Narconon New Life 1974 Evaluation

Back in 1974, Narconon New Life of Los Angeles was receiving California state funds through what was known as the Short Doyle act, which allocated money to alternative drug treatment programs -- recovery houses, therapeutic communities, and the like. This evaluation was conducted at the request of the California State Department of Health by a team composed of Forest S. Tennant, Jr., M.D., Dr.P.H., Jane Thomas, R.N., Mike Reilly, and Joseph Shannon, M.D., M.P.H. It was submitted to Don Z. Miller, Deputy Director, Health Treatment System, State Department of Health, Sacramento, CA, on 31 Oct 1974.

• Evaluation of Narconon New Life (PDF file, 635 KB), October 31, 1974, by Forrest S. Tennant, Jr., M.D., Dr.P.H., Jane Thomas, R.N., Mike Reilly, and Joseph Shannon, M.D., M.P.H. A quote from page 9 of the PDF file (page 11 of the exhibit):

  Narconon claims to have an 86% cure rate for narcotics addicts which is simply not true. Mr. Greg Zerovnik, National Directory of 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 megavitamins and other non-medical procedures that may be hazardous and, in some cases, lethal. 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 [the Executive Director of Narconon] in a Los Angeles Times article.

• Outline for Recovery House Evaluation: Narconon New Life (PDF file, 1.3 MB), prepared in 1974.

  This document is also available in text form at Narconon-Exposed.org. A quote from pages 14-15:

  Aside from the initial detoxification, "bullbaiting," and the later "auditing" process described below, an orthodox definition of the word treatment is not applicable to Narconon as we saw it and as it was described to us. The traditional labels of "patient" or "client" are, by Narconon, identified as "students" or occasionally "PC's." (Presumably meaning Pre-Clears in the scientological lexicon.) In reference to the latter, we must point out that any connection between Narconon and Scientology other than coincidental was usually vehemently denied. The interview data and our observations support a rehabilitation conception perhaps best termed a "corrective educational experience." Occurring in a stepwise fashion from rigidly simple rote exercises through the more comoplex "auditing" process and (for those who can afford it) a multiplicity of "clear" and "Post-Clear" states promising total personal and environmental control. Theoretically it is a patchwork of Freudian, Gestalt, Pavlovian, science fiction and Eastern (reincarnation) ideas unequivocably sutured together with L. Ron Hubbard's teminology. Indeed, the initial exercises require in addition to a standard English dictionary, a special Narconon dictionary enabling the "student" to understand the Narconon/Scientology terminology.

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