Every year, some idiot politician gets the bright idea (with a little help from his/her "friends) to support any one of several front groups created by the cult to sell its 'Purification Rundown.' What is it? How are politicians persuaded to support it?
Here's a bit of information about the core program within Narconon, Criminon, Second Chance and the New York Rescue Workers Detoxification Project.
Utah
Nevada
We've seen the scene in a hundred Western movies. The proverbial snake-oil salesman comes to town, selling a miraculous cure for all ills, only a dollar a bottle!
Perhaps the product is revealed as water, alcohol, and a little hot pepper to give it a kick. Exposed as a fraud, if the huckster doesn't slip out in the dead of night, he'll be run out of town on a rail, possibly covered in chicken feathers and tar, harried by angry townsfolk.
Now, just imagine for a moment that the mayor of the town not only believes in the magic medicine, he initiates a program at townspeople's expense. Rather than spend public money on beefing up the street's hitching posts, he chooses to squander it on a bogus program to cure the town drunks.
Scientology's "Purification Rundown" is 100% pure snake squeezin's. When one separates the hype from the facts, what remains is incontroverible evidence that this program is an ineffective, potentially health-threatening bit of L. Ron Hubbard's unsupported theories about toxins and human physiology.
There are quite a few studies available that looked at the effects of certain vitamins on human health. Any kid who reads has probably learned that one shouldn't eat polar bear or seal liver, as they contain lethal amounts of Vitamin A.
This is verifiable information. You can look it up.
The Scientologists have been taught that the massive doses of niacin given during the Purif "run out radiation," and that the sunburn-like flush that results from this is proof that it's working.
In reality, the flush is caused by the dilation of small blood vessels under the skin. In reality, anyone ingesting these amounts of niacin are putting their health at risk from permanent liver damage, blindness, and other side effects of niacin toxicity.
People who abuse drugs and alcohol often have liver problems.
This is verifiable. You can look it up.
Another element of the Purif is the sauna session. While the recommended length of time spent in a sauna is 30 minutes, Purif patrons can spend up to 5 hours per session, in 140 degree conditions. People have collapsed from dehydration during this phase of "treatment." It plays holy hell with the body's electrolyte balance. The Purif promoters have been told that clients are sweating out toxins and fat, so part of the treatment involves drinking cooking oil to replace the latter.
A running program is also utilized. Bad news for methamphetamine and cocaine users with drug induced heart disease.
One thing about science, it's well-documented every step of the way. It is well known that cyanide kills. And you can look it up, and see how much is toxic, how it works, why you die. You can refer to studies and published papers.
If you research the elements of the Purification Rundown, you can see the disparity between what promoters claim, and what critics of the program say.
And critics have been pointing out the hazards of the Purif for years. Scientology reaction to criticism is to spawn another front group with the Purif at its core.
Narconon has spawned several masks for its "drug education and detox" programs. As Narconon facilities get bad press, they calve another front group.
Programs such as Second Chance, for example; a version of Narconon targeting prison inmates.
Second Chance was pushed to legislators in the Four Corners states not too long ago.
In 2003, Nevada state representative Sharron Angle urged her fellow legislators to approve the Second Chance program in women's state prisons in that state. Along with others, I wrote each member of the legislature, urging them to take a hard look at this overpriced heapin' helping of Hubbardian nonsense.
The cult had sweetened the deal. An "anonymous humanitarian" from Arizona offered every member of Nevada's legislature a free trip to Ensenada, Baja Mexico, to view a Second Chance program there. The donor was revealed to be a Scientologist businessman, Randy Suggs. Curiously, Mr. Suggs' "Scientologists Online" website was removed just before his generous offer.
Assembly Majority Leader Barbara Buckley recommended the offer be declined. It was, in part because these legislators did their job and researched the Second Chance program. Sharron Angle, who promoted the program, expressed her disappointment at the decision. Sharron Angle is a member of the National Foundation of Women Legislators, the NFWL, which was founded in 1938, well before Scientology was a glimmer in its founder's eye.
However, Scientologist Bruce Wiseman is the treasurer for the NFWL. He is also the president of Citizen's Commission on Human Rights, the CCHR, whose travelling roadshow, "Psychiatry: Industry of Death" has been collecting ridicule and derision wherever it sets up.
Joy Westrum, also a Scientologist, is on one of the NFWL boards. She is also the president of Second Chance.
Surprise, surprise! Do you wonder where these legislators are getting their daily dose of Scientology influence?
The Arizona State Senate considered the Second Chance program during the first session of the 45th legislature. Here is a paragraph from that meeting.
"George Weisz, Executive Assistant to Governor Hull, testified that the amendment is designed to target the Second Chance Program, even though the State has an open bid process. He stated that he met with the Director of the program and reviewed a study that demonstrated impressive statistics of low recidivism.
He stated that he was concerned with the evaluation processes on which these results were based. The inmates that attended the program did not re-enter the prison in Ensenda, but they were not tracked after leaving the program. Consequently, the low recidivism rate could be a false reading on how effective the program is." Approval was subsequently denied.
You can't beat a qualified assessment of the Purif, such as former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop's evaluation:
"My recommendation about detoxification is to keep away from it. You don't need it. I'm not sure it does what this book describes. It's dangerous. I don't think L.Ron Hubbard has credibility in the scientific world. The author's suggestions about detoxification can be detrimental to your health." - C. Everett Koop, M.D.
Recently, Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff announced that he is seeking legislative funding for a detox program for rescue workers exposed to the toxic chemicals used in meth labs.Police and firefighters would be subjected to a program that was created immediately following the destruction of the World Trade Center. The program, called the New York Rescue Workers Detoxification Project, had a gala opening in New York City, with none other than the famous couch-jumping Scientologist and heterosexual Tom Cruise in attendance.
Yep, the NYRWDP (whew!) is nothing more than another vehicle to sell Scientology's Purification Rundown to the masses, and accrue a goodly amount of cash and PR at the same time. Some might think it merely a cynical ploy by the "church" of Scientology to cash in on tragedy.
Scientology documents seized by the FBI in raids of Scientology offices in the 1970s clearly outline a plan to "get close" to opinion leaders such as politicians and other authority figures, like Utah's Attorney General. These genial and friendly people deliberately target their prey, convincing them of the value of programs like Narconon, Second Chance, Criminon, and the NYRWDP.
When the Purif is used within Scientology, it is considered a "religious ritual" by the FDA, which has a hands-off approach where religion is concerned.
But, this program is being sold in a secular market, often to people with compromised health due to drugs, alcohol, or toxic exposure.
It has been well examined by qualified experts and is considered dangerous.
This site gives a good outline of the Purification Rundown's elements.
This page gives an overview of Hubbard's junk science.
Scientology uses these programs to suck public money away from legitimate, medically sound programs.
This transcript from a KRQE programreveals that thousands of dollars in public money was earmarked for the Second Chance program in New Mexico. Somehow, Scientology has managed to install this program in a prison and is seeking public money to fund it.
The fact is, the program is dangerous. While vitamins are safe when taken as directed, overdoses can destroy one's health. Many things can be fatal when misused.
If you eat your body weight in lettuce in under an hour, you can die. A woman recently died from overdosing on water.
Programs like the Purification Rundown cannot withstand scrutiny. The problem is, legislators are often too busy to do any research.
Too often, I see apologists try to justify these programs by saying, "At least they're trying to do something about (drug abuse, detox, fill in the blank)
If the thing they are offering is poisoning their customers, whether it works or not is a moot point. (it doesn't, unless by "work" you mean, "shuttling public money into the maw of a destructive cult.")
Most people don't think of vitamins as being poisonous. But then, most people don't consider water or lettuce as hazards either.
It is time to put a stop to this nonsense. There is more than sufficient data available which proves that the Purif is not as advertised. It's time to make sure that public money is no longer wasted on Scientology programs which include the Purif, unless approval from the FDA is given, and it won't be. As a secular program, the Purif certainly must be scrutinized and evaluated before one more dollar is delivered.
It is unconscionable that inmates and rescue workers are unknowingly being put at risk so Scientology can rake in a few more bucks. Where's the outrage?