- Narconon and the resolution by the Council of Europe (1998)

introduction:

For more than 10 years, Narconon and several other groups known to have good connections to Scientology are claiming that the "Council of Europe" has "recognized" the success of L.Ron.Hubbard's drug rehabilitations technology and Narconon in a resolution "passed" in January 1988.

Depending on the source, these claims are changing in the given information.

Unfortunatly, Narconon did not mention a resolution number or a document code at those pages to make it easier to verify this part.

This page tries to provide the reader with enough information to draw their own conclusions

variations of claims:

A collection of the different Narconon sources with this claim is shown here (German and English).

internet research:

The Council of Europe can be found at this multilingual page: www.coe.int. It gives access to several databases with documents by the chambers of this organisation. The Parliamentary Assembly has its home at http://assembly.coe.int.

In January 1988, the Parliamentary Assembly had voted for 4 resolutions and 2 recommendations. None of them has any connection with drugs, methadone, Narconon or LRH.

A list of all resolutions of the year 1988 by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe is provided here.
A list of all recommendations of the year 1988 by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe is shown here.

No resolution from the year 1988 is referring to drug issues, methadone and/or Narconon.

Indeed, there is a single recommendation from October 1988 "on the fight against drugs" (REC 1085 (1988)). However, it does not mention Narconon or LRH with a single word.

Point 11 of this recommendation reads: "11. Referring to its Recommendation 989 (1984) and to the parliamentary hearing held in January 1988 ; "

archive digging

There was no further information about this hearing in January 1988. After some correspondation with the Parliamentary Assembliy, i.e. its Research and Documentation Unit of the Secretariat of the Parliamentary Assembly, i was sent a copy of the minutes of the hearing. I scanned them and made those pages available here (pdf):

11/01/1988 and 12/01/1988 Document code: AS/Soc(39)PV7 and AS/Jur(39)PV11

Draft Minutes of the Parliamentary Hearing on drug trafficking and drug abuse - part 1 (7.5 MB)

Draft Minutes of the Parliamentary Hearing on drug trafficking and drug abuse - part 2 (5.3 MB)

15/09/1988 DOC 5939

REPORT on the fight against drugs (Draft recommendation) (presented by the Social, Health and Familiy Affairs Committee)

03/10/1988 DOC 5950

OPINION on the fight against drugs (presented by the Legal Affairs Committee)

04/10/1988

Official report of the 10th sitting of the 40th part-session of the Parliamentary Assembly - debate on the fight against drugs

Once again, there is not a single reference to Narconon and/or LRH.

the motion

So, here's the new part.

There are two slightly different versions of this motion. One is from a FAX from Narconon Northern Germany. The Second version from the Council of Europe is shown here.

To make it clear, let me qoute a statement from the Secretary from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe:

With regard to your questions on the status of this document I confirm that the document in question is a motion for a resolution. A motion is tabled by 10 or more parliamentarians and is not discussed in the Parliamentary Assembly. It commits only the members who have signed it. A motion may be referred to a Committee(s) for report. In this case Doc 5849 was referred on 23 March 1988 to the Social, Health and Family Affairs Committee and the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights for information only . Therefore no further action was taken on this text.

COUNCIL OF EUROPE

COUNSEIL DE L'EUROPE
27 January 1988
ADOC5849
Doc. 5849
PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY
MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION

on ending the use of the drug methadone

presented by Mr Ruffy and others
The Assembly,

1. Considering that, in accordance with article 15 of the United Nations Conference to consider Amendments to the Single Convention on Narcotiv Drugs, 1961, all practical measures should be taken to assist persons whose work so requires to gain an understanding of the problems of abuse of drugs and its prevention, and should also promote such understanding among the general public if there is a risk that abuse of drugs will become widespread;

2. Convinced of the fact that drugs need to be combated as they are enslaving many individuals in our society today, and that the abuse thereof often results in untimely deaths of the victims and untold sorrow in their families;

3. Observing that in member countries psychiatrists are administering methadone via private medical doctors and directly to drug addicts as an acceptable solution for their addiction;

4. Observing that numerous international scientific studies on the subject of methadone have shown that this artificial drug has more harmful effects on addicted individuals than the dreadful heroin, making it for example three times as hard to end addiction to methadone as to heroin;

5. Considering that currently in member countries methadone, as well as being legally distributed, is legally sold by drug dealers in the streets as a hard drug, to make profit;

15.819
01.7
Doc. 5849
 -2-
6. Conscious that some government-employed psychiatrists have intentionally or unwittingly concealed the dementral effects of this 'cure' for drug addicts;

7. Observing that people have died of an overdose of methadone and that, for example, a scientific study as early as 1972 already revealed that methadone-deaths outnumbered the heroin-deaths in the City of Washington;

8. Counscious that it has been found that the number of methadone-babies (babies born of a mother receiving methadone) who suffer cot-death is 17 times the normal rate.

9. Considering that the Council of Europe should take cognizance of an study the overwhelming evidence of the harmful effects of the drug methadone, and of the evidence of an array of international studies and experts,

10. Recommends stringent measures against the legal Administration of methadone (known as the widespread Methadone Maintenance Programme), as it has not been shown in all the years of its existence that methadone cures or in any way helps individuals who have been so unfortunate as to fall prey to drugs;

11. Advises governments and parliaments of the member states to re-educate their agencies and government-employed psychatrists working in the field of drugs on the subject of methadone, thus making it impossible for this drug to be used legally or illegaly;

12. Takes notice of drug rehabilitation methods that have results (acupuncture, the Hubbard technology (Narconon), etc), without use of drugs.

Signed: RUFFY, DUPONT, HENGEL, CLINAVOS, CANNATA, BURGER,
TALAY, HASSLER, ERDEN, HENNICOT-SCHOEPGES