A Day that Changed the Course of History

Throughout the decades of our existence many changes in our culture were begun from the actions of an individual. Some of these actions have changed the course of history forever.

I would like to tell you the story of one of those courageous individuals and I would also like to invite you to celebrate with us Narconon's 40th birthday!

Enjoy!

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 repeat 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 became 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.

Click this link to read the full story as told by Mr. Benitez:

http://www.friendsofnarconon.org/drug_rehab/about_the_narconon_program/
how_narconon_got_started/the_narconon_story/

(if the link does not click to the page, copy and paste it into your browser).

There is more to this fabulous story. Shortly after founding Narconon, Mr. Benitez researched his court conviction and discovered he had been tried under the wrong statute and was sentenced in excess of that prescribed by law.

Upon return to court, Mr. Benitez was advised that he could conceivably be re-sentenced to time served and be released based on his eighteen months already served because of the miscarriage of justice.

Narconon was only a few months old at the time and Mr. Benitez believed the program would collapse if he didn't stay to complete it. Rather than petitioning for his immediate release, he requested a smaller sentence which would allow him to fully implement Narconon.

The court re-sentenced him to four to six years, leaving him sixteen months to serve. Mr. Benitez returned to prison and developed the program to its full capacity.

As he states, "It was the best, but toughest decision I ever made in my life. I would have loved to walk away from that court a free man."

Well, the rest is history. This February 19th, 2006 marks the 40th year since Narconon was founded in the Arizona State Prison. Thousands of lives have been saved from the ravages of drugs.

I invite you to sponsor a school in honor of Narconon's Birthday. What better gift can we give our youth than providing the real truth about drugs?

This is really a day worth celebrating. Happy Birthday Narconon!

Sincerely,

Robert Hernandez, CCDC
President
Friends of Narconon, Intl.

PS: To Sponsor Schools go to: http://www.truthaboutdrugs.org/sponsor

To donate any amount using PayPal, go to: http://www.friendsofnarconon.org
(click the "Make a Donation" button)

All our online sponsorships and donations are processed through PayPal. This makes sending your donations easy and secure.

Copyright C 2006 Friends of Narconon, Intl. All Rights Reserved. Narconon, the Narconon logo, and the Narconon "Jumping Man" logo are trademarks and service marks owned by Association for Better Living and Education International and are used with its permission.