Narconon A Step to Freedom

Like a hunger you can never quite fulfill or satisfy, so is drug addiction. Nepal has had a close relationship with drugs, especially after the hippie movement in the sixties and seventies. Which even gave way to coining the name Freak Street in Basantapur, where many of the hippies would congregate and look for their next encounter with God that the fix promised. But now God can be found almost anywhere you go. With the increase in tourism and the excitement of Thamel ever-growing, it’s not unusual to be approached multiple times by various individuals promising you the experience “you are looking for”.
With the continuous effects of globalization, the culture around drugs is slowly changing. With more liberal views being incorporated and traditional practices waning away, more citizens are taking to drugs and alcohol. What slowly turns from a good night out to an uncontrolled habit steadily becomes an addiction. But, this isn’t unique to Nepal; with the drug and alcohol epidemic becoming a deadly issue around the world, WHO reported in 2014 that one in two-thousand people will die of alcohol consumption.
Even more alarming is when we focus on drugs in Nepal. In a report conducted by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) in collaboration with the Ministry of Home Affairs, they reported that, from 2063 to 2069, the number of current hard drug users (CHDU) had increased by 98% (46,309 to 91,534). With 93.1% of CHDUs being male, the majority of drug users are found in Kathmandu (36,998).
These staggering numbers are the reason why the former SSP, a Freedom Medal Winner and Director of Narconon Nepal, Basanta Raj Kunwar, became passionate about assisting the people he saw losing the battle to drugs every day. He worked tirelessly to put drug dealers away and combat the ever-growing drug trade in Nepal. But sadly, he felt he was fighting an uphill battle. Through this experience, he turned to Narconon, where he was inspired by their drug-free method to recovery, and the idea that addiction is not an incurable disease.
Where, in 2004, he brought the Narconon program to Nepal, which has been operating in Kathmandu since then. Now there are three facilities, including the new state-of-the-art Drug Rehabilitation Center atop Hubbard’s Peak that was built in 2013. With the building complete, Narconon now has a facility that can house up to 100 students at a time.
Basanta Kunwar is ecstatic about the progress the organization has made since its opening in 2004, stating, “I have seen countless individuals come through the Narconon doors from all over Nepal, India, and south Asia, and transform their lives. The success of this program here must be attributed to the humanitarian L. Ron Hubbard, who designed and developed the drug rehabilitation technology; as well as the dedicated staff that we have working here.”
While touring the facility and meeting the staff, you can see why Basanta is so proud of them. With that warm family feeling all around, you can see the smiles on the staff members and their attentiveness to the students. While working through the program’s various stages, which they spend 90 days in total at the three different facilities, each staff member is trained and specializes in managing the needs and desires of the students, both during the programs, as well as during communal time, which helps build support groups and relationships for the students.
Whereas most drug rehabilitation centers in Nepal focus only on peer-to-peer support systems, Narconon’s programs start with a mentality of responsibility. This was something that both Basanta as well as Vishal—a former addict and student himself, now working for Narconon— emphasized.
Vishal, now the Division 1 administrative head, shares, “I had a difficult time during my twenties, when I began using drugs and alcohol.” Though he was holding a significant role at his job after obtaining his masters, he started to use brown sugar to cope. “After self-admission into Narconon, things began to be clear to me. I first thought of myself as a normal person with no problems, but started to realize the damaging effects the drugs had on me.” He saw just how emotionally unintelligent he had become; how he didn’t care about anything but when the next time he would be using; and how self-centered he was.
Continuing with his self-realization, he started recognizing that drug addiction affects people from all walks of life—elderly people, economically stable people, poor people, people of every caste, people with the best of jobs, and people with the worst of jobs. This is when he realized that drug addiction is something that affects everyone.
After completing the program, he was able to become drug- and alcohol-free. But, he wasn’t finished with Narconon yet, “I decided to take up a position with Narconon to give back to the community, as I was a part of it for so long.” Now, as a success story, he looks to help out all the students in any way he can. He champions the lifestyle of being drug-free, and encourages everyone that they can be, too.
Vishal went on to describe the program and the difficulties that students face in their recovery process, and why the program steps are so crucial. First, the program sets out to have students learn important communication techniques, as many of them have lost the ability to communicate properly with family members and friends. The program also focuses on building proper decision-making skills, as these tend to break down, and it becomes difficult to determine what one should and shouldn’t do. Another crucial skill that is focused on is ethics, which is imperative for the reintegration of students back into their families, a major component to the program. Basanta had a special message: “The main goal of this program is not only to help students recover from drug addiction, but also to reunite them with their family and support network. Narconon wants to give them the chance to start a new life with their loved ones.”
Narconon is one of many facilities in Nepal helping individuals battle drug addiction, but more needs to be done. First, there are limited facilities and programs for women to receive treatment; though they make up a small portion of drug users, they can be more vulnerable than men. This stems from the risk of unwanted pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, and the societal backlash they receive. Nepal needs to create facilities and support systems like Narconon for women in order to help the marginalized community.
Secondly, in order to help combat the increase in drug usage, there needs to be more enforcement by the police. Nepal currently has the regulations in place to criminalize drug usage, but the funding and the means to enforce the crimes is lacking. Drug and alcohol usage have been on the rise all around the world, resulting in countless deaths. With the media now demonstrating how fashionable it is to consume them, people will continue to be influenced. Either to be fashionable, or to numb one’s pain, drugs are an issue that is here to stay. Luckily, we now have the means with Narconon and other institutions like it to raise awareness about the harmful effects of drugs, as well as to help people in their rehabilitation.
Though drug usage and addicts will continue to be prevalent in society, it doesn’t have to have the same detrimental effect on society or individuals it once did. We can look to inspirations and success stories like Vishal and show that once an addict doesn’t mean always an addict.