TAX DOLLARS SHOULD NOT GO TO NARCONON

Re: Detox center seeks acceptance, story, March 30. Narconon, a Scientology
drug treatment program, wants taxpayers' dollars by having the local court
system order people into the program at a cost of $7,500 per client.

The article goes on to state that the "political elite" -- such as
Clearwater Mayor Brian Aungst, Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judges Linda Allan
and Linda Babb (how can judges endorse a $7,500-per-client religious
program?) and County Commissioner Susan Latvala -- are impressed, and
Pinellas Public Defender Robert Dillinger said he "could envision courts
sending offenders there."

The article states that insurance is not accepted at Narconon. What
insurance company would pay $7,500 per client for a religious-based
treatment program "incorporating the same concepts and principles one
encounters in introductory Scientology courses at a church mission"?

Cheryl Alderman, the director of this Scientology program, is a
Scientologist herself who invested $100,000 of her own money to make a
profit. According to the story, "Drug treatment became a priority for
Alderman, she said, after an immediate family member failed to get help
from several treatment programs." That vast knowledge of chemical
dependency, plus a "staff of five that includes a certified addiction
specialist and a registered nurse" equals no validation of the knowledge,
skills and abilities needed for competent treatment performance.

As a former director/counselor in chemical dependency treatment programs at
a state prison for the Florida Department of Corrections, I just put this
disgraceful, dishonorable catastrophe in perspective. My salary was $28,000
per year, with a minimum of 50 inmates on my case load at all times. For
$7,500 I could treat 50 inmates continuously for three months and give
myself a $500 bonus. That's correct, I said former director/counselor of
treatment programs for the Department of Corrections because Gov. Jeb Bush
cut funding for state prison treatment programs as of Jan. 1, 2002.

Now taxpayers are to pay $7,500 per client as a recruitment tool for
Scientology.

Michael J. Kelly, Dunedin