Narconon Gains Acceptance In Ottawa
A presentation was made this week to Senator Richard Stanbury and to Paul Traynor, Aide to Health and Welfare Minister, John Munroe, concerning a drugless rehabilitation programme for hard-core addicts called Narconon.
In the wake of controversy over the ineffectiveness of the methadone treatment, Narconon, employing a unique programme of rehabilitation through communication, is gaining rapid acceptance. Methadone, as a treatment method, is becoming obsolete in drug programmes due to deaths resulting from overdoses of the drug.
Senator Stanbury stated that he was “behind any drugless programme that has had the success Narconon has had.” Conservative estimates place the percentage of addicts successfully rehabilitated at over 70 percent.
A spokesman for Narconon said that the Health Minister’s aide was “amazed at the simplicity and versatility of our programme.” Summing up the meeting, the spokesman said that the officials he spoke with are “very concerned” about the increased use and availability of methadone in clinics and on the street; as well, they were deeply interested in any programme that could alleviate this dangerous situation. Individuals who have never taken heroin are becoming addicted to methadone; in the past, the drug was intended to get addicts off heroin.
Narconon’s Deputy Director of Canada, Phil McAiney, said an upcoming seminar on January 22, planned by Narconon, will be an important step in co-ordinating drug rehabilitation programmes in Ontario. He said that until now, there has been no great amount of co-ordination among drug groups, and felt it was “part of Narconon’s purpose to produce this.”
The Narconon programme allows people to cope with personal problems by introducing a sense of self-assurance about the present and an ability to better handle the world around them.
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