Area Pastors challenge ties behind drug treatment facility

Planned use of old Mountainside Hospital discussed at City Hall Meeting
Tuesday at Jasper City Hall, Mayor John Weaver convened a
group of citizens to ask questions to representatives of a drug
treatment organization planning to open a facility in Jasper.
Narconon Arrowhead is planning to purchase the old
Mountainside Hospital on Highway 53 and turn it into a treatment
facility that provides both in-patient and out-patient services,
according to general discussion.
Weaver said he called the meeting so that concerns of area
pastors could be addressed by Narconon's staff, who approached him a
month ago to discuss the possibility of opening a facility in the
city.
"About a week after I met with Narconon, I got a phone call
from someone who said Narconon is just a front for the Church of
Scientology, and will only bring strife and grief to Pickens County,
as it had to other communities," said Weaver at the beginning of the
meeting.
Mary Rieser, executive director of Narconon Georgia, said the
program is not affiliated with the Church of Scientology. She said
Narconon is secular and does not promote any one religion over others.
"We are secularized. You can come visit our facility anytime;
you can stay all day long and you can look at the books," said
Rieser. "It would be ridiculous for me to come up here, buy a
hospital, and try to secretly bring another religion in here."
She said Narconon has been looking for a new treatment center
recently as they have had to upgrade their kitchen facilities at
their center in another county.
About 20 Pickens County citizens, mostly pastors, were at the
meeting to express that in the course of their research in the last
two weeks, they learned the exact opposite - Narconon is affiliated
with the Church of Scientology, but they try to deny it whenever
asked about the relationship, said some of the group's critics.
The first question from the crowd was from Carol Hutchinson,
who with her husband Tom Hutchinson later claimed to have been a
victim of the Church of Scientology's tricky and fraudulent
techniques to solve their marriage problems. She said over 20 years
ago the church took $60,000 from the couple in a two-year timeframe,
using indoctrination and lie detector therapy that "hypnotizes you"
and slowly converts the patient to Scientology.
"Isn't the goal of Scientology to clear the planet of
non-Scientologists and convert all non-Scientologists to Scientology?
And isn't Narconon affiliated with the Church of Scientology?" asked
Carol Hutchinson.
Rieser said the claim is not true, and Narconon is associated
with many different churches. "Other religions support Narconon," she
said.
She said the only connection between the two organizations is
their common use of the ideas of the late L. Ron Hubbard, a
researcher and writer of science fiction novels.
She noted that Narconon's methods - such as the idea to sweat
drugs out of the body in a sauna, and a "purification rundown" - are
not religious, but are scientifically proven, and that studies have
shown this.
Steve Lowe of the Joy House, a Christian-centered home for
troubled teens, read from a California newspaper article which noted
that the California Medical Association had officially discredited
Narconon.
"At least we say up front that we're a Christian organization
[with the Joy House and other groups represented], and if you don't
want to be involved in a Christian organization, then don't
participate. But you deny you are promoting a religion when it's
quite true," said Lowe.
Even if Narconon has a high success rate, Lowe later asked,
"At what cost, when you give them something else that's going to hold
them down?"
The Rev. Ben Langley of Mt. Zion Baptist Church accused the
group of using a "disguise" to present themselves as independent of
Scientology.
When Rieser said, "We're not here to push religion," laughter
erupted from the crowd. A city employee had to ask audience members
to speak one at a time when they began to bombard Rieser with
questions and arguments.
Rieser, who called the line of questioning and comments
"vicious" after the meeting, said, "We're just here to try to help
families. It's not fair if you come in here with closed minds." She
also noted that many "sophisticated" doctors, scientists and
researchers have approved and recommended Narconon.
"This is a program that works," said Rieser. "We're talking
about people getting relief from suffering."
After continued arguing for several minutes, and repeated
denials from Rieser of a connection between the program and the
church, city employee Charles Raisor noted a report in 1993 stating
that the IRS and the Church of Scientology came to an agreement on
the church's tax-exempt status.
He said in that agreement, Narconon International is listed
as one of the church's subsidiaries. Rieser said she was unaware of
such an arrangement, and said she would call her attorney to confirm
if it is true.
Raisor also said, and Rieser acknowledged, that a portion of
Narconon's income goes to the Church of Scientology as a franchise
payment.
"If you can't see the money trail then someone has pulled the
wool over your eyes," said Raisor to Rieser and Gordy Weinand, a
Narconon founder who was also at the meeting in Jasper.
The mayor noted that in his four terms in office he has
"never had such a meeting" when a new business or church decides to
buy property in town.
Raisor later said, "You can't expect us to see something that
is against everything we stand for and not come together as a group."
But Rieser, a Scientologist, maintained that Narconon does
not attempt to convert its participants to Scientology, and that
"few" of those who complete the program come out Scientologists.
When asked what Narconon's costs and success rate are, Rieser
said a three to six-month program costs a drug addict $20,000. The
success rate, which Rieser said has only been measured by Narconon
itself, is "about 70 percent."
She said just the "purification rundown" costs $5,000.
Gordy Weinand, who has been off drugs for 39 years and is a
Christian, said he feels it is unfortunate that people have such
negative associations with a program that works.
"I feel my whole 39 years are being attacked," said Weinand
at the meeting.
Towards the end of the meeting, the Rev. Bob Self, another
area pastor, said he would be less opposed if Narconon presented
itself as a drug treatment program that also offered Scientology.
But he pleaded with the Narconon representatives, "Please
don't buy this facility, please do it somewhere else."
The mayor closed the meeting by noting that while he cannot
prevent anyone from purchasing private property in Jasper, "You're
not going to be able to sneak something in on us."