I was pleased to have the opportunity to spend three days this past July visiting the Narconon Arrowhead program which you direct. I found this experience enjoyable and very informative. Although I had visited the program previously, this time I was able to observe more closely every aspect of its operation.
I appreciated having been able to talk with the staff persons responsible for the main elements of the program and with some of the students. I also did review program material, including policies and procedures, permits and releases and instruction manuals.
I came away from my Narconon Arrowhead tour very impressed and before I present my specific observations and comments I would like to summarize some of my general impressions and concerns.
1. Narconon Arrowhead’s non-medical detoxification protocol as well as their rehabilitative modules appear to be well accepted and remarkably effective. I was particularly impressed with the detoxification protocol.
2. Given the limited effectiveness of the present approaches to substance abuse, alternative rehabilitative technologies such as those applied by Narconon with considerable success are urgently needed.
3. I recommend that rehabilitation outcome studies that meet strict scientific criteria, staffed by university based experts, be commissioned to assess and measure the benefits derived from the application of the Narconon methodology at Arrowhead and other Narconon facilities. In this regard, steps in this direction are being taken. A group of experts from UCLA have initiated formulation of such a project. This undertaking also has been discussed with the director of the University of Oklahoma Center for the Study of Alcohol and Drug Related Studies.
4. Once data from the study above proposed is obtained, other rehabilitation centers will be able to use the Narconon drug-free detoxification protocol and incorporate it in their existing program.
I am summarizing in the following paragraphs my observations and impressions from my perspective as a physician Board Certified in Psychiatry with considerable clinical, administrative and research experience in the field of drug dependence and human behavior. In my opinion,
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