Narconon Expansion in the US in 2001
In 2001, there were some truly groundbreaking events marking the forward progress of Narconon in the US. They were composed of new training courses for staff, new anti-drug videos and booklets, massive drug education occurring in Southern California and a new Narconon drug rehabilitation center in Georgia.
And then, there was also the long-awaited grand opening of the flagship drug rehabilitation center in Canadian, Oklahoma: Narconon Arrowhead.
NEW NARCONON COURSES
To help all Narconon centers around the world become more successful, there were two new training courses released: the Opening a Successful Narconon Center Course and the Running a Successful Narconon Center Course. The release of these courses meant that those trained on them could get up to speed more quickly and with greater certainty and could be run with more ease and exactness.
Drug Education Booklet
This was the year of the publication of the booklet 10 Things Your Friends May Not Know About Drugs. Without wasting any time, it began to be broadly distributed to the US, UK, Italy, Canada, Taiwan and Australia. As soon as it was published in English, it was then translated into Italian, French and Chinese. More translations into Arabic and Spanish would follow. By the end of the year, there were 175,000 copies in print and most of them had already been delivered into young hands. The response to this booklet was tremendous, with many acknowledgements and thanks coming from government officials and educators.
VIDEO
This was the year that the Friends of Narconon produced and released their excellent anti-drug video Marijuana – The Myth. It featured Bobby Wiggins, who has delivered drug education to hundreds of thousands of children over his many years of contribution to a drug-free society. First, Bobby was filmed delivering drug education presentations to several schools. This footage was then carefully edited and packaged. The video’s release coincided with National Red Ribbon Week in October, a time that many schools and volunteers spread the anti-drug message. Mailings promoting the video were sent out to schools and more than 2,000 schools replied that they wanted this video for their anti-drug programs. In the weeks after the videos were shipped out, more than 13,000 children were able to learn the facts about drug use by watching this video in their classrooms.
DRUG EDUCATION, SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Tony Bylsma runs a drug education group in Southern California. In 2001, he expanded his staff and service. They are now delivering drug prevention classes to more than 1,000 children each week.
NEW NARCONON GEORGIA
The international Narconon network expanded to the Atlanta, Georgia area in 2001 with the opening of a new residential rehabilitation program. The first students into the program were referred by the court system in Atlanta and by the end of the year, more than 20 students had gone through the program and two of the graduates who decided to stay and be staff had gone to the new International Training Center to get the skills to help expand the new center.
THE OPENING OF THE NEW NARCONON ARROWHEAD FACILITY IN CANADIAN, OKLAHOMA
The biggest single event of the year was the Grand Opening of the flagship Narconon center in Oklahoma. After a year of renovations, staff training and hard work, the Narconon Chilocco center located near the Oklahoma-Kansas border moved south to a spectacular new property. Formerly a resort in a state park, the new rehabilitation was picturesquely perched on a hill overlooking the extensive waters of Lake Eufaula. There were plenty of rooms for students in the main lodge, a separate wing just for students in the withdrawal phase of the program and fifty cabins in the woods for staff and trainees from around the world.
The premises were surrounded by a bird and wildlife preserve, meaning that there would be plenty of deer, turkey and songbirds providing a relaxing and rural atmosphere that was a far cry from the dangerous streets many of the addicts were living on just before arriving.
On August 18th, an event crew of more than 50 staff and volunteers from the local area and the international offices converged to create an appropriately lavish opening ceremony. More than 2,000 people attended, including Narconon staff from around the world, government leaders, rehabilitation professionals and community members.
The opening of Narconon Arrowhead served a dual purpose: this would also be the location of the new International Training Center (ITC). At the international conference that started the next day, the Opening a Successful Narconon Center Course was released and many people signed up for it immediately. In the next few months, several people arrived to complete this service and other training at the ITC.
Early visitors to Narconon Arrowhead included Dr. Yusef Merchant and Arun Meitram, both of whom met Narconon President Clark Carr the Hope 2000 conference in India. Dr. Merchant attended the grand opening so he could learn how to bring the Narconon program to India. Mr. Meitram came to the ITC so he could train to supervise the Narconon life skills courses and thereby further his plans to open a Narconon center in India in the future.
Narconon Arrowhead quickly became a home base for extensive drug education activities. Headed by the Director of Drug Education Bobby Newman, the drug prevention team educated more than 14,800 students in 2001. Schools, youth groups, summer camps and Boy Scout troops were also visited with the anti-drug message.
Narconon Arrowhead immediately slipped into its role as a flagship rehabilitation center by providing the picture of an ideal Narconon center for any government official, prospective Narconon director or scholar who learned about this effective drug rehabilitation technology. Over the next several years, visitors and trainees from dozens of countries would choose Narconon Arrowhead as a place where they could learn more about the program or learn to deliver the exact correct program that would save lives wherever Narconon rehab centers were founded.