On stage for the opening were (left to right): Mayor Bill Day, Eufaula, Oklahoma; Rena Weinberg, President, Association for Better Living and Education (A.B.L.E.) International; Gary Smith, Executive Director, Narconon Arrowhead; Michael Anzalone, President, Narconon Arrowhead.

Drug Rehabilitation Facility Opens New Doors

Meeting the Demand

	Two thousand guests, ranging from local residents to experts from abroad, attended the grand opening celebration.

rug rehabilitation experts, dignitaries and leading artists officially opened the doors to one of the world’s largest and most effective drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers in the world on August 18, 2001.

Two thousand people attended the grand opening celebration of the state-of-the-art facility located in Arrowhead State Park in Canadian, Oklahoma. Narconon Arrowhead is the premiere treatment and training facility of the international Narconon network, which has grown to 106 centers in 31 countries since its inception in 1966.

The 230-bed treatment center on the shores of Lake Eufaula represents an effective and proven solution to addiction. Expansive spaces were renovated for the training of professionals in the Narconon program for export throughout the world. The training lineup is already meeting the demand for the Narconon program, which has increased steadily over the past decade and exploded over the past two years with the launch of Narconon’s Internet website www.stopaddiction.com. Narconon facilities in Taiwan and Brazil are among the most recent to open.

Narconon began in 1966 when a drug addict and inmate in a state penitentiary in Arizona, Willie Benitez, found a book by author and humanitarian L. Ron Hubbard containing principles about life, the mind and the spirit. Benitez applied simple truths he learned and freed himself from his addiction.

Benitez told others about his experience, and turned to help fellow inmates who were addicts. He corresponded extensively with Mr. Hubbard, and in short time, Narconon—meaning, literally, “no drugs"—was formed, using a range of Mr. Hubbard’s discoveries to address virtually all of the complexities of addiction for people from all walks of life and of all races and creeds. While Mr. Hubbard is well known as the founder of the Scientology religion, the Narconon program is autonomous and secular—although it has been supported from the outset by many Scientologists.

With a success rate of 74 percent, Narconon has permanently freed thousands of addicts from drugs over the years, who return to society as stable, productive and contributing individuals.

	Narconon Arrowhead, one of the largest residential drug rehabilitation centers in the world, opened its state-of-the-art facilities in August 2001 in Oklahoma. In addition to rehabilitation, it provides training in the successful program for the growing network of Narconon centers, of which 106 now operate in 31 countries.

For more information, contact Narconon Arrowhead, HC 67 Box 5, Canadian, Oklahoma 74425; phone (800) 468-6933; website www.stopaddiction.com.

	SUMMIT: Authorities and professionals from the United States, Japan, India, Canada, Africa and Europe shared solutions at an international conference on drug addiction held in Narconon Arrowhead’s auditorium. (Above) Clifton Mitchell, special deputy to the director for the federal Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, addresses the audience.

Drug Rehabilitation and Prevention Summit

Narconon leaders followed the official opening of Narconon Arrowhead with a Drug Rehabilitation and Prevention Summit on August 19, confirming their dedication to resolving the international drug problem.

Speakers including Clifton Mitchell, special deputy to the director of the federal Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, and Renee Wikesjo, Secretary of Europeans Against Drugs (EURAD), a volunteer organization of concerned citizens across Europe, addressed leaders in the drug rehabilitation field from around the world.