ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Last November, in a cedar sauna cranked up to 160 degrees, a crowd of sweaty men read books and chatted amid mariachi music. They emerged to nibble from a tray of raw vegetables or take shots of olive oil. This is not a spa. This is Second Chance, one of the country's most unusual alternatives to the nation's prison systems. Founded by a Scientologist and former real-estate developer – and funded partly by federal tax dollars – Second ...

A Canadian Nutritionist and Graduate of the Program Talks About How the Detox Program Cleansed His Body - and Helped Boost His 'Thought Processes' TORONTO, Nov. 9 /CNW/ – Doctors, scientists and other professionals around the world have spoken and written about Narconon's Drug Detoxification Program in ridding the body of harmful chemicals and other pollutants. And thousands of people worldwide have experienced the substantial benefits the program has to offer, says the team at Narcodex. (x)(PHOTO: Send2Press.com/mediadesk/1106-S2P-Nar- Wardle_72dpi.jpg) (x)(Photo Caption: ...

New Mexico is about to become the first state to try a new approach in using longterm treatment in a lockup for chronic drug offenders. Officials hope the Second Chance Center, which opens this week in the old West Side jail, is the answer to a broken system that cycles drug offenders through courts and jails. Instead of sentencing nonviolent drug offenders to prison, judges will have the option of sentencing some to Second Chance. Inmates will spend eight hours a ...

This is KRQE News 13 with Dick Knipfing and Erika Ruiz. DICK KNIPFING: More than half a million dollars in taxpayer money has been allocated for a privately-run drug and alcohol treatment program for offenders. ERIKA RUIZ: But our investigations find the rehab facility is nothing more than a thinly-veiled program based on the teachings of the founder of Scientology. News 13's Michael Hertzenberg is here with the story. MICHAEL HERZENBERG: Erika, when you think of drug and alcohol rehab, you ...

A definition of Scientology is hard to pin down. Basically, it's a system of beliefs, teachings and rituals originally established as a secular philosophy by L. Ron Hubbard. His 1950 book Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health, provided the core principles of what would later become Scientology. Scientologists regard the publication of the book as a seminal event, and celebrate its publication date — May 9, 1950 — as a religious holiday. A central belief of Scientology is that a ...

EDMONTON - A drug and alcohol treatment program backed by the controversial Church of Scientology is promising addicted Albertans an extraordinary 70-per-cent success rate. The Narconon program is marketed as "100-per-cent natural," and prescribes intensive saunas, exercise and high doses of vitamins to cleanse the body of "radiation, drugs and toxins." Advertisements for the Narconon program have appeared in recent months on Edmonton's CKUA radio and in weekly newspapers throughout the province. Addiction experts and academics in Canada, the United States ...

Why is Janeane Garofalo touting a Scientology-linked project? The actress and talk-show host has done two segments on her Air America radio show “Majority Report,” heaping praise on the controversial New York Rescue Workers Detoxification Project, a program based on the teachings of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. On one show, her guests included Leah Remini, star of “King of Queens” and a devout Scientologist, who sang the praises of the detox project. Although the Detoxification Project has been heralded by ...

Tom Cruise says Katie Holmes is now a fully-fledged follower of L Ron Hubbard. So what is it about the sci-fi writer's 'religion' that exerts such a hold? Sara Lawrence goes undercover to find out Sitting on a red velvet chair in the middle of a majestic, oak-panelled hall in East Grinstead, I have rarely felt more fearful for my sanity. On the wall in front of me, a creepy, larger-than-life-sized portrait of an old man seems to be staring straight ...

In searching your online edition for drug-related articles, I noticed that a number of them are press releases from the Scientology organization. These articles are a good example of how Narconon combines scientific, medical fact, blended with founder L. Ron Hubbard's fanciful theories on drug abuse. The press releases" you're picking up are released on several newswires by Scientology's Public Relations office. Of course, they hope that mainstream publications will print them. The main use of these pieces is within Scientology's ...

The faded little downtown area of Clearwater, Florida, has a beauty salon, a pizza parlor and one or two run-down bars, as well as a bunch of withered bungalows and some old storefronts that look as if they haven't seen customers in years. There are few cars and almost no pedestrians. There are, however, buses — a fleet of gleaming white and blue ones that slowly crawl through town, stopping at regular intervals to discharge a small army of tightly organized, ...

HOLLYWOOD - Outspoken actor Tom Cruise has been criticized by firefighters suffering the effects of smoke inhalation from the World Trade Center terrorist attacks for his controversial views on their treatment. The Scientology devotee has urged emergency services victims to give up their medication and inhalers as part of a 'purification rundown,’ which favors sauna sessions, ingestion of cooking oil and large doses of niacin as cures instead. As co-founder of the New York Rescue Workers Detoxification Project, Cruise has also ...

Another downtown landmark has been sold and targeted for remodeling. But the 76-year-old Ramona building at Sixth and J streets won't become office condos or upscale housing. It's becoming a church - the new area center of the Church of Scientology, known for celebrity members such as Tom Cruise, John Travolta and Kirstie Alley. The church just completed acquisition of the Spanish-style, five-story building, paying $4.75 million - in cash - to an investment group headed by Harry Gerdes. The Ramona ...

Margarita Lopez is under fire for taking contributions from Scientology while giving funds to the group’s Downtown detox center, and is also at risk of losing public matching funds because of unresolved problems with her 2001 funds. Yet, the East Side councilmember, in a lengthy telephone interview on Monday, claimed she has done no wrong and expressed confidence in her campaign for borough president. Lopez blasted back at the New York Post — which broke the story of her Scientology contributions ...

The Manhattan borough president campaign of Margarita Lopez was knocked off stride this week by a one-two punch — from the right and the left as it were — about ties between the Lower East Side city councilmember and the Church of Scientology. In a series of three stories and an editorial that began Monday, the New York Post reported that Lopez was the key City Council player in securing $630,000 in city funds for the New York Rescue Workers Detoxification ...

In the 1900 block of East Carson Street on the South Side, there's an unassuming storefront that marked its first anniversary last month. It's the Pittsburgh office of the Church of Scientology, the controversial religious movement that recently captured international headlines when celebrity disciple Tom Cruise became increasingly public and, at times, combative, about his beliefs. Although the office opened here with little fanfare, Scientologists have high hopes for its growth as they try to regain a foothold in the region ...

TOM CRUISE's leap of faith into Scientology is a visible example of the religion's hold on its followers — but the Church of Scientology already has a multimillion-dollar grip on Manhattan. The controversial group, now blitzing the media after Cruise became its most outspoken advocate, has a massive city empire used by tens of thousands of devotees. And New York's church president the Rev. John Carmichael said, "Interest is increasing markedly." Its huge seven-story city headquarters was opened last year at ...

COOPER: Well today Tom Cruise's new film "War of the Worlds" hits theaters. And for the actor, a lot is riding on the success of this film. In recent days, Cruise has stunned audiences by lecturing "Today Show" Host Matt Lauer, as well as Actress Brooke Shields, on what he believes are the evils of psychiatry and antidepressant medication. Now this week the reaction from the medical community has been swift and strong. In the next half hour, we're focusing not ...

April 8, 2005 – A former civilian FDNY official raised money for a questionable 9/11 charity with a smokescreen of lies and phony props, including a fake link to former mayor Rudy Giuliani, a bogus uniform and fraudulent valor medals, fire officials are charging. Stephan Hittmann was never entitled to wear a uniform in his civilian job as a director of fire training, but that didn't stop him from buttoning up the dress blues and pinning on bogus medals of valor ...

It boasts an 80 per cent success rate, the rock star Beck is a fan, and schools are inviting the Narconon centre into the classroom. So why are some people worried? Jamie Doward reports The following clarification was printed in the Observer's For the record column, Sunday April 3 2005 In the article below we state that 'The use of ear [auricular] acupuncture in treating acute drug withdrawal began in Hong Kong in 1972.' We should clarify that in 1972 surgeons ...

Scientology: religion, sect, cult or scam? Whichever it is, its making big moves in Westville. From a car coasting up Whalley Avenue in Westville, it's easy to miss the yellow banner across the old Hallock's furniture store. Look closer: It announces the impending arrival of the Church of Scientology. The church is now housed in a small storefront a block away—but bigger things are coming. Since purchasing a small storefront from the adjacent Frame Shop 20 years ago, the Westville Scientologists ...

A poster being sold to mark the 100th anniversary of the subway has an underground message - and it has nothing to do with trains. The poster, which depicts a crowded Times Square subway station, contains what seems like an endless number of plugs for the controversial Church of Scientology. On the left side is a plug to visit Scientology's Purification Center on W. 46th St. and a promotion for a book by the late L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of ...

In September 2002, the New York Rescue Workers Detox Project began to offer free "detoxification treatment" to firefighters, police officers, and others exposed to high levels of toxic debris in the aftermath of the World Trade Center's collapse. The detox program—based on the teachings of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard and detailed in his book Clear Body, Clear Mind—purports to "flush" poisons from the body's fat stores using an intensive regimen of jogging, oil ingestion, sauna, and high doses of vitamins, ...

After a lifetime playing wholesome, all-American heroes, Tom Cruise has finally discovered his dark side. He's also ditched his publicist, moved in with his sisters and is looking for the third Mrs Cruise. So is Hollywood's leading man having a middle-youth crisis? Interview by Neil Strauss [Picture: "What sinister ambitions lie concealed behind that smile? ... Tom Cruise. Photograph: Domenico Stinellis / AP"] Want to meet my mom?' Tom Cruise asks as we walk through the halls of the Celebrity Center, ...