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Oklahoma Governor’s
Proclamation Celebrates Forty-Three Years of Saving Lives
With a stroke of his
pen, Governor Brad Henry officially proclaimed February 19, 2009 as
Narconon Arrowhead Day in Oklahoma, in honor of the Narconon
program’s 43 years of continuing service in the battle against
substance abuse. On this date in 1966, Narconon founder William
“Willie” Benitez, an inmate incarcerated in the Arizona
State Prison system, convinced officials of the prison to let him
start the first Narconon program inside the walls of the
penitentiary.
Willie had been
searching for years for a way to overcome his own addiction, an
addiction that resulted in his being arrested and imprisoned for
drug-related crimes. When he started his program with just ten fellow
inmates, little did he know that it would be so successful as to grow
into an international network of 130 treatment and education centers
spanning 40 countries.
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The Narconon
organization brought its innovative program to Oklahoma in 1990,
opening a 75-bed treatment facility in Kay County. By 2001, Narconon
had expanded into an International Staff Training Center for the
worldwide Narconon network, and moved its operation to the former
Arrowhead State Park resort near Canadian, Oklahoma where it also
maintains a 230-bed residential treatment center.
Oklahoma legislators
have long pitched in to join the fight against drug problems in many
ways including restricting the sale of chemicals and
over-the-counter medications containing ephedrine which are used
to manufacture methamphetamine and then in 2006, by instituting
controls that would prevent abuse of prescription drugs.
“Controlling the
manufacture of illicit drugs and making it harder for a person to
abuse prescription drugs are essential parts of the battle to free
Oklahomans from addiction problems,” stated Gary Smith,
Executive Director at Narconon Arrowhead. “But enforcement
alone will not solve the substance abuse problem facing our state.
Results-driven rehabilitation programs and effective drug education
programs that will deter youth from abusing drugs have to be part of
the solution. And that is where we are able and committed to help.
“Since Narconon’s
arrival in Oklahoma, our staff has educated more than 150,000 youth
and young adults in the state and graduated more than 3,500 people
from all over Oklahoma and the nation from our rehabilitation
program,” Mr. Smith added. “We are very proud to
contribute our efforts to those of other Oklahomans to create a state
in which our young people can grow up free from pressures that might
drive them to abuse drugs or alcohol. In a shoulder to shoulder
effort with our community leaders, we can eliminate the curse of
addiction that causes so much suffering.”
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