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The Origins of the Narconon® Drug Rehabilitation Program

The term "Narconon" refers to both the Narconon® Drug Rehabilitation Program and the network of over 50 Rehabilitation and Education Centers operating in over 20 countries to date. The word "Narconon" is derived from the Greek narco- for narcotics and -non for none and gives us a good idea of what the Narconon Program means to do: To help those suffering from addiction lead a life free of all drugs.

The Narconon Program has it’s roots in the Arizona State Penitentiary. In 1966, an inmate and life-long heroin addict, William Benitez began to develop the idea when he jumped from his prison bunk and made a note on his wall calendar that read, "Decision to set up Narcotic Foundation." After reading books by many different authors about addiction, psychology and human ability, Benitez discovered a book passed on to him by a friend, Fundamentals of Thought, by L. Ron Hubbard. In that book he had found that by rehabilitating an addict and developing within him certain abilities that he had lacked, one could effectively stay off drugs.

After several attempts at getting prison official's approval to start a program inside the prison, on 19 February 1966, William Benitez had founded NARCONON.

The first class of the Narconon Program, 1966, Arizona State Penitentiary

Mr. Benitez first demonstrated The Narconon Program's effectiveness to the prison officials, then on his release later that year helped grow the Narconon Program to include residential centers first in Los Angeles, California and then worldwide. Today there are Narconon residential programs in over 20 countries, and Narconon’s sister program, Criminon continues to grow inside the walls of prisons across the country.

I finally realized I had developed the essential abilities needed to overcome my drug problem. Feeling myself on safe ground, I knew I had to make this technology available to other addicts in the prison. I thought back over the years of all the junkies I had shot up with, and remembered their most treasured conversation: “One of these days I’m going to quit.”

-William Benitez Founder of Narconon

©2002 Narconon of Northern California. All rights reserved. Narconon and the the Narconon logo are trademarks and service marks owned by the Association for Better Living and Education International and are used with its permission.