Proposed Narcanon rehab clinic raises concern among residents
BY ALEX DOBUZINSKIS, Staff Writer

http://www.dailynews.com/antelopevalley/ci_4083734

LEONA VALLEY - An organization with ties to the Church of Scientology that
wants to open a drug treatment center in Bouquet Canyon was cited for
dozens
of violations by state inspectors within the last five years, according to
documents.

The county Board of Supervisors on Tuesday will vote on whether to allow
Narconon International to open a 66-bed facility near Leona Valley.

Narconon runs four treatment facilities in the state.

At the Newport Beach facility, state inspectors found in January 2003 that
staff members administered medication to residents without authorization
and
had alcohol on the premises. In February 2003, state inspectors found two
staff members at Narconon's Watsonville facility went drinking with a
graduating resident from the program.

Clark Carr, the head of Narconon, said the two were fired and his
organization has corrected the other problems and violations that have been
found at Narconon facilities.

"We completely agree with strict standards and unannounced surprise
inspections," Carr said. "We're glad to have them."

Another violation state Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs inspectors
found at Narconon facilities was beds without mattress pads, including an
inspection at the Newport Beach facility in November 2004, that found 24
beds without pads.

Carr said he was unsure why the pads might have been missing, but he said
that problem had been corrected as well.

Narconon was created 40 years ago and uses the writings of L. Ron Hubbard,
late founder of the Church of Scientology, to treat addicts. Instead of
administering drugs, the program puts addicts on a regimen of vitamins,
including niacin, and has them "sweat out" toxins with time in the sauna.

"We've been doing it for decades in California and throughout the United
States and the world, and we have a very good record," Carr said.

Sheriff Lee Baca has expressed support for Narconon going into the Bouquet
Canyon site. Although the sheriff said he has not visited a Narconon
facility, he has been briefed on the program and he liked what he heard.

"This is America's No. 1 health problem, illegal drug use, and to a certain
extent legal drug use, including alcohol," Baca said. "So I'm an advocate
for any program that can help people get away from drugs and their
addiction
to drugs. That's why I support it."

But the Narconon approach to fighting drugs has been questioned by outside
experts. Narconon has a program to educate schoolchildren about drugs,
which
the California Department of Education evaluated last year and found wasn't
based on science or medicine.

Jack O'Connell, state superintendent of public instruction, asked that
schools not use the Narconon program, but Carr said the program is still
taught at schools at the request of on-site administrators.

The inaccurate information given to students included that drugs burn up
vitamins and nutrients, and that small amounts of drugs are stored in fat
and are released at a later time, making the person want to use the drug
again, according to the education department report.

"The materials I've seen in their brochures would suggest to me that the
treatment that they provide certainly is not in line with current
scientific
thinking about addiction," said professor Richard Rawson, associate
director
of Integrated Substance Abuse Programs at the University of California, Los
Angeles.

"Some of the use of vitamins and saunas and all of those things certainly
may be good general health practices, but they have nothing to do with the
effective treatment of addiction as far as any literature has ever
demonstrated."

If the county Board of Supervisors approves the Narconon facility for
Bouquet Canyon, it would be the largest Narconon facility in California.

The county Regional Planning Commission in March approved the project, but
Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich called for the Board of Supervisors to
hear
the matter after hearing concerns about the project.

Several residents in the rural area oppose the project, citing safety
concerns from addicts going in and out. Residents also feel that Narconon
has tried to bully them to drop their opposition.

Ron and Sherry Howell, who live near the former boarding school site that
would be used for the project, received a letter from an attorney for
Narconon in January telling them to stop attacking the project or face
legal
consequences. They received the letter after submitting their written
opposition to the project to the county Department of Regional Planning,
and
after Sherry Howell had written a letter to a local newspaper.

"It tells us that we're dealing with somebody that doesn't care what
they do
to people to intimidate them, to shut them up," Ron Howell said.

Alice Benoit, who would be living near the facility, also feels that
Narconon has targeted opponents of the project, including herself.

"They kind of like invade our Town Council meetings and shout us down," she
said.

alex.dobuzinsis@dailynews.com
(661) 257-5253