It’s not often you hear of people choosing to remain in prison, but that’s exactly what happened in 1966 when William Benitz was granted release from Arizona State Penitentiary. Benitez, who was serving a sentence for drug charges, finally kicked his heroin addiction behind the prison walls and was implementing the workable technology he used to end his addiction within the prison to help the other inmates do the same.
“It was the best, but toughest decision I ever made in my life,” says Benitez. “I would have loved to walk away from that court a free man.” And with that attitude of helping others, no matter the cost, the Narconon drug and alcohol rehabilitation program was born.
This program was something near and dear to Benitez. Several months before coming upon the Narconon technology, Willie searched and searched for an answer to his drug problem. He moved, and went in and out of prison, he asked others what he should do and even went under the care of psychiatrists and psychologists with no results, always returning to the same destructive lifestyle.
One day while looking around the prison library Benetiz found something that changed his life completely. He stumbled upon a book by American author and Humanitarian, L. Ron Hubbard. Benitez picked up the book and started reading and at that moment the solution for an effective drug and alcohol rehabilitation method was right in front of him.
Benitez realized that he had finally found what he had been searching for all his life! An answer to his problems – himself! He could change his addiction, he could create a new life for himself, and he could handle the reasons why he started using drugs in the first place. Armed with this new data Benitez went to the prison authorities. He told him about his idea to start a drug rehabilitation program in the prison. After a few denials he was finally given the ok to start the Narconon program in the prison. From then on Benitez had purpose – help people realize they could be drug free and increase the abilities of the individual!
Shortly after starting Narconon, Benitez began to research his court conviction and discovered he had been tried under the wrong statue and sentenced in excess of that prescribed by law. William went to the courts and explained his findings to them; they agreed that his term was too long. However, Benitez knew that he needed to focus on the Narconon so instead of leaving prison, he requested to stay in until he could make sure that his program was completely established.
In October 1967, William Benitez left prison a free man, but more importantly he left with a new outlook on life. He saw the results of the Narconon program in prison and knew that people all over the world would benefit from the technology. Shortly after being released Benitez started the first inpatient drug treatment program Narconon in Los Angeles.
That first center grew into 150 Narconon centers in 50 countries carrying on Benitez’s vision of a drug free world. One such center is Narconon Louisiana. Located just outside of Baton Rouge, Narconon Louisiana is one of the latest additions to the war on drugs. “It is vital we educate society that addiction is not a disease” explains Jeff Lukas, Executive Director of Narconon Louisiana. “In fact most people start taking drugs as a solution to some type of problem. Once that problem is isolated and handled the person can then go on to become a productive, drug-free member of society.”
Since William Benitez’s discovery of a workable technology for overcoming addiction, thousands of people have graduated from Narconon’s all over the world. Mr. Benitez’s can do attitude has made it possible for those people to live a life without drugs, without the burden of a disease, and most importantly with the ability to change themselves.
If you or anyone you know is need of help please contact Jeff Lukas at 1-866-422-4650.
You can also visit: http://www.drugabusesolution.com/
Contact: Jeff Lukas
