UPDATE#3 Narconon: Psychological and Sexual Harassment

Anonymous · Mar 20, 2010

UPDATE#3 Narconon: Psychological and Sexual Harassment

Update #3

Translation of two articles in the Trois-Rivières daily Le Nouvelliste, July 9, 2010

Des plaintes contre Narconon | Paule Vermot-Desroches | Le Nouvelliste

Complaints against Narconon

Former employee says he was subjected to psychological and sexual harassment

by Paule Vermot-Desroches

Trois-Rivières - The Narconon Trois-Rivières organization is once again in the spotlight now that complaints concerning psychological and sexual harassment are under investigation by the Quebec Human Rights Commission (Commission des droits de la personne) and the Quebec Labour Standards Commission (Commission des normes du travail).

The person who filed these complaints, Montrealer David Edgar Love, is a former patient who became an employee of Narconon once his therapy was completed. Though he is well known for publicly speaking out against the detoxification centre for the past few months, David Edgar Love had always declined to give details about the basis of his complaints regarding acts that are alleged to have occurred while he was an employee, between May 2009 and October 2009. He agreed to discuss them with Le Nouvelliste.

David Edgar Love entered Narconon in December 2008 because of a drug problem. In May 2009, he completed his therapy and was hired by Narconon. One of his duties was to perform a follow-up with patients who had already followed therapy at Narconon. "The organization claimed that it had a success rate of over 70%, but I quickly realized that it was much lower than that. When I raised this issue with my employers, they were not pleased," notes Mr. Love.

This questioning of procedures and his overall attitude did not seem to please the management. David Love claims that he was then subjected to intense psychological pressure and forced at least eight times to undergo "PTS interviews". The English acronym PTS stands for "Potential Trouble Source" and, according to David Love and another activist against Scientology, Gerry Armstrong, this concept is directly related to Scientology teachings. "What they believe is that there does not exist any sickness, neither an illness nor an accident, unless we are in contact with 'suppressive persons', people who do not believe in Scientology teachings and who contaminate us from outside. For them, I had thus become a trouble source", explains David Love.

The "PTS interviews" which he says he was forced to undergo at Narconon were, in his view, intended to cut him off from the outside world to prevent him from revealing the information he possessed.

"They held me in a room and would not let me leave. They forced me to disconnect from my family. They yelled at me, they even threatened me. My life was threatened. It was horrible, horrible! I was even told that if I said anything about what I know, I would be stalked and I would disappear," says Mr. Love.

The Labour Standard Commission judged that there were sufficient grounds to look into the matter and the investigation is presently under way.

Sexual harassment

Furthermore, the day after he was hired, David Love says he received a quite explicit letter containing sexual advances from a woman in the organization's management.

Feeling embarrassed by this message, Mr. Love says that he mentioned it to certain colleagues in order to ask about how he should react. He even says that he was encouraged by some employees to accept the advances, a suggestion which he refused to follow.

He says that the sexual harassment from this executive continued up to a few days before his departure from Narconon in October 2009. This matter has been reported to the Human Rights Commission.

In both cases, the employer refused to enter into mediation with David Love and an investigation is currently in progress. The result of the investigation could either acquit Narconon or bring the organization before the Human Rights Tribunal (Tribunal des droits de la personne).

Reached by telephone, the director of the Narconon Trois-Rivières centre, Marc Bernard, refused to make any comment regarding David Edgar Love's allegations, preferring to let the procedures of the Human Rights Commission and of the Labour Standards Commission follow their course.

Five Moves in Eight Months

David Edgar Love says he was persecuted long after he left Narconon

by Paule Vermot-Desroches

Trois-Rivières - The connections between Scientology teachings and the therapies provided by Narconon have already been the subject of many news reports and of comments and discussions all over the internet, especially on websites of groups opposed to Scientology, for example, Anonymous.

In an interview with Le Nouvelliste a few months ago, the director of Narconon Trois-Rivières, Marc Bernard, admitted that four or five employees out of about thirty staff members belonged to the Church of Scientology.

Marc Bernard said he had nothing to hide on this subject, but he also stated that the therapy centre was not being used as a proselytizing agency where the practice of Scientology is obligatory or recommended. On the contrary, he maintained that all races and religions are accepted at Narconon, and that the employees do not speak about Scientology with the patients.

David Edgar Love says he was surprised to read this statement. When he arrived at Narconon in December 2008 for therapy, he says he had to view a documentary film that discussed Scientology teachings.

"I was even accompanied by a management person during the screening to ensure that I watched the entire film," he says.

In October 2009, upset by the experiences he says happened to him, David Love wanted to leave his job as an employee at Narconon. "But you can't leave Scientology just like that, especially when you have as much information as I could have acquired," says David Love.

He moved to Montreal and he says he has had to change his address five times since October 2009 because he was receiving threats from certain persons.

"On my FaceBook page, visible to everyone, I was declared an enemy. To them, this means that I can be harmed, robbed, spied upon without any retaliation from the church," recounts David Love, who gave a copy of this FaceBook message to the Labour Standards Commission and the Human Rights Commission.

These allegations are also under investigation by the Labour Standards Commission and the Human Rights Commission. Narconon declined to comment on this as well.

Scientology's Narconon Disgrace Exposed in Québec -Le Soleil

Digg you lovers of Love. Digg!

It's coming...

Links to the articles in French:

Intoxiqué par l'Église de scientologie | Marc Allard | Société

Église de scientologie: un autre coup dur | Marc Allard | Société

English translation by Anonymous:

First article, Part One:

Intoxicated by Scientology

by Marc Allard
Le Soleil

(Quebec City) Since he's been out of Narconon, David Edgar Love hardly gets any sleep. He has flashbacks about the traumatic experiences he says he experienced in the Scientology detox centre in Trois-Rivières, and sometimes he becomes so anxious that he loses his breath.

In November, a doctor at the Cité de la Santé hospital in Laval diagnosed him with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Mr. Love now consults a psychiatrist in a Montreal hospital who was recommended by Mike Kropveld, the director of Info-Cult, and he tries not to appear too drowsy at his new job.

Sitting in a small restaurant in a glum corner of Montreal's Lachine district, where he found a small apartment, Mr. Love, 57, recounts his experience with Narconon, where he was a client from December 2008 to May 2009 and an employee until the end of October.

Revealed for the first time today in Le Soleil, his testimony about the Quebec detoxification centre connected with the Church of Scientology adds to a series of disclosures that have shaken this religious organization in various places throughout the world in recent months.

At his side, David Love has a briefcase full of documents to support a complaint he filed with Quebec's Human Rights Commission and a separate complaint filed with Quebec's Labour Standards Commission, which are investigating his allegations.

During the 11 months he spent at Narconon, Mr. Love says he was the victim of harassment, threats and many other violations of his rights. He also says he did not receive a large portion of his salary.

In a letter dated December 21, 2009, the law firm representing Narconon, Heenan Blaikie, offered David Love $2,550.29 on condition that he not share his story with the media. Mr. Love declined the offer.

"They will not silence me," he says. "I have rights and I intend to have my rights respected."

By telephone, Le Soleil reached the director of Narconon Trois-Rivières, Marc Bernard, who declined to give his version of the facts. "I have nothing to say, I have no comment," he said. "No comment."

Omertà

A resident of British Columbia, David Love arrived at Narconon shortly before Christmas in 2008. He was addicted to methadone and cocaine and had decided to follow the rehab program at the detox centre in Trois-Rivières, where he knew an employee.

During the first weeks of his treatment, Mr Love says he was surprised by the omertà that reigned at Narconon about Scientology. He remembers hearing an employee interrupt a discussion among a group of clients he was in, by issuing an order: "You are not allowed to speak about Scientology when you are at Narconon»

The employee later explained to him that Narconon wanted to avoid the subject so as not to scare clients, their parents, or the "sponsors", who pay more than $20,000 for the treatment, a majority of whose clients are English speakers from the United states and English Canada.

On its Quebec website, Narconon presents itself as a "non-profit program of rehabilitation and detoxification" and boasts of having 50 centres in 21 countries. There is no mention anywhere that Narconon is part of the Church of Scientology.

For Paul Schofield, who was a member of the Church of Scientology for more than 20 years before becoming "case supervisor" at the Sydney and Melbourne Narconon centres and then director of Narconon for all of Australia, there is no doubt that Narconon is a satellite of the Church of Scientology.

"Aside from the withdrawal phase, all the courses you take at Narconon are almost identical to those you take at the Church," he says, "Except that when you take them at the church, they only cost you about a quarter or a third of the price."

While he was a client at Narconon, David Love says he was forced to memorize passages from books by L. Ron Hubbard, the science fiction author who founded the Church of Scientology and wrote the 8 books on which the Narconon program is based.

"Any book that might interfere with the mind-altering and brainwashing process is prohibited and confiscated," says David Love.

In addition to reading books by Hubbard, David Love also had to practice regularly the "training routines" prescribed by Scientology's grand master.

He remembers one routine that consisted of sitting for long hours while staring at another client without saying a word and without moving. There was another similar routine in which he was told not to react while his partner bombarded him with insults.

Extreme Purification

The 57-year-old man also remembers the training routine involving an ashtray. "I had to yell at an ashtray, 'Stand up!' then 'Sit down!' until it obeyed by itself," he said. "But since I was unable to find the right tone, I had to lift the ashtray by myself over and over." "After all these training routines," says Love, "I'm lucky not to be insane."

To help addicts overcome their dependence, Narconon also requires that they strictly follow an intense vitamin and sauna treatment which Scientologists call the "Purification Rundown" and which is also provided by the Church of Scientology of Quebec City at a cost of $2,000.

For two weeks, David Love said he had to spend almost four hours a day in a sauna and swallow large amounts of vitamins and minerals each day. He recalls having had, among other things, to take a lot of niacin, a vitamin (B3) used to reduce a person's cholesterol level.

In a July 17, 2004 interview with the Journal de Trois-Rivières posted on the detoxification centre's website, the director of Narconon Trois-Rivières, Marc Bernard, described the virtues of niacin for expelling drugs from fat cells.

"The toxins remain trapped in fatty tissues for several years," Mr. Bernard explained. "When they are released, this is what addicts call flashbacks."

Asked about this practice, Dr. Lise Archibald, of the Ubald-Villeneuve Rehabilitation Centre in Quebec City, told Le Soleil that she has never read anything about the benefits of niacin for drug addicts.

A toxicology specialist at Quebec's National Institute of Public Health (INSPQ), pharmacist Lyse Lefebvre, also has never heard of niacin as an aid to combat drug addiction. However, she warns that consuming too much vitamin B3 may cause digestive problems, aggravate asthma, lead to a certain form of arthritis attack, and cause redness and itching.

Health Canada recommends a maximum of 500 mg of niacin per day. Clients of Narconon and Scientologists who follow the "Purification Rundown" ingest up to 5,000 mg per day," says David Love.

"The vitamin and sauna treatment was far from pleasant for the clients of Narconon," recalls Mr. Love. "It was horrible. People were sick. They vomited and had diarrhea."

Like a military base

During his rehabilitation, Mr. Love wanted to leave the Trois-Rivières detox centre to return to his family in British Columbia. But he says that Narconon refused to give him his wallet and his identity papers, even though he requested them more than once.

Except in special cases, Quebec law prohibits forcing drug addicts to continue treatment, which is to be followed on a voluntary basis.

Mr. Love recalls that, instead of giving him his papers, he was sent to the "ethics officer", who argued that he should stay longer.

"Many students want to leave and try," he says. "Some even manage to leave and set out on foot along along the road, but the ethics officer is called and a car is sent to recover them and bring them back to the Narconon buildings."

David Love said he never witnessed a client being forced to get into a car. Instead, he points out, Narconon calls a student's parents or sponsor and convinces them not to pay the bus or air fare for the student.

Every day, adds Mr. Love, Narconon's staff closely monitors the comings and goings of their customers. "It's like a military base," he says. "There is security, they have radios. They check on you every 20 minutes to know where you are."

Clients turned into employees

Mr. Love is not the only client to have worked at Narconon. About 40% of clients subsequently become employees, according to a statement made in May 2002 by Devinder Luthra, then president of Narconon Canada, at a session of the Special Committee on Non-Medical Use of Drugs in the House of Commons.

While he was an employee, David Love was responsible for contacting former clients of Narconon to compile statistics on the success or failure of the program. He says he received emails from many "exes" who had relapsed and still need help. What he was hearing did not appear to match the 70% success rate which Narconon boasts about on its website.

Mr. Love says he tried repeatedly to warn his superiors at Narconon Trois-Rivières, but they refused to change their practices.

It was at this point that David Love says he realized Narconon was a "hoax" at the service of the Church of Scientology. "Once I understood and believed it was true," he wrote on a message board operated by Anonymous, an anti-Scientology movement that originated on the Internet, "My eyes were opened to the reality of the lies that I had swallowed."

From the day he resigned, November 3, Mr. Love says he received threats from Sue Chubbs, Narconon's director of production.

With documents to prove it, David Love shows that, among other things, she posted on his FaceBook page the words "Enemy" and "Fair Game". This means, in Scientology jargon, he "may be deprived of property or injured by any means and by any Scientologist."

Second Article:

The church of Scientology, another hard hit

(Québec)Forced abortions, violence, imprisonment, torture, sexual abuses, embezzlement, blackmail: The church of scientology has been accused of commiting all these crimes in the last months, as denunciations from ex-scientologists multiplied in the world.

In Australia, senator Nick Xenophon requested, last november, a public investigation about the Church of Scientology, after receiving numerous letters from ex-employees and high ranking members of the religious organisations, amongst them, Paul Schofield, who spoke with ''Le Soleil''

«De mon point de vue, c'est une organisation à deux visages», a dit Nick Xenophon au Sénat australien. «Il y a le visage public d'une organisation qui prétend offrir des conseils et du soutien à ses fidèles et il y a le visage privé d'une organisation qui maltraite ses membres et cible vicieusement ses critiques, et semble carburer à la paranoïa.»

«From my point of view, it's an organisation with 2 faces», said Nick Xenophon in the australian Senate. «There is the public face of an organisation that pretends to offer to offer support and counsel to it's members, and there is the private face of an organisation that mistreat it's members, targets viciously it's critics and that seems to be fueled by paranoia.»

Beating Staff Members

In the United States, the St. Petersburg Times revealed for the first time in june, accounts from four ex high ranking members of the organisation, that accuse the head of the Church, David Miscavige, of beating frequently his employees.

At the start of the month, the New York Times was publishing an investigation on the difficulty that scientologists encounter when trying to distance themselves from the organisation. To quit the Church of Scientology, the couple in the article affirmed having to sign false confessions about their life and their work, to give the Church thousands of dollars and having to cut any communication with their friends and family that stayed in the Church.

In france, following complaints from 2 ex-members of scientology that said they were defrauded of tens of thousands of euros, the correctional Tribunal of Paris condemned in last october the Church of scientology for ''Organized group fraud''.

In every country, the Church of Scientology accused the ex-members of lying.

______________________

Other coverage:

Translation of an article on the website of the Trois-Rivières daily newspaper Le Nouvelliste, March 22, 2010:

Narconon de nouveau dans la controverse | Actualités

Photograph Caption:
The premises of the Narconon drug rehabilitation centre are located on
Parent Boulevard in Trois-Rivières. This organization has stirred a lot of
controversy in recent years.

Narconon Again the Focus of Controversy

March 22, 2010

(Trois-Rivières) The Narconon Trois-Rivières detoxification centre, suspected of links with the Church of Scientology, once again finds itself in the middle of a controversy.

This time, it's the public statements made over the weeked by a former patient who became an employee of the organization that have brought the subject back into the news.

David Edgar Love, a 57-year-old man from the Montreal area, has just filed a complaint with the Quebec Human Rights Commission [Commission des droits de la personne] as well as with the Quebec Labour Standards Commission [Commission des normes du travail]. Both commissions are currently investigating the matter.

The former Narconon employee says he is suffering from post-traumatic stress since leaving the centre in May 2009. Harassment and threats are alleged to have been daily occurrences at the Parent Boulevard establishment. This, at least, is what he explained in an interview he gave to Le Soleil.

During the interview, Love also revealed several techniques allegedly used within the centre, whose treatment methods follow the teachings of L. Ron Hubbard, founder of the Church of Scientology.

According to his account, Narconon requires that its patients undergo an extreme purification program which consists of ingesting large amounts of vitamins and spending more than four hours a day inside a sauna.

Love also describes an exercise which involves an ashtray, a recollection which brings back unpleasant memories.

"I had to yell at an ashtray, 'Stand up!' then 'Sit down!' until it obeyed by itself," he told Le Soleil. "But since I was unable to find the right tone, I had to raise the ashtray by myself over and over... I'm lucky not to be insane."

Total Silence

David Love was far less talkative about his experience when he was reached yesterday by Le Nouvelliste. During a telephone interview, he systematically refused to answer our questions, repeating that he is in a mediation process with Narconon and that an agreement might soon be concluded.

Silence was the same reply yesterday from Marc Bernard, director of Narconon Trois-Rivières, however he promised he would have a response today about the whole affair.

For the Anonymous collective, which combats the Church of Scientology, this turn of events in no way constitutes a surprise.

"It's always hard to know what happens behind closed doors. But the Church of Scientology uses organizations such as Narconon to project a nice public image. This image is what it's trying to save," says activist Marc Lacasse (fictitious name).

Anonymous has also been in constant contact with David Love, providing him support in his efforts.

"He came to our internet message board, and he was a man in urgent need of help. He was a well-placed individual in the establishment at Narconon. He thought no one would believe him," said the representative of the movement.

Clarifying the Situation

Since its arrival in Trois-Rivières, Narconon has regularly been the target of criticism. For this reason, "We must now clarify the situation," according to Sylvie Tardif, director of the COMSEP organization [a local non-profit organization that helps alleviate poverty and illiteracy].

Sylvie Tardif is also a municipal councilor and she had the opportunity to visit the detoxification centre a few years ago.

"I saw saunas and all that. They explained the vitamin stuff to me and I was told that people could sometimes be sick," said the representative of the Marie-de-l'Incarnation District.

Then, in 2008, Narconon sought to offer a $1,000 donation to COMSEP, the organization she heads. She refused. "Given the doubts we had, we felt it was preferable to abstain. We had heard about its ties with the Church of Scientology, but we weren't knowledgeable about it," says Sylvie Tardif.

At that time, several other organizations had criticized Narconon and this provoked heated discussions in the media.

A few months later, the Mauricie Health Agency [Agence de santé de la Mauricie] brought Narconon back into the spotlight when it recommended that Quebec make obligatory the certification of such private or community organizations. The Anonymous Quebec movement then came to Trois-Rivières to support this demand.

Narconon was not, however, at the end of its troubles. In February 2009, a new controversy arose over the purchase of the Vieilles Forges golf club by new owners connected with the Church of Scientology.

The administrative policies advocated by the managers were also based on the principles established by Ron Hubbard, and the training sessions were provided by a company located at the same premises as Narconon.

"I think it is up to the Health Agency to pursue things further and up to the government to make the necessary verifications. It would be beneficial for the citizens, but also for the organization," says Sylvie Tardif today.

mnql1;1204405 said:

Translation of an article on the website of the Trois-Rivières daily newspaper Le Nouvelliste, March 24, 2010:

[ed: Reports that 10 former employees have now lodged complaints with Normes du Travail regarding unpaid wages.

Narconon devra montrer patte blanche | Actualités

Scythe · Mar 20, 2010

Re: Le Soleil: Narconon Expose - March 21, 2010

bracing for epic

article should be uploaded at 5h00 AM est.

jadedanon · Mar 20, 2010

Re: Le Soleil: Narconon Expose - March 21, 2010

i was just watching crashed ice as well...translation asap please.

CowBell · Mar 20, 2010

Re: Le Soleil: Narconon Expose - March 21, 2010

Go Go French Canadians! Kicking ass & taking names.

Ann O'Nymous · Mar 20, 2010

Re: Le Soleil: Narconon Expose - March 21, 2010

Sounds good.

AnubisMTL · Mar 20, 2010

Re: Le Soleil: Narconon Expose - March 21, 2010

Scythe;1201816 said:

bracing for epic

article should be uploaded at 5h00 AM est.

It is now official, I won't sleep until then

peterstorm · Mar 20, 2010

Re: Le Soleil: Narconon Expose - March 21, 2010

Jeez. Finally.

Anonymous · Mar 20, 2010

Re: Le Soleil: Narconon Expose - March 21, 2010

nice try scilons but the truth got out anyway despite all your shenanigans. better luck next time!

Anonymous · Mar 20, 2010

Re: Le Soleil: Narconon Expose - March 21, 2010

Anonymous;1201830 said:

nice try scilons but the truth got out anyway despite all your shenanigans. better luck next time!

I really hope the health law will be enacted in canada. If so, NarCONon will be forced to shut down for frikkin good

Anonymous · Mar 20, 2010

Re: Le Soleil: Narconon Expose - March 21, 2010

the law has been voted and they have a little bit more than a year to comply with the new rules or else they have to shut down. Apparently one of those rules require them to hire a psychiatrist...lol

peterstorm · Mar 20, 2010

Re: Le Soleil: Narconon Expose - March 21, 2010

Anonymous;1201831 said:

I really hope the health law will be enacted in canada. If so, NarCONon will be forced to shut down for frikkin good

It's in the hands of the government in Ottawa now. This story has legs.

Anonymous · Mar 20, 2010

Re: Le Soleil: Narconon Expose - March 21, 2010

Anonymous;1201830 said:

nice try scilons but the truth got out anyway despite all your shenanigans. better luck next time!

Anonymous;1201815 said:

It's coming...

Let the beast come out.

Let the beast come out and play.

Stalin · Mar 20, 2010

Re: Le Soleil: Narconon Expose - March 21, 2010

This should be fun

peterstorm · Mar 20, 2010

Re: Le Soleil: Narconon Expose - March 21, 2010

jadedanon;1201817 said:

i was just watching crashed ice as well...translation asap please.

We're gonna out the google translation as soon as possible and proper translation will be in the works right there and then.

N. Ron Rubber · Mar 20, 2010

Re: Le Soleil: Narconon Expose - March 21, 2010

Uh uh. I smell SHITSTORM OF EPIC PROPORTIONS!!!

AnubisMTL · Mar 21, 2010

Re: Le Soleil: Narconon Expose - March 21, 2010

brb
/popcorn

Paul Schofield · Mar 21, 2010

Re: Le Soleil: Narconon Expose - March 21, 2010

This is so sweet - NarCONon exposed for what it is.

Waiting for translated version - won't sleep until ....

peterstorm · Mar 21, 2010

Re: Le Soleil: Narconon Expose - March 21, 2010

Paul Schofield;1201853 said:

This is so sweet - NarCONon exposed for what it is.

Waiting for translated version - won't sleep until ....

Mr Rudd needs to have a little chat with Prime Minister Harper...

They're good buddies.

Wut · Mar 21, 2010

Re: Le Soleil: Narconon Expose - March 21, 2010

Awesome! I can't wait to see the article.

moarxenu · Mar 21, 2010

Re: Le Soleil: Narconon Expose - March 21, 2010

N. Ron Rubber;1201843 said:

Uh uh. I smell SHITSTORM OF EPIC PROPORTIONS!!!

C'est vertigineux!!!!111

Anonymous · Mar 21, 2010

Re: Le Soleil: Narconon Expose - March 21, 2010

45 minutes till the presumed release time of the article...

Anonymous · Mar 21, 2010

Re: Le Soleil: Narconon Expose - March 21, 2010

20 minutes to go...

Anonymous · Mar 21, 2010

Re: Le Soleil: Narconon Expose - March 21, 2010

Intoxiqué par l'Église de scientologie | Marc Allard | Société

Intoxiqué par l'Église de scientologie

(Québec) Depuis qu'il est sorti de Narconon, David Edgar Love dort à peine. Il a des flash-backs des expériences traumatisantes qu'il dit avoir vécues dans ce centre de désintoxication scientologue de Trois-Rivières et, parfois, il devient tellement angoissé qu'il en perd le souffle.

En novembre, un médecin de la Cité-de-la-Santé de Laval lui a diagnostiqué un syndrome de stress post-traumatique. M. Love consulte maintenant un psychiatre dans un hôpital montréalais qui lui a été recommandé par Mike Kropveld, le directeur d'Info-Secte, et il essaie de ne pas avoir l'air trop somnolent à son nouveau travail.

Attablé dans un petit restaurant d'un coin morose du quartier Lachine, à Montréal, où il s'est trouvé un deux pièces et demi, M. Love, 57 ans, raconte son expérience chez Narconon, où il a été client de décembre 2008 à mai 2009, puis employé jusqu'à la fin octobre.

Révélé pour la première fois dans Le Soleil, son témoignage sur le centre de désintoxication québécois rattaché à l'Église de scientologie s'ajoute à une série de dénonciations qui ont secoué l'organisation religieuse un peu partout dans le monde, ces derniers mois.

À côté de lui, David Love a posé une mallette remplie de documents sur lesquels il s'est appuyé pour déposer une plainte à la Commission des droits de la personne et une autre à la Commission des normes du travail, qui enquêtent sur ses allégations.

Durant les 11 mois qu'il a passés chez Narconon, M. Love affirme avoir été victime de harcèlement, de menaces et de plusieurs autres violations de ses droits, en plus de ne pas avoir reçu une partie importante de son salaire.

Dans une lettre datée du 21 décembre 2009, le cabinet d'avocats qui représente Narconon, Heenan Blakie, a proposé à David Love 2550, 29 $, à condition qu'il s'engage entre autres à ne pas livrer son histoire aux médias. M. Love a décliné cette offre.

«Ils ne me feront pas taire, dit-il. J'ai des droits et je compte les faire respecter.»

Le Soleil a joint au téléphone le directeur de Narconon Trois-Rivières, Marc Bernard, qui a refusé de donner sa version des faits. «Moi, je n'ai rien à dire, je n'ai pas de commentaires», a-t-il dit. «Aucun commentaire.»

Omerta

Venu de la Colombie-Britannique, David Love est arrivé chez Narconon peu avant le temps des Fêtes, en 2008. Il était dépendant à la méthadone et à la cocaïne et avait décidé de suivre le programme de réhabilitation au centre de désintoxication de Trois-Rivières, où il connaissait un employé.

Durant les premières semaines de son traitement, M. Love dit avoir été surpris de l'omerta qui régnait chez Narconon à propos de la scientologie. Il se souvient d'avoir entendu une employée interrompre la discussion d'un groupe de clients dont il faisait partie en ordonnant : «Vous n'êtes pas autorisés à parler de scientologie pendant que vous êtes chez Narconon.»

L'employée lui aurait ensuite expliqué que Narconon voulait éviter le sujet pour ne pas effrayer les clients, leurs parents ou les «commanditaires», qui paient plus de 20 000 $ pour le traitement, suivi en majorité par des anglophones des États-Unis et du Canada anglais.

Sur son site Internet québécois, Narconon se présente comme un «programme à but non lucratif de réadaptation et de désintoxication» et se targue de compter 50 centres dans 21 pays. Il n'est mentionné nulle part que Narconon fait partie de l'Église de scientologie.

Pour Paul Schofield, qui a été membre de l'Église de scientologie pendant plus de 20 ans avant de devenir «superviseur de cas» aux centres Narconon de Sydney et de Melbourne, puis directeur de Narconon pour tout l'Australie, il ne fait aucun doute que Narconon est une antenne de l'Église de scientologie.

«Mis à part la partie sevrage, tous les cours que vous faites à Narconon sont presque identiques à ceux que vous faites à l'église, dit-il. Sauf que si vous les faites à l'église, ils vous coûtent seulement le quart ou le tiers du prix.»

Pendant qu'il était client chez Narconon, David Love dit avoir été forcé de mémoriser des extraits des livres de Ron L. Hubbard, l'auteur de science-fiction qui a fondé l'Église de scientologie et a écrit les huit livres sur lesquels le programme de Narconon est basé.

«Tout livre qui pourrait interférer avec ce processus d'altération de l'esprit et de lavage de cerveau est interdit et est confisqué», dit David Love.

En plus de lire les ouvrages de Hubbard, David Love devait aussi effectuer régulièrement les «exercices d'entraînement» prescrits par le grand maître de la scientologie.

Il se souvient de l'un d'eux, qui consistait à s'asseoir de longues heures en fixant un autre client sans dire un mot et sans bouger. Ou encore d'un exercice similaire durant lequel on lui demandait de ne pas réagir pendant que son vis-à-vis le bombardait d'insultes.

Purification extrême

Le quinquagénaire se rappelle aussi l'exercice du cendrier. «Je devais crier au cendrier : "lève-toi", puis "assieds-toi", jusqu'à ce qu'il obéisse tout seul, décrit-il. Mais comme je n'arrivais pas à trouver le bon ton, il fallait que je lève le cendrier moi-même, encore et encore.» Après tous ces exercices d'entraînement, dit M. Love, «je suis chanceux de ne pas être devenu fou».

Pour aider les toxicomanes à vaincre leur dépendance, Narconon exige également qu'ils s'astreignent à un régime intense de vitamines et de sauna que les scientologues appellent le «programme de purification», offert aussi à l'Église de scientologie de Québec au coût de 2000 $.

Pendant deux semaines, David Love affirme qu'il a dû passer près de quatre heures et demie par jour dans un sauna et avaler une grande quantité de vitamines et de minéraux chaque jour. Il se souvient d'avoir eu entre autres à prendre beaucoup de niacine, une vitamine (B3) utilisée pour réduire le taux de cholestérol.

Dans une entrevue accordée au Journal de Trois-Rivières le 17 juillet 2004 et publiée sur le site Internet du centre de désintoxication, le directeur de Narconon Trois-Rivières, Marc Bernard, décrivait les vertus de la niacine pour expulser les drogues des cellules adipeuses.

«Les toxines restent emprisonnées dans les tissus graisseux plusieurs années, expliquait M. Bernard. Lorsqu'elles sont libérées, c'est ce que les toxicomanes appellent flash-back.»

Interrogée sur cette pratique, la Dre Lise Archibald, du Centre de réadaptation Ubald-Villeneuve, à Québec, a indiqué au Soleil qu'elle n'avait jamais rien lu sur les bénéfices de la niacine pour les toxicomanes.

Spécialiste en toxicologie à l'Institut national de santé publique du Québec, la pharmacienne Lyse Lefebvre non plus n'a jamais entendu dire que la niacine pouvait aider à lutter contre la toxicomanie. Elle indique toutefois qu'une consommation trop élevée de vitamine B3 peut engendrer des troubles digestifs, aggraver l'asthme, entraîner une certaine forme de crise d'arthrite et occasionner des rougeurs et des démangeaisons.

Santé Canada recommande de prendre au maximum 500 mg de niacine par jour. Les clients de Narconon et les scientologues qui suivent «le programme de purification» en avalent jusqu'à 5000 mg par jour, soutient David Love.

Ce régime de sauna et de vitamine était loin d'être agréable pour les clients de Narconon, se rappelle M. Love. «C'était horrible. Les gens étaient malades, vomissaient et avaient la diarrhée.»

«Comme un quartier militaire»

Pendant sa réhabilitation, M. Love a voulu quitter le centre de désintoxication trifluvien pour retourner auprès de sa famille en Colombie-Britannique. Mais il affirme que Narconon a refusé de lui donner son portefeuille et ses pièces d'identité alors qu'il leur en avait fait la demande plus d'une fois.

Sauf dans des cas particuliers, la loi québécoise interdit de forcer un toxicomane à poursuivre son traitement, qui s'effectue sur une base volontaire.

M. Love se rappelle qu'au lieu de lui remettre ses papiers, on l'a plutôt envoyé chez «l'officier d'éthique» qui l'a incité à rester plus longtemps.

«Plusieurs étudiants veulent et essaient de partir, dit-il. Certains arrivent même à partir, en marchant le long de la route, mais l'officier d'éthique est appelé, et une voiture est envoyée pour les embarquer et les ramener dans les bâtiments de Narconon.»

David Love dit qu'il n'a jamais vu un client se faire embarquer de force dans une voiture. Il affirme que Narconon appelle plutôt les parents d'un étudiant ou son commanditaire et les convaint de ne pas lui payer un billet d'autobus ou d'avion.

Au quotidien, poursuit M. Love, les employés de Narconon surveillent étroitement les allées et venues de leurs clients. «C'est comme un quartier militaire, dit-il. Il y a de la sécurité, ils ont des radios. Ils vous comptent à toutes les 20 minutes pour savoir où vous êtes.»

De clients à employés

M. Love n'est pas le seul client à avoir travaillé chez Narconon. Environ 40 % d'entre eux deviennent ensuite employés, indiquait en mai 2002 Devinder Luthra, alors président de Narconon Canada, lors d'une séance du comité spécial sur la consommation médicale de drogues ou médicaments à la Chambre des communes.

Quand il était employé, David Love a notamment été responsable de contacter des anciens clients de Narconon pour compiler des statistiques sur la réussite ou l'échec du programme. Il affirme avoir reçu des courriels de nombreux «anciens» qui avaient rechuté et avaient encore besoin d'aide, ce qui ne lui apparaissait pas représentatif du taux de réussite de 70 % dont Narconon se targue sur son site Internet.

M. Love dit avoir tenté à maintes reprises d'alerter ses supérieurs chez Narconon Trois-Rivières, qui auraient refusé de modifier leurs pratiques.

C'est à partir de ce moment que David Love dit avoir réalisé que Narconon était une «supercherie» au service de l'Église de scientologie. «Une fois que j'ai compris et que j'ai cru que c'était vrai», a-t-il écrit sur un forum d'Anonymous, un mouvement antiscientologie qui a pris naissance sur Internet. «Mes yeux se sont ouverts sur la réalité des mensonges auxquels j'avais succombé.»

Dès le jour où il a remis sa démission, le 3 novembre, M. Love dit avoir reçu des menaces de Sue Chubbs, la directrice de production de Narconon.

Document à l'appui, David Love nous montre qu'elle a entre autres inscrit sur sa page Facebook les mots Ennemi et Fair Game. Ce qui veut dire, dans le jargon de la scientologie, «qu'il peut être privé de propriété ou blessé par tout moyen et par tout scientologue».

Église de scientologie: un autre coup dur

(Québec) Avortements forcés, voies de fait, emprisonnement, torture, abus sexuels, malversations, chantage?: l'Église de scientologie a été accusée d'avoir commis tous ces crimes ces derniers mois, alors que les dénonciations d'ex-scientologues se multipliaient dans le monde.

En Australie, le sénateur Nick Xenophon a réclamé en novembre une enquête publique sur l'Église de scientologie, après avoir reçu de nombreuses lettres d'anciens cadres et employés de l'organisation religieuse, dont Paul Schofield, qui s'est entretenu avec Le Soleil.

«De mon point de vue, c'est une organisation à deux visages», a dit Nick Xenophon au Sénat australien. «Il y a le visage public d'une organisation qui prétend offrir des conseils et du soutien à ses fidèles et il y a le visage privé d'une organisation qui maltraite ses membres et cible vicieusement ses critiques, et semble carburer à la paranoïa.»

Employés battus

Aux États-Unis, le St. Petersburg Times a révélé pour la première fois en juin les témoignages de quatre anciens hauts dirigeants de l'organisation, qui accusent le grand patron de l'Église, David Miscavige, d'avoir battu fréquemment ses employés.

Au début du mois, le New York Times publiait une enquête sur la difficulté pour les scientologues de s'arracher à l'organisation. Pour quitter l'Église de scientologie, le couple cité dans l'article affirme avoir eu à signer de fausses confessions sur sa vie et son travail, à donner à l'Église des milliers de dollars et à couper toute communication avec ses amis et sa famille qui sont restés membres de l'Église.

En France, à la suite des plaintes de deux anciens adeptes de la scientologie qui disaient avoir été dépouillés de dizaines de milliers d'euros, le tribunal correctionnel de Paris a condamné en octobre l'Église de scientologie pour «escroquerie en bande organisée».

Dans tous ces pays, l'Église de scientologie a accusé les ex-scientologues de mentir.

BlooAnon · Mar 21, 2010

Re: Le Soleil: Narconon Expose - March 21, 2010

Quick Google Translation with slight grammar corrections by myself (sorry if any of it is incorrect):

Intoxicated by the Church of Scientology

(Quebec) Since coming out of Narconon, David Edgar Love barely sleeps. He has flashbacks of traumatic experiences he says he lived while in the Scientology detox center in Trois-Rivieres, and sometimes he becomes so distressed that he loses his breath.

In November, a doctor at the Cité de la Santé de Laval, diagnosed him with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Mr. Love now consults a psychiatrist in a hospital in Montreal which was recommended by Mike Kropveld, the director of Info-Cult, and he tries not to seem too sleepy to his new job.

Seated in a small restaurant in a bleak corner of the district Lachine, Montreal, where he found two pieces and a half, Mr. Love, 57, recounts his experience with Narconon, where he has been a customer of December 2008 to May 2009 and used until the end of October.

Revealed for the first time in The Sun, his testimony on the detoxification center in Quebec linked to the Church of Scientology adds to a series of disclosures that have shaken the religious organization around the world in recent months.

Beside him, David Love has placed a briefcase full of documents on which it relied to file a complaint with the Commission on Human Rights and another to the Standards Commission's work, who are investigating his allegations.

During the 11 months he spent at Narconon, Mr. Love says he was victim of harassment, threats and many other violations of his rights, in addition to not receiving a significant portion of his salary.

In a letter dated December 21, 2009, the law firm representing Narconon Heenan Blakie, suggested to David Love in $2550.29, provided that inter alia undertakes not to deliver its story to the media. Mr. Love declined the offer.

"They will not silence me," he said. "I have rights and I intend to use them. "

The Sun has joined the telephone director of Narconon Trois-Rivieres, Marc Bernard, who declined to give his version of events. "I have nothing to say, I have no comment," he said. "No comment."

Omerta
Coming from British Columbia, David Love arrived at Narconon shortly before the holidays in 2008. He was addicted to methadone and cocaine and had decided to follow the rehabilitation program of rehab Trois-Rivieres, where he knew an employee.

During the first weeks of treatment, Mr. Love said he was surprised by the code of silence that reigned at Narconon about Scientology. He remembers hearing a used interrupt the discussion of a client group to which he belonged and ordered: "You're not allowed to talk about Scientology while you're at Narconon."

The employee would have further explained that Narconon would avoid the subject to avoid scaring clients, their parents or "sponsors" who pay more than $20,000 for treatment, followed by predominantly English-speaking United States and English Canada.

On its website Quebec, Narconon is as a "program for non-profit rehabilitation and detoxification" and boasts to have 50 centers in 21 countries. It is nowhere mentioned that Narconon is part of the Church of Scientology.

For Paul Schofield, who was a member of the Church of Scientology for over 20 years before becoming a "case supervisor" for Narconon centers in Sydney and Melbourne, and Director of Narconon for all Australia, there is no doubt that Narconon is a branch of the Church of Scientology.

"Apart from the withdrawal part, all courses that you make Narconon are almost identical to the one you made to the church," he said. Except that if you do them at church, they will cost only a quarter or a third the price. "

While he was a customer at Narconon, David Love says she was forced to memorize excerpts from books by Ron L. Hubbard, author of science fiction who founded the Church of Scientology and has written eight books on which the Narconon program is based.

"Any book that could interfere with this process of alteration of the mind and brain washing is prohibited and will be confiscated," said David Love.

In addition to reading the works of Hubbard, David Love was also regularly conduct "training exercises" prescribed by the grand master of Scientology.

He remembers one of them who was to sit for long hours fixing another customer without saying a word and without moving. Or a similar exercise in which they asked him not to react during a continual bombing of insults.

Purification Rundown
The fifties also remember the year of the ashtray. "I was screaming at the ashtray: stand!" then "sit!" until he obeys himself, describes it. But since I could not find the right tone, I had to lift the ashtray myself again and again. "After all these training exercises," says Love, "I'm lucky not to have gone mad. "

To help addicts overcome their addiction, Narconon also requires that they bind themselves to a severe regime of vitamins and sauna that Scientologists call the "Purification Program", also offered to the Church of Scientology of Quebec at cost $2,000.

For two weeks, David Love said he had to spend almost four hours a day in a sauna and swallow large amounts of vitamins and minerals. He recalls having had inter alia to take a lot of niacin, a vitamin (B3) used to reduce cholesterol.

In an interview with the Journal de Trois-Rivières July 17, 2004 and published on the website of the detoxification center, the director of Narconon Trois-Rivieres, Marc Bernard, described the virtues of niacin to expel drugs from fat cells.

"The toxins are trapped in fatty tissues for several years," Mr. Bernard explained. "When released, this is what addicts call flashbacks."

When asked about the practice, Dr. Lise Archibald Rehabilitation Center Ubald-Villeneuve in Quebec, told the Sun she had never read anything about the benefits of niacin for drug addicts.

Specialist in Toxicology at the National Institute of Public Health of Quebec, the pharmacist Lyse Lefebvre either never heard that niacin could help fight against substance abuse. However it suggests that consuming too much vitamin B3 may cause digestive problems, aggravate asthma, cause some form of crisis arthritis and cause redness and itching.

Health Canada recommends a maximum of 500 mg of niacin per day. Clients of Narconon and Scientology after the "Purification Program" to swallow up to 5000 mg per day, said David Love.

"This regime of vitamins and sauna was far from pleasant for the clients of Narconon," recalls Love. "It was horrible. People were sick, vomiting and had diarrhea."

"As a military air"
During his rehabilitation, Mr. Love wanted to leave the detox center trifluvian to return to her family in British Columbia. But he says that Narconon had refused to give him his wallet and his identity papers. He had made the request more than once.

Except in special cases, the Quebec law prohibits forcing drug addicts to continue treatment, which takes place on a voluntary basis.

Mr. Love recalled that rather than give him his papers, he was instead sent to the "ethics officer" who made him stay longer.

"Many students wanted and tried to leave," he said. Some tried walking along the road, but the ethics officer is called and a car is sent to the board and back into the buildings of Narconon. "

David Love said he never saw a customer being bundled into a car. He argues that rather Narconon called the parents of a student or his sponsor and convinces him not to pay a bus ticket or plane.

"In everyday life," says Love, "Narconon staff closely monitor the comings and goings of their customers. It's like a military area," he said. "There is security, they have radios. They will count every 20 minutes to know where you are. "

From customers to employees
Mr. Love is not the only customer to have worked at Narconon. About 40% of them subsequently become employees, indicated in May 2002 Devinder Luthra, then president of Narconon Canada, at a meeting of the Special Committee on the medical consumption of drugs or medicines in the House of Commons.

When he was employed, David Love was responsible for contacting former clients of Narconon to compile statistics on the success or failure of the program. He said he received emails from many previous members who had relapsed and still need help, which did not appeared representative of the success rate of 70% which is Narconon boasts on its website.

Mr. Love said he tried repeatedly to warn his superiors at Narconon Trois-Rivieres, who refused to change their practices.

It is from this time that David Love said he realized that Narconon was a "hoax" in the service of the Church of Scientology. "Once I understood and I thought it was true," he wrote on a forum of Anonymous, an anti-Scientology movement that originated on the Internet. "My eyes were opened to the reality of the lies that I had died."

From the day he resigned, November 3, Mr. Love said he received threats Sue Chubbs, the production director of Narconon.

Supporting Document, David Love shows she has among others listed on his Facebook page the words Enemy and Fair Game. This means, in the jargon of Scientology, "he may be deprived of property or injured by any means and by any Scientologist."

Anonymous · Mar 21, 2010

Re: Le Soleil: Narconon Expose - March 21, 2010

this is a full of win article!

peterstorm · Mar 21, 2010

Re: Le Soleil: Narconon Expose - March 21, 2010

[SIZE="6"]BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!111!!1!![/SIZE]

Ann O'Nymous · Mar 21, 2010

Re: Le Soleil: Narconon Expose - March 21, 2010

Great !

AnubisMTL · Mar 21, 2010

Re: Le Soleil: Narconon Expose - March 21, 2010

peterstorm;1201894 said:

[SIZE="6"]BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!111!!1!![/SIZE]

I hope it is going to be one of many. The battle damage the CoS keep getting these days is off the hook and clearly represents the end of their world as they know it. And I feel xenudamn fine about it!

Paul Schofield · Mar 21, 2010

Re: Le Soleil: Narconon Expose - March 21, 2010

I just want to say ...

Thank you, thank you, thank you, David Love

This guy has stuck his neck out and taken on the cult and created an epic win here - one I believe that will bring NarCONon to its knees very quickly.

He's exposed the CON in NarCONon for all the world to see.

And that's pretty fuckin' special - and very ballsy.

Anonymous · Mar 21, 2010

Re: Le Soleil: Narconon Expose - March 21, 2010

Dear scientology: the levee has broken. The're no turning back. Enjoy your AIDS.

YouTube - You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet

peterstorm · Mar 21, 2010

Re: Le Soleil: Narconon Expose - March 21, 2010

Workin' on better translation right now.

moarxenu · Mar 21, 2010

Re: Le Soleil: Narconon Expose - March 21, 2010

Dans une lettre datée du 21 décembre 2009, le cabinet d'avocats qui représente Narconon, Heenan Blakie, a proposé à David Love 2550, 29 $, à condition qu'il s'engage entre autres à ne pas livrer son histoire aux médias. M. Love a décliné cette offre.

In a letter dated December 21, 2009, the law firm representing Narconon Heenan Blakie, suggested to David Love in $2550.29 provided that inter alia undertakes not to deliver its story to the media. Mr. Love declined the offer.

LOL $2550.29. Cheapskate cult is cheapskate.

This is so much win. Can't wait for 1337 translation to start circulating this to our county's supervisors, mental health associations, and government departments.

"Omerta" - this a nice touch

Omertà - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

N. Ron Rubber · Mar 21, 2010

Re: Le Soleil: Narconon Expose - March 21, 2010

A miniature replica of one of David Love's balls:

Scythe · Mar 21, 2010

Re: Le Soleil: Narconon Expose - March 21, 2010

pretty awesome.

Stalin · Mar 21, 2010

Re: Le Soleil: Narconon Expose - March 21, 2010

Translation almost done

ryangiggs · Mar 21, 2010

Re: Le Soleil: Narconon Expose - March 21, 2010

Looks like the pope has his own problems to deal with at the moment.
Behind his grim face I think I can see him chuckling about the Narconon expose.

Stalin · Mar 21, 2010

Re: Le Soleil: Narconon Expose - March 21, 2010

First article, first part: (peterstorm will post 2nd part shortly, working on 2nd article)

Intoxicated by the Church of Scientology

(Québec) Since he came out of Narconon, David Edgar Love almost doesn't sleep. He has flash backs about traumatic experiences that he says he lived through in that scientologist detox center in trois-rivières, and sometimes, he becomes so anguished that he looses breath.

In november, a doctor from ''La cité de la santé'' in laval diagnosed him with a post-traumatic stress disorder. Mr Love is now consulting a psychatrist in a montreal's hospital that was recommended to him by Mike Kropveld, director of ''Info-secte'', and he is trying to not look too sleepy at his new job.

Sitting in a small restaurant in a morose part of the Lachine neighborhood, in montreal, where he found a small studio apt, Mr Love, 57 years old, tells us about his experience at Narconon, where he was a client from december 2008 to may 2009, then an employee until the end of october.

Revealed for the first time in ''Le Soleil'', his testimony about the french canadian detox center linked to the church of scientology is added to a series of denunciations that shook the religious organisation everywhere in the world, in the last months.

At his side, David Love has a briefcase full of documents on which he is basing his complaint at the Human rights commission, and another one at the work norms commission, that are investigating his allegations.

During the 11 months that he passed at Narconon, Mr Love says he was victim of harrassment, threats and of multiple other violations of his rights, he also claims he did not receive an important part of his salary.

In a letter dated december 21st 2009, the lawyer's office that represents Narconon, Heenan Blakie, offered David Love $2550.29, on condition that he engages to not tell his story in the media. Mr Love declined this offer.

«They will not shut me up, he says. I have rights and I intend on making them respected»

''Le Soleil'' joined, on the phone, Narconon Trois-Rivières's director, Marc Bernard, who refused to give us his version of it.

Omerta

From British-Columbia, David Love arrived at Narconon shortly before xmas, in 2008. He was addicted to methadone and cocaine and had decided to follow the rehab program at the detox center in Trois-Rivières, where he knew an employee.

During the first weeks of his treatment, Mr Love says he was surprised by the omerta that reigned at Narconon about scientology. He remembers hearing an employee interrupt a group of clients whom he was a part of ordering: «You are not allowed to speak about scientology when you are at Narconon»

The employee then explained to him that Narconon wanted to avoid the subject to not scare the clients, their parents or the ''sponsors'', that pay more than 20 000 $ for the treatment, followed in majority by english speaking people from the United states and English Canada.

On it's french canadian internet website, Narconon presents itself as a ''non profit program of rehabilitation and detoxification'' and brags about having 50 centers in 21 countries. Nowhere it is mentioned that Narconon is a part of the Church of Scientology.

For Paul Schofield, who was a member of the Church of Scientology for more than 20 years before becoming ''Case supervisor'' in the Sydney and Melbourne Narconon centers, then director of Narconon for all of australia, there is no doubt that Narconon is an antenna of the Church of Scientology.

«Besides the withdrawal part, all the courses you are doing at Narconon are almost identical to those you do at the Church, he says, Except that when you do them at the church, they cost you about the quarter or the third of the price.»

While he was a client at Narconon, David Love says he was forced to memorise extracts from books by L. Ron Hubbard, the science fiction author that founded the Church of Scientology and that wrote 8 books on which the Narconon program is based.

«Any book that could interfer with that process of altering the mind and brainwashing is prohibited and confiscated», Says David Love.

On top of reading books by Hubbard, David Love also had to accomplish regularly «training exercises» prescribed by the grand master of Scientology.

He remembers one of them, that consisted of sitting down for long hours, while fixing another client without saying a word and without moving. Or a similar exercice in which he was asked to not react while his partner bombarded him with insults.

Marcab9000 · Mar 21, 2010

Re: Le Soleil: Narconon Expose - March 21, 2010

It is from this time that David Love said he realized that Narconon was a "hoax" in the service of the Church of Scientology. "Once I understood and I thought it was true," he wrote on a forum of Anonymous, an anti-Scientology movement that originated on the Internet. "My eyes were opened to the reality of the lies that I had died."

LOLOLOL

peterstorm · Mar 21, 2010

Re: Le Soleil: Narconon Expose - March 21, 2010

First article, first part: (peterstorm will post 2nd part shortly, working on 2nd article)

Intoxicated by the Church of Scientology

(Québec) Since he came out of Narconon, David Edgar Love almost doesn't sleep. He has flash backs about traumatic experiences that he says he lived through in that scientologist detox center in trois-rivières, and sometimes, he becomes so anguished that he looses breath.

In november, a doctor from ''La cité de la santé'' in laval diagnosed him with a post-traumatic stress disorder. Mr Love is now consulting a psychatrist in a montreal's hospital that was recommended to him by Mike Kropveld, director of ''Info-secte'', and he is trying to not look too sleepy at his new job.

Sitting in a small restaurant in a morose part of the Lachine neighborhood, in montreal, where he found a small studio apt, Mr Love, 57 years old, tells us about his experience at Narconon, where he was a client from december 2008 to may 2009, then an employee until the end of october.

Revealed for the first time in ''Le Soleil'', his testimony about the french canadian detox center linked to the church of scientology is added to a series of denunciations that shook the religious organisation everywhere in the world, in the last months.

At his side, David Love has a briefcase full of documents on which he is basing his complaint at the Human rights commission, and another one at the work norms commission, that are investigating his allegations.

During the 11 months that he passed at Narconon, Mr Love says he was victim of harrassment, threats and of multiple other violations of his rights, he also claims he did not receive an important part of his salary.

In a letter dated december 21st 2009, the lawyer's office that represents Narconon, Heenan Blakie, offered David Love $2550.29, on condition that he engages to not tell his story in the media. Mr Love declined this offer.

«They will not shut me up, he says. I have rights and I intend on making them respected»

''Le Soleil'' joined, on the phone, Narconon Trois-Rivières's director, Marc Bernard, who refused giving us his version of it.

Omerta

From British-Columbia, David Love arrived at Narconon shortly before xmas, in 2008. He was addicted to methadone and cocaine and had decided to follow the rehab program at the detox center in Trois-Rivières, where he knew an employee.

During the first weeks of his treatment, Mr Love says he was surprised by the omerta that reigned at Narconon about scientology. He remembers hearing an employee interrupt a group of clients whom he was a part of ordering: «You are not allowed to speak about scientology when you are at Narconon»

The employee then explained to him that Narconon wanted to avoid the subject to not scare the clients, their parents or the ''sponsors'', that pay more than 20 000 $ for the treatment, followed in majority by english speaking people from the United states and English Canada.

On it's french canadian internet website, Narconon presents itself as a ''non profit program of rehabilitation and detoxification'' and brags about having 50 centers in 21 countries. Nowhere it is mentioned that Narconon is a part of the Church of Scientology.

For Paul Schofield, who was a member of the Church of Scientology for more than 20 years before becoming ''Case supervisor'' in the Sydney and Melbourne Narconon centers, then director of Narconon for all of australia, there is no doubt that Narconon is an antenna of the Church of Scientology.

«Besides the withdrawal part, all the courses you are doing at Narconon are almost identical to those you do at the Church, he says, Except that when you do them at the church, they cost you about the quarter or the third of the price.»

While he was a client at Narconon, David Love says he was forced to memorise extracts from books by L. Ron Hubbard, the science fiction author that founded the Church of Scientology and that wrote 8 books on which the Narconon program is based.

«Any book that could interfer with that process of altering the mind and brainwashing is prohibited and confiscated», says David Love.

On top of reading books by Hubbard, David Love also had to accomplish regularly «training exercises» prescribed by the grand master of Scientology.

He remembers one of them, that consisted of sitting down for long hours, while fixing another client without saying a word and without moving. Or a similar exercice in which he was asked to not react while his partner bombarded him with insults.

Extreme purification

The man in his fifties also remembers the ashtray exercise. "I had to scream orders at the ashtray: "Stand up" then "sit down" until it obeyed on its own, says the man. But as I could not find the right tone, I had to lift the ashtray myself again and again." After all these training exercises," says Mr Love, "I'm lucky not to have gone mad. "

To help addicts overcome their addiction, Narconon also requires that they compel themselves to a severe regime of vitamins and sauna that Scientologists call the "Purification Program", also offered at the Church of Scientology of Quebec at a cost of 2,000$.

For two weeks, David Love says he had to spend almost four and a half hours per day in a sauna and swallow large amounts of vitamins and minerals each day. He recalls having to intake a lot of niacin, a vitamin (B3) used to reduce cholesterol.

In a July 17, 2004 interview with the Journal de Trois-Rivières, published on the detoxification center’s website, the director of Narconon Trois-Rivieres, Marc Bernard, described the virtues of niacin to expel drugs from fat cells.

"The toxins are trapped in fatty tissues for several years, Mr Bernard explained. When released, this is what addicts call flashbacks."

Asked about the practice, Dr. Lise Archibald, from the Ubald-Villeneuve Rehabilitation Center in Quebec city, told Le Soleil she had never read anything about the benefits of niacin for drug addicts.

A toxicology specialist at the National Institute of Public Health of Quebec, pharmacist Lyse Lefebvre also never heard that niacin could help fight substance abuse. She indicates however that consuming too much vitamin B3 may cause digestive problems, aggravate asthma, cause some form of arthritis crisis and cause redness and itching.

Health Canada recommends a maximum intake of 500mg of niacin per day. Narconon clients as well as scientologists following the "Purification Program" swallow up to 5000 mg per day of the vitamin, asserts David Love.

This regimen of vitamin and sauna was far from pleasant for the clients of Narconon, recalls Mr Love. "It was horrible. People were sick, vomiting and had diarrhea."

"Like military quarters"

During his rehabilitation, Mr. Love wanted to leave the Trois-Rivières detox center to return to his family in British Columbia. But he says that Narconon has refused to give him back his wallet and his identity papers even though he had made his request more than once.

With the exception to special cases, Quebec law prohibits forcing drug addicts to continue treatment, which takes place on a voluntary basis.

Mr. Love recalled that rather than give him his papers, he was instead sent to the "ethics officer" who convinced him to stay longer.

"Many students want and try to leave", he said. "Some even succeed, by walking along the road, but the ethics officer is called and a car is sent to pick them up and bring them back into the Narconon facilities."

David Love said he never saw a customer being force into a car. He argues that Narconon rather calls the parents or the sponsor of a student and convinces them not to pay them a bus or plane ticket.

Day by day, says Mr Love, Narconon staff closely monitor the coming and going of their customers. "It's like a military quarter" he says. There is security, they have radios. They count you every 20 minutes to know where you are. "

From customers to employees

Mr. Love is not the only customer to have worked at Narconon. About 40% of them subsequently become employees, told Devinder Luthra, then president of Narconon Canada, in May 2002, at a meeting of The Special Committee on Non-Medical Use of Drugs in the House of Commons.

When he was employed, David Love was responsible for contacting former clients of Narconon to compile statistics on the success or failure of the program. He says he received emails from many "former students" who had relapsed and still needed help, which did not appear to him as representative of the 70% success rate which Narconon boasts on its website.

Mr. Love said he tried repeatedly to warn his superiors at Narconon Trois-Rivières, who refused to change their practices.

It is from this moment, David Love said, he realized that Narconon was a "hoax" in the service of the Church of Scientology. "Once I understood and beleived it was true," he wrote on a forum by Anonymous, an anti-Scientology movement that originated on the Internet. "My eyes were opened to the reality of the lies that I had fallen for."

From the day he resigned, November 3, Mr. Love said he received threats from Sue Chubbs, the production director of Narconon.

Supporting document in hand, David Love shows she has among other things listed on his Facebook page the words Enemy and Fair Game. This means, in Scientology jargon that "he may be deprived of property or injured by any means and by any scientologist.

grammar nazis are welcome.

Stalin · Mar 21, 2010

Re: Le Soleil: Narconon Expose - March 21, 2010

2nd article:

The church of Scientology, another hard hit

(Québec)Forced abortions, violence, imprisonment, torture, sexual abuses, embezzlement, blackmail: The church of scientology has been accused of commiting all these crimes in the last months, as denunciations from ex-scientologists multiplied in the world.

In Australia, senator Nick Xenophon requested, last november, a public investigation about the Church of Scientology, after receiving numerous letters from ex-employees and high ranking members of the religious organisations, amongst them, Paul Schofield, who spoke with ''Le Soleil''

«From my point of view, it's an organisation with 2 faces», said Nick Xenophon in the australian Senate. «There is the public face of an organisation that pretends to offer to offer support and counsel to it's members, and there is the private face of an organisation that mistreats its members, viciously targets it's critics and that seems to be fueled by paranoia.»

Beating Staff Members

In the United States, the St. Petersburg Times revealed for the first time in june, accounts from four ex high ranking members of the organisation, that accuse the head of the Church, David Miscavige, of frequently beating his employees.

At the start of the month, the New York Times was publishing an investigation on the difficulty that scientologists encounter when trying to distance themselves from the organisation. To quit the Church of Scientology, the couple in the article affirmed having to sign false confessions about their life and their work, to give the Church thousands of dollars and having to cut any communication with their friends and family that stayed in the Church.

In france, following complaints from 2 ex-members of scientology that said they were defrauded of tens of thousands of euros, the correctional Tribunal of Paris condemned in last october the Church of scientology for ''Organized group fraud''.

In every country, the Church of Scientology accused the ex-members of lying.

Log in or Sign up

UPDATE#3 Narconon: Psychological and Sexual Harassment

Anonymous Member

Scythe Member

jadedanon Member

CowBell Member

Ann O'Nymous Member

AnubisMTL Member

peterstorm Member

Anonymous Member

Anonymous Member

Anonymous Member

peterstorm Member

Anonymous Member

Stalin Member

peterstorm Member

N. Ron Rubber Member

AnubisMTL Member

Paul Schofield Member

peterstorm Member

Wut Member

moarxenu Member

Anonymous Member

Anonymous Member

Anonymous Member

BlooAnon Member

Anonymous Member

peterstorm Member

Ann O'Nymous Member

AnubisMTL Member

Paul Schofield Member

Anonymous Member

peterstorm Member

moarxenu Member

N. Ron Rubber Member

Scythe Member

Stalin Member

ryangiggs Member

Stalin Member

Marcab9000 Member

peterstorm Member

Stalin Member

Share This Page

Customize Theme Colors

Predefined Skins