Narconon History: Willy’s Story, Chapter Two

Narconon success

After the obvious success of the program, Willy wrote Mr. Hubbard and told him how he had started Narconon. Mr. Hubbard was very supportive of the endeavor and showed Willy that by donating Narconon books and videos and other course materials. Willy and Narconon soon started receiving hundreds of letters from other people saying how wonderful it was that people were helping to make drug addiction and criminal behavior a thing of the past. Willy was very dedicated to helping as many people as possible improve their lives.

Narconon Success

He was so dedicated that he actually stayed in prison longer than he had to ensure Narconon’s success. Shortly after founding Narconon, Willy did a little research on his own court conviction. He found that he had been tried under the wrong statute and he was sentenced to more time than was required by law. When he went back to court on the matter, he was informed that he could be re-sentenced and perhaps be able to be released that day on time served.

Options

Willy considered it and freedom sure would have been a sweet taste in his mouth. However he declined being released at that time, and instead petitioned to have his original sentenced reduced. The court obliged and resentenced him to four to six years, with sixteen to eighteen months left to serve. The reason that Willy did not opt to be released immediately was because he felt that Narconon was not stable enough for him to be able to leave it yet. He felt he needed more time working with the other inmates, getting it to a more stable point before he would be able to walk away from the prison. The sixteen to eighteen months that he settled for instead of his freedom gave him that time.  He said “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.”

Soon, word got out about the man who was a prisoner in the Arizona State Prison who had turned down the opportunity to be released. It soon turned into a major news story among many Arizona State newspapers and television stations. One television station requested permission to interview Willy and some of the other guys in the Narconon program while they were still in the prison.

Narconon Expands into Society

Once he had done all that he could to ensure the success of that first Narconon, he was released back into society, a free man in more ways than one. He went to Phoenix, Arizona and began research how to open up another Narconon outside of the prison. From there, he and his wife moved to California and started the first Narconon in donated office space. Soon, other members from the first program in the prison followed him to California to help out. With the help of many volunteers the success of Narconon soon spread. They started receiving lots of media attention for their efforts and successes. Before long they outgrew the small office space and moved into what was the first official residential Narconon outside the one in the Arizona State Penitentiary. That same Narconon that was started Bill Benitez originally in California and received tax exemption from the IRS for being a non-profit corporation, is what is now known as Narconon International. Narconon International is now the head Narconon overseeing all Narconons throughout the world.

Success With Withdrawal Symptoms

Once in California, Willy Benitez and the rest of the Narconon group continued to stay in touch with Hubbard and receive his advice and support. In light of Narconon success with drug rehabilitation, Mr. Hubbard continued to research people’s individual experiences with drugs, drug withdrawal, and drug cravings. He came upon a lot of more useful information. Originally, Narconon did not address the withdrawal from narcotics, but with Hubbard’s advice they were able to incorporate a safe and drug free withdrawal process that is still used to this day. In addition to a drug free withdrawal process, Hubbard also came upon information leading to the fact that drug are often stored the fatty tissue long after the person used drugs. That is when the Narconon New Life detoxification portion of the program was developed, to address this physical aspect of addiction.

Narconon Expansion

Narconon’s success has spread dramatically since its inception in 1966. It has spread to many states throughout the country and to many other nations as well. To date there are over one hundred and fifty different Narconon Centers located in over forty different countries. Narconon is one of the largest, and definitely one of the most successful groups of rehabilitation centers in the world. In addition, as was originally intended, it continues to have programs throughout many different prisons world wide as well.  Willy had this to say about Narconon’s expansion “It’s success and expansion are due to the dedication of so many staff and volunteers throughout the world, who have labored to make the programs benefits available to everyone in need. Staff and volunteers compensation is in knowing they are providing society and its children a better environment in which to live. My thanks go to them.”

The tens of thousands of addicts who have been helped by the Narconon program give their thanks to William Benitez. He knew, as an addict, that if he just found the right answer he would be able to get himself off of narcotics. The really amazing and commendable thing about it is that he very unselfishly made sure he was able to spread this information to other people struggling with addiction. He stayed in prison longer than was required of him, and continued to do all he could in making Narconon a reality world wide. He saw that if you could increase someone’s ability at living life, you decreased their need for drugs. One of the biggest reasons that a person starts using drugs is because they feel helpless against fixing their problems. He knew when given the correct tools to be able to handle life and problems the person would be able to succeed and succeeding and making it in life gives an individual a better feeling than drugs ever could. William Benitez, father, grandfather, and humanitarian passed away in 1999 of natural causes.