Local

Letter from Narconon Georgia Board of Directors

From: Narconon Georgia
Date: October 4, 2012
To: Fleischer, Jodie
Subject: From the Board of Directors Narconon of Georgia

We are disappointed that the Channel 2 reports that aired in the last three days have been very misleading.  WSB News presented these reports as if they were based on recent news, when they arose from an incident that happened more than four years ago that is the subject of a current lawsuit.  We are especially surprised at what seems to be an attempt to try a case through the media, a practice, which to our understanding, is against the rules governing the actions of attorneys in the state of Georgia.

Contrary to your recent reports, the Narconon program is not about religion.  In fact, most of the students of Narconon Georgia are Christians who go to Church every Sunday.  Like other recovery programs, including Alcoholics Anonymous, we believe that faith is an important part of recovery and, while Narconon is a non-religious program, our staff have always encouraged our clients to practice their own personal religious beliefs.

Many people who work at Narconon understand the problem of drugs first-hand.  For example, Ms. Rieser experienced drug abuse in her own family 17 years ago and  was forced to face a situation that she and Narconon now help families face every day.  It is never easy as a parent to deal with a child who is abusing drugs and it is even more difficult to face the inner demons that can taunt one. “Was there something I should have done differently?”   “How could I have avoided this?” “Will it ever get better?”

The staff of Narconon, or of any rehab for that matter, know that ultimately, no matter what the cause of the addiction is, the success of any drug rehabilitation treatment program depends on the commitment and desire of the addict to recover from his or her addictions.  Any recovering drug addict will tell you that they know that the decision to stay clean is up to them.

This is why many Narconon students and families who viewed your recent reports have told us that they will continue to support us.  The vast majority of our students and their families know that our program is based on the facts of addiction treatment, education and recovery.  The sad thing is, many people really don’t care about drug addicts and have long ago written them off as some kind of scourge who are not worth helping.

However, Narconon and its staff have not and will not write drug addicts off, despite any and all efforts to try and convince them to do otherwise.  There are still too many that need real help.

The worn out and false allegations that you aired are also repeatedly stated by members of the “anonymous” group, made up of individuals who like WSB News, have never had any personal dealings with Narconon.

The real truth is that Narconon of Georgia is a fully licensed, outpatient drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility.  Every single inspection by our state resulting from the false allegations you aired, claiming that Narconon of Georgia is running a residential rehab, have resulted in a DCH finding that explicitly rejects these allegations.

Narconon of Georgia has fully cooperated in every inspection launched by the state of Georgia and it will continue to do so in the future. The state has concluded in the past that there was insufficient evidence to support the allegations that Narconon was running a residential center, and Narconon is confident that any new inspection will yield the exact same results.

Both the state of Georgia and Narconon’s resources have been overtaxed by these repeated attempts by the “anonymous” group to divert attention off of our respective duties – duties that involve the welfare of others.  We consider this to be dangerous to our students and their recovery.

In contrast to the hate group “anonymous,” Narconon staff members continue to effectively help thousands across the world.  Sometimes, despite all efforts, addicts make bad decisions that turn tragic.  This is a cause of great sadness for all who worked with them and tried to help them.    However, it makes no sense to attack the people who try to and do help addicts on a daily basis.  We need more people helping addicts within our communities.  WSB News should not be trying to use four-year-old stories that are in current litigation to try to damage those who are doing their best to help individuals in our community who are addicted to drugs and alcohol.

The real story, which WSB chose to ignore, is that, according to CDC statistics, at least 100 people die each day from prescription drug overdose.  By way of example of the magnitude of the problem, according to a report by DrugWarFacts.org, the National Center for Health Statistics in 2009, 36,450 people died of drug overdoses and 23,199 died of alcohol induced causes.

We suggest that WSB News shift this public discussion to something that is based on facts and not emotion, and helps us and our communities to solve the problem of drug and alcohol abuse.

Sincerely,

Board of Directors

Narconon of Georgia