
die that way.
I had been really sick for a while, and despaired of ever recovering, and figured that the only
thing to do was just stay stoned until the bitter end.
And I got evicted and ended up out on the streets. And a doctor told me to quit drinking or
I would die.
And somehow, that convinced me to quit drinking. At first, I was thinking that I would quit for
maybe 3 months, just long enough to get my feet back under me. But I was actually so sick that
it got worse, and I came down with bronchitis and pneumonia, which prompted me to quit smoking too.
At the three month point, it seemed like I was even sicker. Not really, but it seemed like it.
What really happened was that my mind cleared enough to become aware of just how sick I really was,
and how much cognitive impairment and memory loss I had suffered, and things like that.
So I resolved to stay sober for 3 years.
And then, at the three year point, I knew that I wanted to stay sober for a lot longer. Now I figure that
it is for life.
When you talk about "making it", I get the feeling that what
you really mean is, "Not relapsing."
As I just explained in another letter (here),
it seems like recovery from addiction happens in two distinct phases.
In phase one, you just fight to get unaddicted, to go through the pain
and discomfort and disorientation of withdrawal, and to get out
of the habit and lifestyle of routine consumption of something addicting.
In phase two, the mind games start. That little voice in your head starts whispering,
"Oh, it's been so long since we've had one. We've got a handle on it now. We've got
it under control. Just one will be okay now."
If you believe that addictive voice for a minute you are screwed.
Getting through phase one is hard, sometimes very hard, but it is still phase two that is deadly
to so many people.
They get fooled by that little voice yammering about how a little fun tonight will be okay,
and they get sucked back into using something, and get readdicted.
Read about the
Lizard Brain Addiction Monster. Understanding how that thing
works has been a life-saver to me. Staying clean and sober is largely a
matter of just not getting fooled any more
— not believing the little voice that insists that just one will be okay.
Staying sober for years is really just a matter of not having one, right now.
And not smoking for years is also just a matter of not having one, right now.
The trick is that it is always "right now".
I have the advantage of 30 years of quitting smoking, and getting fooled by that little voice so
many times. I finally just got hip to the trip and don't get fooled by it any more.
And I have enough years of failure and readdiction to understand that
"just one cigarette" really means smoking for another three years again,
and "just one beer" really means drinking for another nine years.
And I clearly understand, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that many more
years of drinking and smoking would kill me.
That makes it actually pretty easy to stay clean and sober.
I simply decided that I don't want to die that way. It's not any fun.
Have a good day.
== Orange
* orange@orange-papers.info *
* AA and Recovery Cult Debunking *
* http://www.Orange-Papers.org/ *
** To ex-Congressman Mark Foley, who decided to hide in
** an alcoholism treatment center: "Alcohol Abuse doesn't
** need people like you besmirching its reputation."
** == a comedy routine on the Randy Rhodes Show.
Date: Mon, October 9, 2006 7:51 am
From: "Steve B."
Subject: RE: Answer to your letter
Thanks for the personal response. I was wondering if I'd hear from you.
The "Lizard Brain Addiction Monster" is spot on. That little addictive
voice has been my downfall. I know where it's coming from now (damn my
base brain). Now that I've been sober for 5 months, he talks to me once
in awhile. I recognize the little bastard.
I've been reading Stanton Peele's "Love and Addiction" and it's pretty
interesting.
Unfortunately for me, I've screwed up enough in the past that I'm going
to have to go through the motions in AA for at least another 7 months to
keep my wife happy. It's like being on probation even thought I've never
been arrested for anything. The thing that really amazes me about AA is
that the group actually worships alcohol like it's some kind of powerful
entity. It's not.
Hi again, Steve,
Yes, right on. If you think about it for a while, the idea that a bottle of
C2H5OH being more powerful than you are is absurd.
Heck, I have so much power over it that I can even light it on fire and burn it and
use it to heat up a cup of coffee.
I have another alternative to AA for you:
racingforrecovery.com.
Todd Crandell was an addict for years and used AA to finally get himself
sober. Now he's moved away from AA and has a program that doesn't follow
the 12 steps. I met him recently and was impressed with what he had to
say. He doesn't believe in powerlessness and neither do I. He doesn't
believe in relapse. He believes in "rechoice".
I like your website a lot. There's so much information on the splash
page that it's kind of overwhelming.
Keep on giving us the truth.
Take care.
steve b.
Thanks for all of the compliments, and have a good day.
== Orange
* orange@orange-papers.info *
* AA and Recovery Cult Debunking *
* http://www.Orange-Papers.org/ *
** Programming today is a race between software engineers
** striving to build bigger and better idiot-proof programs,
** and the Universe trying to produce bigger and better
** idiots. So far, the Universe is winning. == Rich Cook
I have no idea what is the purpose of your article. Is it to argue
with the validity of the 12 steps program" Or is to bash AA for its
semi-religious character?
Either way, the phenomenon of
the "dry drunk"
does not depend on the
number of years one managed to live without alcohol, but it depends
on the quality of their life.
If its' shit and they fell miserable, they should go go back to
drinking — at least they'll feel less miserable.
From my own experience (and I'm not advocating AA, because I'm not a
part of it) when it comes to recovery, you may stick your so called
"will power" deep up your ass.
It's pointless and a waste of one's time and energy.
The whole point of 12 steps (without all that semi-religious mumbo-
jumbo) is to deal with underlying issues of any dependency — which is
unresolved pain.
That's the whole point of the treatment.
And if you manage to do the step 7 you'll have a chance to experience
something, you have never thought possible — Freedom and Happiness.
've been there, than that!
You obviously haven't, so maybe you should shut your mouth and keep
quiet about the things you have no clue about.
Because you haven't experienced them!
Kris
Hello Kris,
I am not going to even waste my time responding to your accusations,
because you are obviously not interested in learning the truth.
You have chosen to devote your life to repeating superstitions and
misconceptions, and
angrily denouncing anyone who disagrees with you
and challenges your erroneous beliefs.
What a waste of a life.
Oh well, have a good day anyway.
== Orange
* orange@orange-papers.info *
* AA and Recovery Cult Debunking *
* http://www.Orange-Papers.org/ *
** Foisting ineffective quack medicine on sick people is not
** a wonderful noble act of self-sacrifice to help others;
** it is the reprehensible behavior of a damned fool.
Date: Sat, August 12, 2006 12:33 am
From: "Tim C."
Subject: Hi
Hello Mr. Orange,
I was wondering if you know how much money Bill
Wilson made off of that movie based on him called 'My Name is Bill' or
something like that. I was wondering, because I couldn't find that on
your site.
I used to be a member of the AA cult and well it made my life even
worse then before I went to it. I will explain later what happened to
me in AA. It was not positive at all.
Hi Tim,
Thanks for the letter and congratulations on your escape from the cult.
That's an easy question to answer:
Bill Wilson got no money from the movie "My Name is Bill W.",
because he was long since dead.
Bill Wilson died January 24, 1971, and the movie was made in 1989.
William G. Borchert wrote the screenplay. If anyone got any royalties, it was probably him.
Have a good day.
== Orange
* orange@orange-papers.info *
* AA and Recovery Cult Debunking *
* http://www.Orange-Papers.org/ *
** If you persist in making criminals out of
** alcoholics and addicts, you will find that
** you have lots and lots of criminals. — Orange
Date: Sat, August 12, 2006 9:49 pm
From: "Charles K."
Subject: One more meeting
Attended one more meeting tonight, and the topic was the ever popular, "The first
drink gets you drunk." There were only about 15 people there and it still ran over
the allotted hour. Most of the "sharing" by the members sounded like they were
trying to convince themselves of the truth of this fact. Why else would they speak
for 5 to 10 minutes on such an easily understood concept? Others seemed not to
have integrated their personalities, and talked about their diseased minds (and some
of these people had up to 10 years of "clean" time) lying in wait for them, running
parallel to their recovery.
All that needed to be said is, "Alcohol changes the way I look at the world, and
today I have the resolve and choose to look life straight in the eye without
alcohol".
This aside I have found some very good friends in AA who have helped through some
very trying times, when escape from reality looked good to me. For me its more
about good people (and there are some assholes in a AA like anywhere) caring about
one another. I had too many problems caused by my drinking, now my probems are real
and I have people who help me. As for God I could write a seven page essay.
Suffice it to say too many AA's use God as a cosmic aspirin.
Agent Green
Hi Agent Green,
Thanks for the letter, and the story.
And have a good day.
== Orange
* orange@orange-papers.info *
* AA and Recovery Cult Debunking *
* http://www.Orange-Papers.org/ *
** "Argue for your limitations, and sure
** enough, they're yours." == Richard Bach
[another letter from Charles K.:]
Date: Mon, August 14, 2006 2:39 pm
From: "Charles K."
Subject: No coincidences in A. A.?
Sat through another A. A. meeting today and I had to smile rather than grind my
teeth as I heard many people use the catch phrase, "there are no such things as
coincidences". If there are no coincidences then the meaning of the word is
useless. In the extreme, to use such a phrase in the negative implies the word
coincidence should not even exist.
The sloppy thinking and trashing of the English language in A. A. never ceases to
amaze me. Coincidence in my dictionary means the chance occurrence of 2 things at
such a time as to seem remarkable.
A.A.ers, for the most part, then jump to the conclusion that any chance remarkable
occurrence, is a supernatural event. This is what most Religious Fundamentalists
believe, that nothing happens by chance, everything is God's plan.
This form of thought in A.A. has a threefold purpose:
1) to indoctrinate
2) to stop individual thought
3) to make a person totally dependent on God and A.A..
Complete dependency on anything, no matter how appealing, negates our ability to have healthy
and meaningful relationships.
In my opinion, complete dependency on God as a pain killer is a setup. We can turn
our lives and wills over to the care of God all we like, but we still need to keep
up our end of the bargain. I believe this is one reason for A.A.s rather dismal
success rate. When we use God as a Cosmic aspirin we set the stage for a return to
drinking, because when the pain comes asking God to remove it is unrealistic. The
best I can do is to ask God to suffer along with me, and first I cope, then I heal.
This hope helps me. Whatever helps you helps you, but when I encounter sloppy
thinking, trashing of language, and superstitions I get my back up.
In closing, I would like to say there are coincidences, but by using my God given
powers to reason, to feel, and my intuitions I can make the most of the coincidences
in my life. I cannot do this, by experience and personal choice, using alcohol.
Agent Green
P.S. No reason to respond if you decide not to. Also, feel free to use anything on
your website. If I am a pain let me know and I'll stop e-mailing you. Until then I
will keep writing to you about my opinion and observations of A. A..
Hello again, Agent Green,
You aren't a pain at all. I like getting other people's observations.
Thanks for the letter.
You are right on the money with the observations about the A.A. attitude towards coincidences
and the Fundamentalist religious attitude it reveals. And that attitude came straight from
Frank Buchman's perverted cult religion, which was the precursor to Alcoholics Anonymous.
This is the standard Big Book rap on coincidences:
And acceptance is the answer to all my problems today.
When I am disturbed, it is because I find some person, place, thing,
or situation — some fact of my life — unacceptable to me,
and I can find no serenity until I accept that person, place, thing,
or situation as being exactly the way it is supposed to be at this
moment. Nothing, absolutely nothing happens in God's world by mistake.
The A.A. Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous,
3rd Edition, the story Doctor, Alcoholic, Addict, page 449.
Here is another instance of the shallowness of thought and extremes
of teaching of which the Group must be held guilty.
In a booklet issued by the Group entitled The Guidance of God,
there is a story of a three-year-old child taught to be quiet and
listen to God's Voice. He looks up and remarks: "God says
that you must eat more porridge this morning." Although
the child is obviously reiterating an injunction of his mother's,
this is put forward as a direct instance of Divine Guidance.
In the same booklet there is the dangerous injunction: "Look
for the coincidences" as sign-posts of Guidance.
...
... If every passing thought is to be followed as Guidance,
and every coincidence regarded as a Divine intervention,
where are we to stop this side madness?
Dr. Buchman has no authority whatever for his doctrine
of direct guidance available at any moment.
The result of such a teaching, made "with an infallibility the
Pope would envy", is to rob men and women of their God-given
intelligence, and to weaken their sense of reason and their capacity
for judgement until they become almost non-existent. ...
It is a pitiable fact that many young children are now being brought
up this way. I believe that there are no words too strong to
condemn such a teaching, and that its consequences can be so terrible
that no warning is too grave.
The "Quiet Time" encourages introspection: the pseudo-guidance
is its result. Minds deranged, homes made tragic, careers broken, bitter
disappointment following the unhappy or negative outcome of this
so-called guidance — these are the consequences.
I would sum up in the words of The [London] Times:
"It must be the most serious charge against the Groups that they
encourage their members to shirk the discipline of thought in
favour of impulses received from they know not where."
The teaching on Guidance is as great a superstition as any purged
from the Church at the Reformation. Saints Run Mad; A Criticism of the "Oxford" Group Movement,
Marjorie Harrison (1934), pages 67-68.
Yes, really "stopping individual thought".
Oh well, have a good day anyway.
== Orange
* orange@orange-papers.info *
* AA and Recovery Cult Debunking *
* http://www.Orange-Papers.org/ *
** The man who does not read good books has no advantage
** over the man who cannot read them.
** == Mark (Samuel Longhorne Clemens) Twain 1835-1910
*wikiality
*User-created reality — where something becomes "true" if you can get
enough people to believe it. Thanks to the growing number of wiki sites,
such as Wikipedia.
*Spread the buzz to your friends*
Forward Buzzword of the Day to your friends. They can sign up at:
http://www.buzzwhack.com
*Got a buzzword to nominate? *
Heard a new buzzword lately? Or have an old favorite. Share it with us at:
http://www.buzzwhack.com
Thanks, Andrew,
That's good, and yes, it's really relevant. I especially like "user-created reality".
Have a good day.
== Orange
* orange@orange-papers.info *
* AA and Recovery Cult Debunking *
* http://www.Orange-Papers.org/ *
** Gandalf said, "The demons of the darkness howl in
** pain when you shine the light of truth on them."
Does Narconon work?
Studies Last updated
2 January 2003
Contents > Does Narconon work? > Studies
a.. Studies
a.. Research Papers
a.. Success stories
Studies
The way that Narconon presents its claimed success rates is, on the whole, very
peculiar. As well as not making available source data from studies, it often claims
that its success rates are universally applicable — that is, that a particular
success figure is obtained everywhere. In a great many cases, figures are quoted
without any reference to their sources; basic information such as where they come
from, when they were determined and how many people were evaluated are often wholly
absent. Even when some kind of citation is included, it is often extremely vague —
for instance, "a study conducted by an independent organisation" (who, where, when,
how?). Detailed citations are vanishingly rare in Narconon's literature.
Narconon's publicity material presents a number of different figures for its claimed
success rates, for instance:
a.. Narconon International — 75% success rate
b.. Narconon's methamphetamineaddiction.com website — "over 76%"
c.. Narconon Finland — 70%
d.. What is Scientology? — 78.37%
e.. Narconon of Oklahoma — "86% improvement in reported criminal activity"
f.. Narconon Montreal — "a 60%-70% success rate over two years"
g.. Freedom magazine (a Scientology publication) — "more than 70 percent"
h.. Ron the Humanitarian (another Scientology publication) — "84.6 percent"
[URLs are respectively: <http://www.narconon.org/narconon_results.htm> ,
<http://www.methamphetamineaddiction.com/research.html> ,
<http://www.narconon.fi>, <http://www.scientology.org/wis/wiseng/25/25-nnpgm.htm>,
<http://www.drug-rehabilitation-resource.com/Beckman_ongoing.html>,
<http://www.aei.ca/~narconon/English/faqnarconon.htm>,
<http://www.freedommag.org/english/vol33I1/drug-rehabilitation.htm>,
<http://drugrehab.lronhubbard.org/page70.htm>]
In many cases, the sources of these figures are not given. When they are, however,
the most commonly cited sources are studies carried out in Sweden and Spain during
the 1980s and in Oklahoma during the 1990s and 2000s.
The Swedish Study
Narconon has made much over the years of a study of its graduates carried out in
Sweden in 1981 that, depending on where you obtain the information from, showed that
variously 78%, 78.6%, 84.6% or 85% of those that completed the Narconon programme
were still drug free a year later. On Narconon's websites, there are only three
mentions of the study's author, no details are available of how the study was
conducted, the detailed figures are not reproduced and the organisation does not
appear to have made the study report available anywhere — it also does not appear to
respond to requests for it, as many people (including the present author) have
requested copies over the years but have never been able to obtain them from
Narconon. Typically, Narconon will omit to mention how many actually completed the
programme. For instance, Narconon International's website states:
In 1981, Peter Gerdman, an independent researcher, examined the long-term effects
of the Narconon program for 61 drug abusers who graduated from Narconon Huddinge,
a facility outside Stockholm. He followed the graduates for four years after they
completed the program.
Although 69 percent had been using drugs for 6 to 10 years prior to coming to the
Narconon program, and nearly all were addicted to a multitude of different drugs,
four years later 78.6 percent were drug free.
["Summary of Evaluations of the Narconon® Program over the Last 30 Years" —
<http://www.narconon.org/narconon_studies05.htm>]
In other words, 78.6% of the 61 drug abusers had become drug-free. Simple arithmetic
shows that this cannot possibly be correct — 78.6% of 61 is 47.946 people — and a
closer examination of the study reveals the true facts, which are very different to
how Narconon presents them.
One Swede, Catarina Pamnell, did manage to trace the report. It had been sent to the
municipality of Huddinge in 1983 as part of an evaluation on whether Narconon should
be fully accepted as a treatment facility, and is publicly available under Sweden's
"Offentlighetsprincipen" (freedom of information laws). Peter Gerdman, a Stockholm
social worker, conducted the study in May 1981. On his behalf, Narconon staff
interviewed persons who had entered the Narconon programme in Vårby Gård (at the
Narconon Huddinge branch) just outside Stockholm in 1977. This presents an immediate
problem with the veracity of the data, as Gerdman was dependent on Narconon's staff
being scrupulously honest and impartial. In his introduction to his report, he
refers to the problem of the "halo effect" (of the data gatherers polishing up the
data), but concludes that since the staff are themselves former drug addicts and
there is no monetary gain involved, such an effect is unlikely. This may, however,
be overly optimistic as it does not take account of possible ideological motives —
as the "Narconon and Scientology" section explains, L. Ron Hubbard's followers
encourage (indeed, demand) an uncritically worshipful attitude towards their guru
and his works. Oddly enough, he later writes that "the use of an independent
scientific consultant constitutes a form of warranty against "sunshine research"
[geared towards showing positive results rather than describing reality]. From the
point of view of objectivity, it cannot be considered satisfactory to plan and
execute an evaluation of one's own activities." In effect, he dismisses the worth of
his own research methods.
When the actual figures gathered by Gerdman are considered, it is hardly surprising
that Narconon has been so reluctant to publish the study. They show that:
a.. 61 individuals entered the programme, of whom
b.. 24 left during detoxification;
c.. 23 left during other stages;
d.. 14 completed the programme.
The overall completion rate was thus 23%.
Of the 14 who completed the programme, 13 were contacted a year later (the last
could not be reached). When asked if they had used drugs any time during the year
after completing the programme, 7 said yes; 4 said no; 2 said they didn't know.
Those who had used drugs had taken heroin (5), amphetamine (3), marijuana (3) and
alcohol (more than temporary intake) (2). When asked if they were presently, i.e.
within the last month of the interview, taking drugs, 11 said no, 1 said yes, 1 said
they didn't know.
Of those who left Narconon before completion, 24 of 47 were interviewed. 10 said
they were drug free (41.6% of those surveyed, 16.4% of the total). This group of
people appears to be omitted entirely from any statistics quoted by Narconon.
The 84.6% percent figure quoted by the Narconon and the Church of Scientology
corresponds to 11 out of the 13 people interviewed after completion saying that they
were not using drugs presently. The alternative figure of 78.6 percent refers to 11
out of the 14 completions (but is skewed due to the uncontactable 14th person being
counted as a failure). This is, to say the least, a very partial presentation of
figures which overall are extremely unflattering for Narconon:
a.. 77% of those who enrolled on the course quit before completing it.
b.. 50% of those who did complete it went back onto drugs afterwards (and another
14% somewhat mysteriously didn't know if they had or not).
c.. 54% of those interviewed afterwards who did not complete it went back onto
drugs.
d.. 34% of enrollees said they had completed the programme and relapsed but
claimed to be drug free at the moment.
e.. 6.6% of enrollees said they had stayed totally drug free for one year
afterwards.
If the latter figure — those who completed the course and claim to have completely
turned their backs on drugs — is taken as the eventual success rate. Compare this
with the rates quoted in Ron the Humanitarian — "The rate among similarly
comprehensive rehabilitation clinics, even when patients are "handpicked," averages
but 15 percent, often as low as 1.6 percent." If this is so, then Narconon is
achieving poor results even by its own standards. If the results of the study are
treated as being generic for all Narconon branches, which is how Narconon itself
treats it, then it suggests that:
a.. Most Narconon entrants do not complete the programme.
b.. Most of those who do complete the programme return to drug abuse subsequently.
There can be little doubt that the success rates found by Gerdman's studies have
seriously been misrepresented. The Scientology publication Ron the Humanitarian
states that "Even a year after completion of the program, independent Swedish
studies found a full 84.6 percent of Narconon graduates remaining entirely
drug-free." [Narconon Sydney home page —
<http://www.drug-rehabilitation-resource.com> and Ron the Humanitarian —
<http://drugrehab.lronhubbard.org/page50.htm>] In fact, the Gerdman study showed
that only 6.6% of Narconon Huddinge clients "remain drug-free permanently" — if this
is any way typical, it represents a success rate only one-eleventh of that which is
claimed. Similarly, Narconon International's website states that "61 drug abusers
who graduated from Narconon Huddinge ... [were] followed for four years after they
completed the program. Although 69 percent had been using drugs for 6 to 10 years
prior to coming to the Narcononprogram [sic], and nearly all were addicted to a
multitude of different drugs, four years later 78.6 percent were drug free." This
suggests that Gerdman managed to follow all 61 individuals, which he did not, and
that the 78.6% figure relates to the full sample of 61, which it does not (and
cannot — 78.6% of 61 people is an impossible 47.946 people). It also does not
mention the fact that the 61 individuals represented only 23% of the entire intake,
the rest having dropped out prior to graduation. ["Summary of Evaluations of the
Narconon® Program over the Last 30 Years", Narconon International —
<http://www.narconon.org/narconon_studies05.htm>] In fact, it is remarkably hard to
find any figures from Narconon on what percentage of its clients manage to graduate.
The Spanish Study
Another source which Narconon often quotes is a study, variously described as
"official" and "independent" said to have been carried out in Spain. Narconon
Montreal cites this study on its website:
In a study conducted in Spain by an independent sociological research foundation
it was found that 78% of the individuals were still off drugs two years after they
completed the program. In another study in Sweden, it was found that 80% of the
Narconon graduates who completed the program were still drug-free five years after
completing the program.
The Spanish study also showed that before entering the Narconon program 62.2%
committed robberies and 73% sold drugs. After the Narconon program, robberies and
drug dealing decreased to 0%. In other words, 100% had no criminal activity after
the program.
The Spanish study was conducted by a sociological group called Tecnicos Asociados
de Investigacion y Marketing (TAIM). They have conducted other studies for the
Ministry of Health, the Social Services Department of the Town Hall of Madrid, and
the National Institute of Social Services of the Ministry of Labor and Social
Security...
["Narconon Professional Endorsements"
-<http://www.narconon.ca/English/Professional.htm>]
The date of this study is usually not given but where it is disclosed, it is claimed
to be either 1985 or 1987. Like the Swedish study, its source is also only rarely
named — it is more usually attributed to "an independent sociological research
foundation". A Spanish writer on cults, Pepe Rodr'guez, investigated the matter
after Scientology and Narconon became embroiled in a major public controversy which
saw the President of the Church of Scientology International arrested and released
on a $1m bail (which he promptly forfeited). [See
<http://www.lycanon.org/sci/narcanon-chupasangres/narconon-chupasangres.htm> (in
Spanish). Sr Rodr'guez has a website focusing on cults at
<http://www.pepe-rodriguez.com>] It is unclear what TAIM's relationship with
Narconon was, as the organisation no longer appears to exist. Prior to the
production of the TAIM report, Narconon had become the subject of public criticism
apparently after dissatisfied customers began to complain. Rodr'guez reports that a
meeting was held between Narconon executives and a Scientology lawyer, Jose Luis
Chamorro, on 14 January 1987, in which Chamorro advised that "if we are able to
demonstrate that 60% of the students of Narconon really are rehabilitated, we will
be able to utilize this to show the effectiveness of our system [and defend] against
the attacks on Narconon." (In itself, this is very intriguing; Narconon had been
operating in Spain for nearly four years, so why had it not already demonstrated its
effectiveness?) Tecnicos Asociados de Investigacion y Marketing (TAIM) was hired to
do the study, which it conducted in March/April 1987, and subsequently reported that
78.37% of individuals who had completed Narconon in 1985 were drug-free.
However, the raw figures reveal considerable statistical creativity. For a start, it
is impossible to derive a figure of 78.37% from a sample of 52 people; that
corresponds to 40.7524 people, an obviously impossible number (what is 0.7524 of a
person?). The sample size does not support that precise a measurement of the success
rate. The same statistical oddity prevails throughout the TAIM survey — many of the
figures which it cites range from dubious to simply impossible. As Dr. David
Touretzky of Carnegie-Mellon University puts it, "anyone who would make that kind of
elementary mistake is clearly not familiar with scientific research, much less
competent to conduct same." [Conversation with the author.]
The individuals concerned came from several areas of Spain but the only Narconon
centre surveyed was that at Los Molinos, near Madrid, which at the time was one of
four such centres in Spain. 93 people were contacted for the survey (73.8% of those
who had passed through the centre in 1985, which has a capacity of 30 people at a
time), of whom 52 — little more than half — responded. The 1985 intake was the only
one surveyed, despite the centre having been open since 1983.
Of those interviewed, 78.4% said that they had recommended the Narconon programme to
others, 78.37% reported that they performed jobs for Narconon and 78% reported that
they were no longer using drugs. It is highly likely that these very nearly
identical percentages comprise the same group of about 40 people. The fact that so
many of those who responded worked for Narconon severely skews the results; the
sample is, in effect, a self-selecting one in which the drug-free were almost
certainly heavily over-represented. The success rate is far less impressive when
compared with the total number of those contacted — only 43% of the total reported
being drug-free — and even less impressive compared with the total yearly intake of
approximately 120 — about 33%. It also notably omits the important question asked in
the Swedish survey, namely whether those reporting to be drug-free had not used any
drugs since completing the course.
The great majority of those interviewed were of above average socioeconomic
backgrounds: 17.3% classed themselves as wealthy, 67.3% as well-off and only 15.4%
as average-to-low earners. This is highly significant: sociological studies have
repeatedly demonstrated the close link between drug addiction and poverty, and drug
addiction is principally an affliction of the poor. Los Molinos' graduates,
therefore, were far from representative of drug users as a whole. As Rodr'guez
points out, it is also indicative of the way that Narconon's high costs filter out
those who cannot afford it (which in practice means most drug users). Interestingly,
the socioeconomic class of the graduates had a major influence on their successful
completions. While the average time of completion was 160.8 days (about five
months), on average the wealthy completed the programme in 97.5 days (about three
months), the well-off in 123.8 days (four months) and the average-to-low earners in
174.6 days (almost six months). It is hard to envisage how wealth could make such a
drastic difference to the results of a residential course, unless those involved
were receiving differing levels of treatment due to their varying abilities to pay.
The extremely strange statistical figures given in this study make it difficult to
take its findings seriously, and the obvious methodological flaws do not help
either. Without actually having a copy of the study report — Narconon claims to have
it "on file" but it does not appear to have been made available anywhere, either in
print or on the Web — it is impossible to evaluate the methodology used. In terms of
providing a satisfactory analysis of Narconon's efficacy, it is effectively useless.
The Oklahoman Studies
Narconon claims to have conducted a number of studies of its effectiveness at its
Chilocco (now Arrowhead) branch in Oklahoma in the United States. These do not
appear to have been published, so there is no way of gauging their reliability or
methodology. However, a few figures have been given by Narconon Arrowhead's
executive director, Gary Smith, in an interview with the Oklahoman newspaper on 1
July 2001. The Chilocco facility was said to have had 2,029 clients since it opened;
in 2000, 352 students enrolled and 185 graduated (a graduation rate of 52.5%) and
from January through to the end of June 2001, 350 entered and 189 graduated (a rate
of 54%). An overall success rate of 70-74% is claimed for the graduates, producing
an overall success rate of only 40% of all entrants to the Narconon programme.
Narconon does make this distinction in some cases, although it never seems to allude
to the much lower overall success rates — for instance, the Narconon Arrowhead
website (at http://www.stopaddiction.com) states that "70% of Narconon Graduates
Beat Their Drug Addiction Permanently" (my underlining). Yet the same Narconon
branch's printed literature makes no such distinction; a letter from its Admissions
Coordinator claims that "we achieve a very high success rate; that success rate is
76%, the highest in the nation" and its promotional brochure states that "The
Narconon® Program Achieves A 74% Success Rate". The claim is not qualified in any
way (and there is no explanation of why the same source should quote three different
percentages). A search of Narconon's websites suggests that the unqualified claim is
used far more often than the qualified one, giving a very misleading view — going by
Narconon's own figures — of its success rates. At the very least, it shows a
remarkably careless use of statistics.
There are literally hundreds of instances on Narconon's websites of the claimed
Oklahoman success rates being presented in a very misleading and occasionally
downright untruthful fashion. For instance, the websites of Narconon Sydney and a
number of other Narconon organisations declare that "76% of Narconon® Clients remain
drug-free permanently!". If around 45-50% of its clients drop out, which Narconon's
own figures suggest, this cannot possibly be true. Likewise, the Oklahoman results
are treated as being universally applicable. The official Narconon FAQ, which
appears to be a standard pro-forma document disseminated with minor changes by
Narconon branches as far apart as Oklahoma and New South wales, declares bluntly
that "Our success rate is 76%" (where "our" is clearly meant to refer to the local
branch). ["Frequently Asked Questions About Narconon Arrowhead" —
<http://www.addiction2.com/narconon_faq.html>] Almost identical versions of the same
document are distributed by Narconon branches around the world, with only the name
of the branch changing. In other words, at each individual branch of Narconon a 76%
success rate is supposedly achieved. This is quite clearly untrue. The Oklahoman
results were produced at one Narconon organisation in one country for a limited
period of time; there is simply no way that such a small survey can be extrapolated
for Narconon as a whole.
Other Studies
Narconon occasionally quotes a number of other studies of its efficacy. No copies
have been been obtained by the author, so comment is necessarily confined to what
Narconon itself says about the studies (with all the attendant uncertainties that
brings).
a.. The Russian Study
Narconon International's website states:
In 1998, an "Expertise of the Drug Rehabilitation Program at Narconon Moscow" was
prepared by U.D. Gurochkin M.D., N.N. Grigoriev (Lecturer, Russian Interior
Ministry), and V.V. Khlystoun (Special Correspondent "Trud" [Labor]). Studying the
files and medical documents of 32 students who had completed the Narconon program
between 1995 and 1998, their research included health examinations, evaluation of
objective and subjective data following program completion including drug screens,
and evaluation of the students' mental condition.
Their final "Conclusions" state, "Professional study of Narconon materials and the
medical-psychological investigation of 32 patients has shown:
1. The Narconon Method's ratio of efficiency is 72%, demonstrated by study of
the patient histories.
2. Professional inspection of patients' physical and mental condition has shown
significant improvements.
3. The Narconon Program can be recommended to the State Narcology Institutes of
the Ministry of Health for application."
["Summary of Evaluations of the Narconon® Program over the Last 30 Years" —
<http://www.narconon.org/narconon_studies05.htm>]
Until late 2002, a fourth author was included on the list — "Vladimir E. Ivanov
(Candidate of Medical Sciences)". ["Narconon — Reducing the Drug Problem" — this
page is no longer available on Narconon's website but was formerly at
<http://www.narconon.org/html/results/page61.htm>] However, in June 2001, Dr. Ivanov
publicly broke with Narconon and Scientology, denouncing the latter as a "criminal
cult". He has since become a non-person in the eyes of Narconon; in the most recent
version of the page on the Russian study, his name has been removed from the list of
authors. Narconon's "disappearance" of Dr. Ivanov has a certain irony in a country
with such a long history of erasing the politically inconvenient from history.
The Russian study was almost certainly prompted by the Russian Ministry of Health's
prohibition in 1996 of the use of the Narconon programme in the Russian public
health system. Several problems are immediately apparent with this study:
a.. As usual, it is not reproduced in full — all we have are the "headline
figures" which, as we have already seen, Narconon misrepresents for other studies.
(In fact, it appears to be mentioned only once on just one of Narconon's many
websites.)
b.. Because of this, we have no information about the methodology used. Without
knowing something about the methodology, it is impossible to assess the
reliability of the survey methods used.
c.. The sample size is very small (only 32 people); this makes it impossible to
reliably extrapolate the results to other Narconon organisations.
d.. The only actual statistic quoted is so vague as to be meaningless; what is a
"ratio of efficiency"? If the figure of 72% of 32 people is supposed to represent
a cure rate, it is mathematically impossible; it works out at 23.04 persons.
e.. The qualifications and independence of its authors are questionable; one of
the authors was the man who ran Narconon Russia (hardly an independent assessor!),
one was a lecturer and one was a journalist, leaving only one medical doctor whose
relationship with Narconon is undisclosed.
In short, the quoted study results are so vaguely stated and so poorly documented
that, once again, it is impossible to draw any reliable conclusions from them.
a.. The Palo Alto Study
In January 1977, the Californian city of Palo Alto made an evaluation of a contract
with Narconon which it had recently terminated. Narconon was deemed to have failed
to meet its performance targets, due at least in part to poor internal
administration, and its success rates were also not encouraging; between 1 July 1975
and 1 February 1976, 43% of those enrolled on Narconon's course quit before
completing it. The authors of the study did not examine whether the remainder were
certifiably drug-free afterwards, apparently being more concerned with throughput
than outcomes. (See "Annual Performance Evaluation of the City of Palo Alto's
Contract with Narconon Palo Alto" for details.)
a.. The Prison Studies
Narconon International also cites a number of "Drug reversion surveys of Narconon
graduates done in the 1970s" in various prisons in the United States:
The California Dept. of Corrections reported on 19 inmates who had participated in
the Narconon program while in prison. 17 had been paroled. 12 of these were
reported as clean (70%). Of the 5 remaining, 2 were not found, 2 had been arrested
and one had been suspended from the program due to cocaine use.
The California Institute for Women reported on 25 Narconon clients. 23 had been
paroled. 18 of these were clean (78%). Of the remaining, 3 were parolees at large
and 2 had been re-arrested.
The Arizona Correctional Authority reported on 76 Narconon students who had been
released from prison. 32 were found. 24 of these were clean (75%).
Rikers Island Institute for Men in New York. Of the 81 students who had started
the voluntary Narconon program, 43 had completed the initial program. 21 of these
had been paroled and 17 were contacted. 14 of these were clean (82 percent of
those found, 67 percent of total parolees).
["Summary of Evaluations of the Narconon® Program over the Last 30 Years" —
<http://www.narconon.org/narconon_studies05.htm>]
The veracity of these reported results has not yet been confirmed. Again, however,
the survey reports are not published anywhere, no information is provided of their
authors or methodologies, the samples are small and only the "headline" statistics
are given. Even the dates are not given, although in the case of California it was
probably before October 1974, when the State Evaluation Committee strongly
criticised the programme and recommended a termination of funding. Narconon states
that "all these studies had been done prior to the development of the Narconon New
Life Detoxification Program", which must mean some time before 1978; they therefore
represent a very different Narconon programme to that which exists today. As even
the very existence of these studies cannot be confirmed, let alone the veracity of
the reported results, they are of little use as evidence.
Some of Narconon's claimed success rates in correctional facilities were considered
in 1974 by the California State Department of Health's assessment team, but were
rejected out of hand as "simply not true":
a. Public Descriptions by Pamphlets, Notices, etc.: The 86% "cure rate" is totally
unfounded. Narconon publishes a voluminous amount of paper for the purpose of
public relations. The main Narconon rehabilitation program bulletin states that a
high percentage of clients, approximately 75%, are rehabilitated within 3 months.
The pamphlet further states that one supervisor can supervise 42 people a day in
three 3-hour periods. Furthermore, one supervisor can train 14 new supervisors in
three months.
b. Misleading Claims: Narconon claims to have an 86% cure rate for narcotics
addicts which is simply not true. Mr. Greg Zerovnik, National Director — Narconon
U.S., explained that the 86% figure came from a study of parolees from the Arizona
State Prison who may or may not have been narcotics addicts. This sort of claim
is, of course, misleading to both the prospective client and to public officials
who are sincerely attempting to find ways to cope with the problem of drug abuse.
Narconon also advertises detoxification with mega-vitamins and other non-medical
procedures that may be hazardous and in some cases lethal. Attachment 19 is a
Narconon letter to the East Valley Free Clinic advertising an extraordinarily
expensive detoxification procedure. It furthermore claims a 68% two year "success
rate" for drug abstinence and for arrests "for anything related to drugs." It
implies that these success ratios are applicable to heroin addicts and alcoholics.
This claim is either misleading or miraculous. Without supporting data the
evaluation team cannot but presume this document, however enticing, is a
misleading claim.
Narconon implies that it can raise I.Q.'s and generally increase communication
skills for their clients. There is no scientific evidence that these alleged
changes cause a cure in approximately 50% of cases seen as stated by Mark Jones
[then Executive Director of Narconon] in a Los Angeles Times article.
["Outline for recovery, House Evaluation" — by Forrest S. Tennant, Jr., M.D.,
Dr.P.H., Jane Thomas, R.N., Mike Reilly, and Joseph Shannon, M.D., M.P.H.
Submitted to Don Z. Miller, Deputy Director, Health Treatment System, State
Department of Health, Sacramento, CA, on 31 Oct 1974]
One prison study which Narconon does not mention, for some reason, is that conducted
in Ionia State Prison, Michigan in April 1980. Between 1978 and 1980, some 200
inmates were put through the Narconon programme under a contract with the state's
Department of Corrections. The Department's Program Bureau examined the recidivism
records of those who had been paroled prior to 1 September 1979, so as to provide
six months of community experience to study. 14 were excluded as not having a prior
history of substance abuse (so why were they in Narconon in the first place?),
leaving 29 individuals who had a history of substance abuse and had completed at
least part of the Narconon course. Only one of the 29 had actually completed the
programme — barely a 3.5% completion rate — while the majority, some 79.3%, had got
halfway through. The study concluded that "the graduates from the program clearly
are not doing as well as the average prisoner going to the community ... [they] do
not do as well as our population in general." Four of Narconon's graduates
(including the one who completed the course) committed a new felony and went back to
jail; five committed technical violations of their parole; seven absconded; and
thirteen were "maintained under supervision" (i.e. they abided by the terms of their
parole). Overall, the recidivism rate was just over 55%. This compared unfavourably
with the return rate from other programmes in Michigan, which "has varied between
28% and 40%, historically." Overall, "the optimism of [Narconon's] supporters in
[the] belief that it will produce significant behavioral change for the long run is
not supported." [Evaluation of Narconon program in Ionia State Prison, Michigan
Dept. of Corrections Program Bureau, 7 April 1980]
a.. Studies
a.. Research Papers
a.. Success stories
NOTE: This website is not owned, operated, sponsored or endorsed by Narconon
International, the Association for Better Living and Education International
or any related entities. All trademarks and service marks remain the
properties of their respective owners.
Okay, Sharen,
Thank you for the information. Somehow, I am not surprised to find that Scientology's treatment
program doesn't work any better than anything else (which means, "not much").
Oh well, have a good day anyway.
== Orange
* orange@orange-papers.info *
* AA and Recovery Cult Debunking *
* http://www.Orange-Papers.org/ *
** "You can fool all the people some of the time, and
** some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool
** all the people all the time." — Abraham Lincoln
Date: Mon, August 14, 2006 12:27 am
From: "Mike H."
Subject: Guess What A. Orange
...well, thank you Sir.
I got sick and tired of being that way. But you taught
me the way out
quicker than anyone.
Anyways, whoever you are, I already made up my own
mind. I have had enough.
Thanks.
I'm tired of drinking myself to death. Thanks again.
Mike
p.s. I read what you wrote and I just thank you.
That's all.
Hi Mike,
Thanks for the thanks, and congratulations on your escape from hell.
And have a good day.
== Orange
* orange@orange-papers.info *
* AA and Recovery Cult Debunking *
* http://www.Orange-Papers.org/ *
** One of the most sublime experiences we can ever have
** is to wake up feeling healthy after we have been sick.
** Rabbi Harold Kushner