Former Inmate's Legacy Saves Thousands of Lives

William Benitez started smoking marijuana when he was 15. His drug use escalated on to injecting opiates and was arrested several times on drug charges.

Because of his drug addiction, he spent many years going in and out of the prison system with no hope of drug rehabilitation.

“Benitez’s last trip to prison was for possession of narcotics,” comments Mary Rieser, Executive Director for Narconon Drug Rehab.  “He was sentenced, as a habitual offender, to fifteen years to life in prison. During his last plea to the judge before sentencing William explained all the attempts he had made over the years to stop using drugs including joining the Marines, committing himself to hospitals for psychiatric care and therapy, moving to isolated areas even marrying twice hoping that something would help him get clean. “

In spite of all Benitez’s failures he still had the desire to stop using drugs. While serving his prison sentence other inmates passed around books to keep themselves busy. Benitez was given a book by American author and humanitarian L. Ron Hubbard that dealt with human behavior. He started reading this book, and then others, studying each one very carefully. Benitez, for the first time, felt he had an answer to the problem he had been trying to solve for years: drug addiction.

William Benitez spent the following months putting together a program using Hubbard’s technology and requesting permission from prison officials to allow him to deliver this program to 20 other inmates all convicted drug addicts. After several requests to officials Benitez received permission to operate the program on a trial basis. He called the program Narconon because it meant no drugs, or narcotics-none.

This past month the Narconon program celebrated its 43rd anniversary. The program achieves a 70% success rate for permanent sobriety.  Special acknowledgement is made to L. Ron Hubbard, whose knowledge and research paved the way for the many whose lives are plagued by drug addiction.

If you or someone you know is struggling with an alcohol or other drug problem, contact Narconon today for immediate assistance.  Visit www.drugsno.com or call 1-877-413-3073. The Narconon program uses the drug-free rehabilitation methods developed by American author and humanitarian L. Ron Hubbard.

Copyright © 2009. Narconon of Georgia Inc. Call 1-877-413-3073. All rights reserved. Narconon and the Narconon Logo are trademarks and service marks owned by the Association for Better Living and Education International and are used with its permission.