Narconon Reviews news and information updates

[AnonyMary]

To keep you all informed, I am starting this ongoing Narconon Reviews updates thread, rather than post individual threads for the many things being posted or uploaded there. Before I post some updates, I just want to explain what Narconon Reviews is and why it is important to spread the news about the site to the general public.

As you may recall, back in 2013 I posted an announcement that:
ethercat's new site, Narconon Reviews, is OPEN!!
http://www.forum.exscn.net/showthread.php?32402-ethercat-s-new-site-Narconon-Reviews-is-OPEN!!

Narconon Reviews is an independent site created for the public, current or former patients, any one looking into Narconon for rehab services, and for researchers ( ie: attorneys, journalists, college students industry professionals) to obtain information about the program, it's facilities and it's issues. As well, the site is a place for consumers to obtain information on Narconon and it's basis in Scientology practices, in how to file a complaint, where to file complaints and how to choose a program - what to look out for and what questions to ask. You can get a better idea of what we offer by checking out our Resources section

Since the site opened 2 years ago, it's grown to over 48 published blog articles and over 250 information documents uploaded, both formal and empirical. The documents include 96 lawsuits complaints and 48 state agency inspection reports regarding the various Narconons across the USA, as well as the unbranded programs like Best Drug Rehabilitation and A Forever Recovery - run by scientologist Per Wickstrom and family.

This does not include the many other documents the volunteers still have to write summaries for before posing. We are also always in need of donated copies of lawsuit complaints filed by attorneys in the past with a number of state court clerk offices across the USA. As volunteers, we just cannot afford to purchase all of the many that actually exist!

These complaints tell a consistent story over time about the fraudulent business practices, negligent medical practices, breach of contract issues, illegal medical practices base upon Scientology, lies that it's not Scientology when it is, lies that they deliver one on one and group therapy, drug education beyond Hubbard's theories, the Sauna ( Purif) cleanses them of drugs and toxins when it doesn't, and so on. Too many have become ill or have died. The dangers of the program are evident in the complaints.

In Michigan courts alone, there are probably 50 lawsuit complaints we do not have copies of. Then there are cases in Florida,Texas, Oklahoma; and in California filed in Riverside and Santa Cruz counties. These are besides the recent cases for which we have many. But it's the history, the pattern, and the players that prove an repeated organized corrupt game set by organizations and sub organizations on the Scientology Int Management Org Board. This is what the public is really dealing with:

With all that we have managed so far to obtain and get up on the site, we are causing huge headaches for the individual Narconons, the other unbranded programs and the managing entities above it.

Narconon is Scientology. It is making scientologists every day as the patients (which they call 'students') progress through the program, despite the fact that they are not told it's Scientology. And the patient finds out and asks staff if it is, they are lied to and told it's not Scientology. Look at what patients are being indoctrinated into!

The Narconon Program and Scientology Equivalents
http://narcononreviews.net/resource...ts/narconon-information/the-narconon-program/

No matter how many new fictitious names are being obtained and used by Narconon to try and advertise on the internet and not be noticed as a Narconon program, the volunteers are staying on top. Our site makes sure the public is informed. We add new tags to all related documents and articles with the latest fictitious names being used, so that anyone searching a new name will find it is a Narconon program. You can see all the locations and names used for each, here: http://narcononreviews.net/location/all-narconon-programs/

While it's evident that the internet, the lawsuits, and the facts out there are killing Narconon and Per Wickstrom's programs, they have much more in resources to attempt to overcome the opposition. Many people search for information on the internet before paying for a program. That is why Narconon Reviews was created. To help educate and warn before paying and sending a loved one there. What they are finding and reading is helping people steer clear of Narconon.

This is why we do what we do. We are just a few volunteers here, always in need of more volunteers and documents that help inform the public and the attorneys. We are grateful for the attorneys who have elected to take on cases - cases that in the past no attorney would touch because it's Scientology. But it's still an upward battle. Any support in helping get Narconon Reviews known to the general public is much appreciated.

Please take a few moments to look over the website Narconon Reviews and whatever we post here whenever we do post. And please pass the information along to help inform others. We don't have slick PR statements coming out daily, nor do we have the monies to pay for such. All we can do is ask for your support.

Thanks

Mary McConnell
[email protected]

 

[ethercat]

Thanks for that Mary. One thing I think people miss when looking at the organizational chart is that it represents the "official" flow of money, but there is another unseen flow of money to Church of Scientology International.

It is fairly well known that most, if not all, of the Executive Directors of the Narconon branches and clones are also scientologists. They also take services and make donations back to the "church" from their Narconon income. Some of the higher level staff and "rehab referral specialists" are members of CoS as well.

I have amended the diagram to include them also, with an orange dot for each ED (in the US because I have very little knowledge about the Narconons in other countries). Narconon brings a lot of money into the coffers. This is why, even if you're unconcerned about the never-were-and-never-intended-to-be-a-scientologist-never-would-have-gone-if-they-had-known people who are hurt daily by Narconon, you should still have Narconon on your radar.

They may also be paying money back into the cult through WISE, but I don't know that for sure.

 

[AnonyMary]

Lets not forget the flow of money to IAS from Per Wickstrom, owner of multiple unbranded Narconons. He and his wife, Svetlan, can be seen at the top right of this photo

As CoolHand Luke wrote at Reaching For The Tipping Point Forum on November 28, 2012 :
Narconon money going to the IAS

Got my hands on the latest IMPACT magazine, which highlights the International Association of Scientologists (IAS) event. It always posts pictures of people who attended the event (held at St. Hill in England every October) who have moved up in their status levels - i.e. amounts of money given.

I thought it was interesting to see Narconon South Europe moved up to Silver Meritorious ($500K?), Per Wicksrom (owner of Best Drug Rehabilitation, A Forever Recovery, Tranquility Detox and the bulding of Narconon Freedom Center operates in) moved up to Gold Meritorious ($1 million?) and Narconon Louisiana moved up to Platinum Meritorious ($2.5 million?).

If you add up all of the Narconon centers and their individual staff members who donate to the IAS, a fair estimate given would be in the neighborhood of $50 million.

Scientology makes way more money off Narconon centers through donations and services than it does from the licensing fees.

If Narconon centers like Georgia and Oklahoma go bankrupt because of these pending lawsuits, the courts need to go after the church to recoup the money for the amounts awarded to the victims, IMO.

And then there is the money from IAS donations put into grants to help purchase and start Ideal Narconons. ( Exhibit T - IAS Grant Newsletter - Funding Ideal Narconons.
https://www.scribd.com/doc/155835440/Burgess-Opposition-to-Dismiss-Exhibit-T

IAS is an entity that needs to be included in that org board... despite it's corporate veils

 

[Leland]

I had no idea....the size of this drug rehab .....con game.

A few questions.....

How can, on one hand, the cult say that money paid to it for "org " services....are religious service donations.....

And the exact same services....paid through Narconon, are a business that collects fees....?

If the owners of these Narconons are donating so much money do IAS....then they are either getting it, from salaries....or a percentage ....of fees paid to Narconon.....Or....they are in control of the books....and are funneling it directly to IAS......

Doesn't seem right or legal.....

Edited to add:

This "unbranded narconon" thing sounds very fishy....

They must still use the Cult's methods....and materials?

So, seems another layer for the Cult to hide behind...

 

[Leland]

I see several different " 1-800" referral service businesses for "Drug Rehab" advertised on TV all the time....

I am concerned that some of these ads might be a secret/hidden Cult companies....referring callers to Narconon....

 

[Leland]

It would seem to me that any Insurance Company that pays out for Drug Rehab at Narconon.....branded or not.....must be aware that it is also a recruitment vehicle for the Cult of Scientology.....and uses all Cult materials...

and therefore....must be liable for that.....if sued.

I just don't see how Insurance Companies are paying for rehab at Narconon...and staying out of Court and or facing legal liability....for doing so...

I don't see how Insurance Companies knowing this.....are doing it...????

Why?

 

[ethercat]

I see several different " 1-800" referral service businesses for "Drug Rehab" advertised on TV all the time....

I am concerned that some of these ads might be a secret/hidden Cult companies....referring callers to Narconon....

No way to tell without calling them... Unless you can find the number on the web somewhere. They frequently use an image to put the number on the websites so it won't show up in searches.

Here are a couple of things you might be interested in:

Narconon Reviews - Rehab Referral Sites

Tipping Point - Re: Narconon - even scientology's front groups have front groups

 

[Intelligence]

http://www.wireservice.ca/index.php?module=News&func=display&sid=16723

Wire Service Press Release (08/19/2015)

Narconon Reviews publishes 55 FTC complaints documents today

Over the past few years the Narconon Reviews website has been encouraging victims of Scientology's Narconon fraudulent detox centers to file complaints. The results are piling up from countless complaints to the Federal Trade Commission.

The FOIA request revealed staggering amounts of data with some originating complaints filed from unhappy consumers and other investigative and law enforcement agencies throughout the United States and Canada. Some of the complaints were cross-filed with the FTC from the Attorney General offices in California, and others from the Internet Crime Complaint Center.

Heidi "AnonLover" Macavoy at Narconon Reviews: "And that's not all she wrote - we have hundreds of pages of public safety records on active Narconon centers from various police, ambulance and EMS dispatch agencies gathered from other MuckRock record requests. This material will be incorporated into our document management system as a new category of documented resources later this year. We also plan to file for additional disclosures from the FTC on other Scientology-based treatment centers that do not use the Narconon name brand at a later date."

In today's world of Scientology's Narconon drug rehab research documents, Narconon Reviews and Reaching For The Tipping Point (RFTTP) is the place to go for journalists, lawyers, government officials, and ripped off consumers seeking credible information and redress for human rights abuses and fraud.

Over the past few years the Narconon controversies have been in the media spotlight continually with apparently no light at the end of their dark tunnel of lawsuits for wrongful deaths, misrepresentation and fraud. Quite simply, the "Narconon" brand name resembles a poison on Google searches that displays more websites exposing the fraud than the Narconon Ad websites.

The Narconon name appears to be tarnished beyond return. Narconon websites are dropping their once prized brand name with Scientologists operating Narconon centers with lovely 'holliday-like' names such as Emerald Pines Rehab, Riverbend Retreat and Tranquility Detox. These websites are very deceiving unless one examines the entire site carefully. Emerald Pines Rehab has a small Narconon Logo above their name and scrolling to the very bottom of the website one sees:

©2014 Narconon Emerald Pines. All rights reserved. Narconon and the Narconon logo are trademarks and service marks owned by the Association for Better Living and Education [ABLE] International and are used with its permission.

Upon closer examination of source documents, it is evident that ABLE and Narconon are both Scientology so-called charitable institutions that the Internal Revenue Service has recognized as tax-exempt. [Tax Compliance Manual, Church of Scientology International, 1993]. So who controls, administers and directs these Scientology Narconon drug rehab centers?

MUCH MORE HERE:

http://www.wireservice.ca/index.php?module=News&func=display&sid=16723

 

[Intelligence]

Mmmm... wonder who is pissed off at me now? Couldn't be because of the above
posted Wire Service story or that I Registered <idealnarconon.com> could it?:confused2:

Avoided a catastrophe early this morning after falling for what appeared to be a Legit email from GoDaddy concerning my website domain name: <idealnarconon.com> -- A quick call to GoDaddy customer service confirmed my accounts were hacked/accessed but no changes or damage.

http://smartpeopletoday.net/2015/08...on-websites-hacked-from-russia-email-account/

David Love’s GoDaddy Narconon Websites Hacked from Russia Email Account

It was only a few minutes of anxiety until I recognized the mistake I made by clicking on the Phishing Link, then all calmed down when a GoDaddy Rep came to the rescue very fast. He hadn't seen such a thing for quite some time and suggested that someone was not happy I Registered <idealnarconon.com> ...... It could have been a disaster, wiping out my other Narconon websites with 4 years of articles/stories. ALL is good now and Me is back on track and launching another website next week.

 

[JBWriter]

Very good article about drug rehab facilities in south Florida here: http://www.buzzfeed.com/catferguson/the-rehab-scam

Are any of the named people/companies connected to Scientology's Narconon?

JB

 

[ethercat]

Very good article about drug rehab facilities in south Florida here: http://www.buzzfeed.com/catferguson/the-rehab-scam

Are any of the named people/companies connected to Scientology's Narconon?

JB

I don't have the answer to your question, but you wouldn't believe the number of people who arrive at Narconon Reviews because they searched for "how to open a rehab". They land on the state agencies page.

If you* don't even have a clue that you should approach the licensing agency in the state for that information, you got no business opening a rehab. Some of them will look at one state's agency, then come back and look at another, etc. I guess they're looking for one they could possibly hope to qualify for, one with the least stringent requirements. A lot of these rehab businesses are a huge scam. I'm glad it's getting some attention.



(* not you personally, JB, the general "you")

 

[Intelligence]

WireService.ca Press Release (09/26/2015)

http://www.wireservice.ca/index.php?module=News&func=display&sid=17110

A team of dedicated researchers from "Reaching For The Tipping Point" have once again, published a massive amount of documents on their Narconon Reviews website, exposing Scientology's drug rehab network, Narconon. In a Facebook post, Heidi Macavoy says: "For the past 6 months, we've been gathering police, fire and EMS records for the Scientology drug rehab network. In addition, we've been building a new segment into the document management system on Narconon Reviews for collecting "public safety" documents in a cross-referenced archive AND setting up a companion project page on MuckRock News where I do my FOIA Crusader work. The first juicy piece of all this work and due diligence has finally gone live today!"

...

"My son had to spend two days at a hotel to completely come off the drugs they had given him. He has not been able to sleep and his stress and anxiety level is still very high. His father and I are still not sleeping and the stress has had a very negative physical impact on both of us as well. We are retired and used our retirement money to pay for saving our son's life, not to enrich Scientology with no health benefits to our son."

When reading one of these completed "Narconon Surveys" one might think that the parents and patient are just disgruntled people, suffering from the stress of addiction in their family, but this is not the case. There are numerous and similar "Narconon Survey" reports from around the globe - Canada, Australia, England, Netherlands, and numerous States in the USA. Many of these reports tell a common tale of fraud, misrepresentation, and unwary patients being indoctrinated into the cult of Scientology.

MUCH MORE HERE:

http://www.wireservice.ca/index.php?module=News&func=display&sid=17110

.

 

[AnonyMary]

Re: Narconon Reviews #Narconon Public Safety Analysis and more police records

New, MUST-READ Narconon Reviews' #Narconon Public Safety Analysis and more police records!

Narconon Public Safety Analysis and Fort Collins Police Records
Written by Heidi Macavoy on October 29, 2015 ·

The next monthly installment of open records request disclosures being added to our public safety archive is a collection from the Fort Collins Police Department in Colorado. This set of documents is for the Narconon Fresh Start drug rehab currently known as A Life Worth Saving.

For insights from former staff, "we contacted Eric Tenorio and Jason Seipp, who provide some much needed perspective and internal context for the police records we are compiling in our comparative analysis exercise." Dig in!
http://narcononreviews.net/narconon/narconon-public-safety-analysis-and-fort-collins-police-records/

Do read the first installment, announcing the archive of records gathered, put together from a variety of Narconon and unbranded reports from public safety agencies across the USA.

New Public Safety Documents Archive and Narconon Arrowhead Police Records
Written by Heidi Macavoy on September 25, 2015
http://narcononreviews.net/narconon...rchive-and-narconon-arrowhead-police-records/

 

[AnonyMary]

Two Narconon Wrongful Death Lawsuits Settle; 1 Going to Trial

Narconon Reviews update on the Gabriel Graves and Hillary Holten wrongful death lawsuits against Scientology front groups Narconon of Oklahoma (aka Narconon Arrowhead), Narconon International and Association for Better Living and Education

2 Narconon Death Lawsuits Settle; 1 Going to Trial
http://narcononreviews.net/narconon/2-narconon-death-lawsuits-settle-1-going-to-trial/

Tony Ortega Underground Bunker mentions the Narconon Reviews article and our announcement here
http://tonyortega.org/2016/02/27/augustine-how-scientology-makes-it-so-hard-to-get-your-money-back/

A big :-thanks-:to Gabriel Graves' mom, Shirley Gilliam, and the Narconon attendees and staff who joined Reaching For The Tipping Point Forum, posted and messaged myself and others to provided important information that helped in these lawsuits while also helping us educate the public about Narconon.

This information also helped lead to investigations of the facility which are the subject of a wrongful dismissal lawsuit filed by Kimberly Poff, the former Oklahoma Inspector General for Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, in her attempts to investigate.

Ms. Poff was recently deposed for all three of death lawsuits, despite Narconon's attempts to circumvent that. You can read about her wrongful firing lawsuit here
http://narcononreviews.net/lawsuits...al-health-and-substance-abuse-services-et-al/

The OK situation is not over yet but at least Shirley Gilliam and Matthew Holten and their loved ones can move on after several years of successfully fighting Narconon in the courts. When the Stacy Murphy wrongful death lawsuit soon gets to trial, we will be reporting here as things progress and the sparks fly! Ms. Poff was recently deposed for all three of these cases, despite Narconon's attempts to circumvent that.

Stay tuned...