LOS ANGELES, June 23 (UPI) -- Los Angeles school officials are warning teachers an anti-drug program whose teachings are linked with the Church of Scientology is not based on science.
Known as Narconon, it reaches thousands of students in at least 20 California districts, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Wednesday.
Los Angeles is the second district in the state to issue warnings about the program.
Earlier this month, San Francisco schools gave Narconon until this Thursday to revise its curriculum or be barred from the district. Also, the state schools chief has ordered an investigation of Narconon, created by the founder of the Church of Scientology.
The church teaches the mind is composed of three-dimensional "mental image pictures." Narconon teaches drugs accumulate in body fat -- not for days or weeks, as addiction specialists say, but indefinitely -- and that they scramble those mental image pictures.
Like Scientology, Narconon teaches that sweating triggers drug cravings even years after drugs are taken and that a full program of saunas, high-dose niacin and exercise are needed to flush drugs from fat.
Five medical doctors interviewed by the Chronicle said they knew of no scientific evidence to support Narconon's teachings.
