The Utah Legislature continued funding a Scientology-based treatment for police officers exposed to methamphetamine, despite a state-funded study that was unable to find a connection between the drug and officers' illnesses.
As lawmakers were slashing funds for other state programs, they sidestepped public debate and appropriated $100,000 -- enough cash for about 20 police officers to undergo the regimen of exercise, sauna time and large doses of antioxidants.
The funding was added by Senate Republicans in the waning days of the session, with the backing of Attorney General Mark Shurtleff.
"It didn't come directly through the committee," said Rep. Eric Hutchings, R-Kearns, co-chair of a committee that would have reviewed the appropriation. "It was just arranged, I guess, through leadership."
Meanwhile, Shurtleff said plans are underway for two "Hollywood stars" to hold fundraisers to treat more Utah cops. He declined to identify the pair.
The detoxification treatment was first devised in 1977 by L. Ron Hubbard, founder of the Church of Scientology. Some of the best-known Scientologists include actors John Travolta, Kirstie Alley and Jenna Elfman. Actor Tom Cruise, also a Scientologist, raised money for New York City firefighters to undergo detoxification after the Sept. 11 attacks.
Purging poisons? The public and private money is the latest effort to help officers who believe investigating and dismantling meth laboratories damaged their health.
Thirty-nine current or former Utah peace officers have undergone the treatment, which currently costs about $5,200 per person, said Sandra Lucas, director of the American Detoxification Foundation. It runs the Orem clinic that has contracted with the state to treat the officers.
Five more officers are about to begin treatment thanks to private donations, and Lucas says she has a waiting list of about 80 officers.
Lucas also keeps another list -- the names of 10 Utah drug officers who have died of cancer at an early age or suffered a sudden fatal illness.
During treatment, officers rest in a sauna for hours, exercise and eat a diet high in anti-oxidants and other nutrients that boost the excretory system. The regimen, which aims to purge poisons, consumes up to six hours a day for 36 consecutive days.
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