O'Connell requested the independent evaluation in July after The Chronicle reported in June that Narconon introduced students to some beliefs and methods of Scientology without their knowledge.

Five medical doctors and nine school health education specialists evaluated Narconon for scientific accuracy and how well its teaching methods might help students avoid taking drugs.

Information provided to students by Narconon "does not reflect accurate, widely accepted medical and scientific evidence," the researchers said. "Some information is misleading because it is overstated or does not distinguish between drug use and abuse."

The stories reported that Narconon's instruction rests, in part, on church beliefs that drug residues remain indefinitely in body fat, causing people to experience repeated drug flashbacks and cravings. Some teachers also reported that Narconon instructors taught their students that drug residues can be sweated out in saunas and that colored ooze is produced when drugs exit the body.
The doctors who reviewed and denounced the theories were Peter Banys, director of substance abuse programs at the San Francisco VA Medical Center; Neal Benowitz, head of clinical pharmacology at UCSF; Timmen Cermak, medical director of Ohlhoff Recovery Programs in San Francisco and Marin County; David Smith of the Haight-Ashbury Free Clinic; and Igor Grant, director of the Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research at UC San Diego.

The articles can be read at http://Stop-Narconon.org/

Narconon uses charismatic lecturers to deliver its school presentations, and many teachers and students have praised the program. Instruction usually is financed by small businesses run by Scientologists.

In exchange for the free program, Narconon asks students and teachers to write letters of thanks to the businesses and uses the letters in its promotional materials. These letters are subsequently used to promote Narconon's educational program to other schools.