On August 2, 1965, William Benitez, an inmate at Arizona State Prison jumped down from his double bunk in the old cellblock where he was housed and made the following notation on his wall calendar: "Decision to set up Narcotic Foundation." He also circled the 18th of the same month, his target date to approach prison officials to request permission to set up a drug rehabilitation program inside the prison walls.

Officials denied permission for the following six months. Mr. Benitez's request to start a program consisting of twenty convicted drug addicts, caused concern to officials who feared such a program might pose a security problem (such programs were rare in prisons during that decade). Officials had little reason to believe that the request of a habitual drug addict and repeatedly convicted felon, would result in one of the nation's most successful rehabilitation programs for substance abusers.

Mr. Benitez persisted and finally assured officials the program was needed and would not pose a threat to the safe and orderly operation of the prison. After being allowed to start the program on a trial basis, he founded NARCONON (NARCOtics-NONe) on February 19, 1966. Today, Narconon has spread from that one program in Arizona State Prison to include community programs in many states and countries such as Denmark, Italy, Holland, Germany, France, Sweden, Spain, Canada, Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Columbia, Switzerland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Australia, Taiwan, Argentina, and Brazil.

Mr. Benitez was a Hearing Officer with the Arizona Department of Corrections, the same system which once kept him under lock and key. He was married for 30 years and was a father and grandfather. Mr. Benitez passed away in June of 1999. The following is the Narconon story as he told it to us: