Editing Narconon (section)

=== Narconon Chilocco licensing problems ===

[[File:Chilocco Indian Agricultural School.jpg|thumbnail|Narconon's first presence in the state of [[Oklahoma]] was at the Chilocco Indian Agricultural School, near [[Newkirk, Oklahoma|Newkirk]]. Narconon made the argument that operating on an [[Indian reservation]] obviated the need for a state license.]]

Narconon began operations in Oklahoma in 1990,<ref>{{cite news|title=State Agency Inspecting Narconon|url=http://www.solitarytrees.net/cowen/Narconon/sources/ok211092.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140314014400/http://www.solitarytrees.net/cowen/Narconon/sources/ok211092.htm |archive-date=March 14, 2014 |access-date=5 September 2012|newspaper=Daily Oklahoman|date=21 October 1992}}</ref> as an unlicensed facility on the site of the [[Chilocco Indian Agricultural School]] near the town of [[Newkirk, Oklahoma|Newkirk]],<ref>{{cite news|title=Newkirk Center OK'd; Mooreland Bid Axed|url=https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Narconon/sources/media/ok260189.htm|access-date=5 September 2012|newspaper=The Oklahoman|date=26 January 1989}}</ref> claiming that it did not require a state license as it was operating on an [[Indian reservation]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Narconon Claims It's Not Subject to State Regulation|url=https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Narconon/sources/media/ok110790.htm|access-date=5 September 2012|newspaper=Daily Oklahoman|date=11 July 1990}}</ref> In 1992 Narconon applied for a state licence, and was twice refused by the ODMHSAS, which found "no evidence that drug and alcohol abuse education was part of the program"<ref>
{{cite news|title=Narconon Drug Center will Appeal Certification Ruling|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=VfBDAAAAIBAJ&dq=narconon%20oklahoma&pg=1280%2C4570283|access-date=6 September 2012|newspaper=Durant (OK) Daily Democrat|date=15 December 1991|page=10–A|quote=Mental Health department staff member Dennis Lewelling testified at the hearing that in studying records of the center, he could find no evidence that drug and alcohol abuse education was a part of the program.}}
</ref> and declared the program "not medically safe",<ref name="ffact1">[http://www.shipbrook.com/jeff/CoS/narconon/osb1992.html Findings of Fact regarding the Narconon-Chilocco Application For Certification by the Board of Mental Health, State of Oklahoma] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060614102514/http://www.shipbrook.com/jeff/CoS/narconon/osb1992.html |date=14 June 2006 }}, 13 December 1991</ref> a decision to which Narconon spokesperson [[Kirstie Alley]]<ref>{{cite web|title=Grand Opening: Narconon Chilocco New Life Center|url=http://www.abandonedok.com/wp-content/gallery/chilocco-historic-photos/narcanon-chilocco.jpg|publisher=Narconon Chilocco|access-date=5 September 2012|date=29 June 1990}}</ref> responded, "The arrogance and irresponsibility of the mental health board will not survive the outrage of the many thousands of parents, graduates and supporters from the scientific community".<ref>{{cite news|title=Drug Center Controversy Continues|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=V_BDAAAAIBAJ&dq=oklahoman%20narconon&pg=3023%2C4968078|access-date=5 September 2012|newspaper=Durant Daily Democrat, The|date=17 December 1991}}</ref>

Between 1989 and 1992, Narconon, through Scientology attorney [[Tim Bowles (attorney)|Tim Bowles]], filed lawsuits against the ODMHSAS;<ref>
{{cite court | litigants=Narconon International v. Oklahoma Board of Mental Health & Substance Abuse |court=SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA |date=7 October 1992 |url=http://www.oscn.net/applications/oscn/GetCaseInformation.asp?submitted=true&viewtype=caseGeneral&casemasterID=58298&db=Appellate }}
</ref> its members;<ref>{{cite court |litigants=Narconon International, Inc. v. Anderson |court=SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA |date=7 December 1991 |url=http://www.oscn.net/applications/oscn/GetCaseInformation.asp?submitted=true&viewtype=caseGeneral&casemasterID=56259&db=Appellate }}</ref><ref>{{cite court |litigants=Narconon International, Inc. v. Anderson |court=SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA |url=http://www.oscn.net/applications/oscn/GetCaseInformation.asp?submitted=true&viewtype=caseGeneral&casemasterID=56475&db=Appellate |date=20 August 1991 }}</ref> and local newspaper editor Robert Lobsinger, who had written about Narconon's Scientology connection.<ref>{{cite news|title=Editor Risks Jail Rather Than Pay Narconon Court Costs|url=https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Narconon/sources/media/ap040792.htm|access-date=5 September 2012|newspaper=Associated Press|date=4 July 1992}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Narconon-Chilocco Drug Treatment Plant May Be Part of Notorious Religious Cult|url=https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Narconon/sources/media/hj270489.htm|access-date=6 September 2012|newspaper=Newkirk Herald Journal|date=27 April 1989}}</ref> Narconon contacted the Mayor of Newkirk's 12-year-old son at a library,<ref>
{{cite news|title=Scientology's Oklahoma Nemesis, Bob Lobsinger: "They Lied Every Step of the Way"|url=http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2012/08/scientology_bob_lobsinger.php|access-date=5 September 2012|newspaper=Village Voice, The|date=16 August 2012|quote="They sent one guy around trying to talk to the mayor. He knew who the mayor's kid was, somehow. So he followed the kid into the library and told him he need to talk to his dad. Then he gave him his card," Lobsinger says. "It was just to let the mayor know they knew where his kid was."|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120825112527/http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2012/08/scientology_bob_lobsinger.php|archive-date=25 August 2012}}</ref> and hired private detectives to research Narconon's opponents, leading residents to fear retribution if they spoke out against the organization.<ref>{{cite news |title=On the Offensive Against an Array of Suspected Foes |url=https://www.latimes.com/local/la-scientology062990x-story.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080421025309/http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-scientology062990x,0,138179,full.story|url-status=live |archive-date=21 April 2008|access-date=13 September 2012 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=29 June 1990 |author=Joel Sappell |author2=Robert W. Welkos |quote="People who claim that I have conducted an improper investigation against them probably have so many things to hide," said Ingram.  Church lawyer Cooley backed the investigator, saying: "I know of no impropriety that has ever been engaged in by Mr. Ingram or any other (private investigator) for the church. Mr. Ingram has done nothing wrong."  ... Scientology attorneys in September mailed an "open letter" to many of Newkirk's 2,500 residents announcing that Ingram had been hired to investigate Narconon's adversaries. ... Ingram tracked down the mayor's 12-year-old son at the local public library, handed him a business card and told the boy to have his father call, Lobsinger said. "It was just a subtle bit of intimidation," he said. "It certainly did not do the mother much good. She was very unnerved."  ... "They have a standard pattern," Bilger said of the Scientologists. "They try to be very aggressive. They try to intimidate. This is not the kind of atmosphere we need in the Newkirk community. . . . This tells me they are far from being harmless."}}
</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=New drug clinic splinters Oklahoma town / Oklahoma residents fear being labeled a 'cult town'|url=http://i.imgur.com/VDwkC.png|access-date=5 September 2012|newspaper=[[The Dallas Morning News]]|date=30 July 1989|quote=several residents declined to be quoted, apparently fearing retribution from an organisation that remains mysterious to them. Some said fears were heightened when the treatment center hired a private investigator from Stillwater, Okla. to help them identify the participants in what Narconon's Smith described as a "whispering campaign".}}</ref> A Narconon spokesman quoted by ''[[The New York Times]]'' described Narconon's critics in Newkirk as "in favor of drug abuse... They're either connected to selling drugs or they're using drugs."<ref name="welcomes_then_questions">{{cite news | title = Town Welcomes, Then Questions a Drug Project | work = [[The New York Times]]| page = A13 | date = 17 July 1989 | agency = Associated Press| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/07/17/us/town-welcomes-then-questions-a-drug-project.html |access-date=13 March 2014}}</ref>

Narconon achieved exemption from the requirement for state licensing in 1992,<ref>{{cite news|title=Narconon Gets State Mental Health Exemption|url=https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Narconon/sources/media/so150892.htm|access-date=5 September 2012|newspaper=Sunday Oklahoman|date=15 August 1992}}</ref> as a result of approval from the [[Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities]]. Scientology leader [[David Miscavige]] commented on the case in an interview with [[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] ''[[Nightline]]'', saying, "There are a group of people on this planet who find us to be a threat to their existence, and they will do everything in their power to stop us. And that is the mental health field. I didn't pick a war with them."<ref name="nightline">{{cite interview |subject = David Miscavige |interviewer = [[Ted Koppel]] |title = A Conversation with David Miscavige |url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZSjVOXAb8U |work = [[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] [[Nightline]] |date = 14 February 1992 |quote = DAVID MISCAVIGE: You want... you know, if you... I could have been on here two years ago and you would have brought something up, and it's over now. There have been these cases, but in the end, we come out on top, and I'm telling you, Ted, there are a group of people on this planet who find us to be a threat to their existence, and they will do everything in their power to stop us. And that is the mental health field. I didn't pick a war with them. You can ask them if they feel this way, and they will tell you that. }}</ref>

In 2012, a paid advert in the ''[[Oklahoma Gazette]]'' contained allegations from a previously unknown group named "Oklahomans for the preservation of homeland security and american values, (ohsav)" {{sic}}. The advert referred to recent TV news stories about Narconon and Scientology, named some of Narconon's critics in Oklahoma, and alleged those critics had "subjugated [their] individuality for [their] own thirst for hatred", had an "agenda of religious intolerance, racial discrimination or disdain for corporate America", and blamed them for "public disinformation hate campaigns against Blacks, Jews, Muslims and Scientologists".<ref>{{cite news|title=PUBLIC INFORMATION ALERT|url=http://npaper-wehaa.com/oklahoma-gazette/2012/09/19/#?article=1681251|access-date=18 September 2012|newspaper=Oklahoma Gazette|date=19 September 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120923033134/http://npaper-wehaa.com/oklahoma-gazette/2012/09/19#?article=1681251|archive-date=23 September 2012}}</ref> The advertisement showed the characteristics of a [[dead agenting]] campaign.