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Origins
of the Academy
Background
The global proliferation of man-made chemicals was one of the most controversial and unprecedented developments of the twentieth century.
More than 85,000 synthetic chemicals are in current production, with approximately three new substances being added each day.
The effects of this contamination on the environment and on human health are only beginning to be understood.
An estimated 700 man-made chemicals have been found in the fat tissues of Americans.
Each decade has brought new discoveries regarding the harm done by these accumulated residues.
As a result, there has been growing interest in determining what individuals can
do to reduce the impact of chemicals stored in body tissue -- or, if possible,
to eliminate them from the body.
Detoxification
In the mid 1970s, American researcher and writer L. Ron Hubbard developed a program to address the learning problems
he observed in individuals with a history of illicit drug abuse. Responding to phenomena such as LSD "flashbacks" and generally dulled perception following extended use of "recreational"
drugs, he developed a
"Purification Program" to mobilize drug residues stored in fatty tissue and to help facilitate their excretion. (A precise description of this program can be found in
his popular book "Clear Body Clear
Mind.")
By the early 1980s, word of this detoxification program had spread among both researchers and public interest groups. The concept of "low level" exposures was beginning to be broadly discussed - i.e., the notion that a single "toxic" dose might not be the only risk chemicals pose to humans,
but that prolonged exposure to small amounts of a synthetic chemical might also be harmful.
Over the next two decades researchers in the United States, as well as in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, began to examine
the use of detoxification to address the health effects associated with environmental chemical exposures.
Papers documenting this work have been published by organizations ranging from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer to the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the Society for Occupational
Health.
These publications have been broadly distributed throughout the world.
In the US alone, hundreds of libraries have requested papers for their
reference collections.
The Foundation for Advancements in Science and Education (FASE)
contributed to much of this work, enabling the wide range of
professionals with an interest in detoxification to communicate with one
another and to share the results of their work.
The Need for an Academy
An informal network began to develop among those who were actively administering the
detoxification, and this network fielded inquiries, shared findings and planned pilot projects.
In November of 1994, approximately 30 individuals with long-standing familiarity with the Hubbard detoxification program met at a colloquium in Los Angeles to share information and clinical experience.
A motion was made to establish an Academy.
It was also decided that there was sufficient interest to warrant the convening of an international conference addressing the subjects of chemical contamination and human detoxification.
This conference was convened in December 1995 in Los Angeles. More than 150 health care practitioners, government officials, scientists, drug rehabilitation specialists, environmentalists, journalists and others were present, from more than a dozen countries. Over two days, a broad range of information regarding the application of Mr. Hubbard's detoxification program were presented through a series of keynote presentations, panel discussions and poster sessions.
(Click
here to read an excerpt from the welcoming address.)
Interest in establishing a professional association for detoxification specialists intensified after second international conference was held in September 1998 in Stockholm, Sweden. Presentations at this meeting underscored that effective detoxification was needed by a wide range of professions - including police officers, environmental officials, physicians, drug rehabilitation specialists and prison officials.
A special series of presentations highlighted work being done by Russian scientists to determine how detoxification might benefit victims of the Chernobyl disaster, and a delegation from Kazakhstan presented results from pilot detoxification programs in one of the world's most contaminated regions.
The conferences in Sweden and Los Angeles had been funded by the participating individuals and their affiliated organizations. It was apparent that the interest in Mr. Hubbard's detoxification program, and the number of pilot projects either planned or ongoing, were great enough to require additional support. As a result, conference participants
requested that the Academy take a share of responsibility for locating
sources of funding for this work.
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