Purification Rundown

The Purification Rundown, also known as the Purif or the Hubbard Method, is a controversial detoxification program developed by Scientology's founder L. Ron Hubbard and used by the Church of Scientology as an introductory service. Scientologists consider it the only effective way to deal with the long-term effects of drug abuse or toxic exposure. It forms the basis for drug rehabilitation and detoxification programs operated by church-affiliated groups such as Narconon, Criminon, Second Chance, and the International Academy of Detoxification Specialists. The program combines exercise, dietary supplements and long stays in a sauna (up to five hours a day for five weeks). It is promoted variously as religious or secular, medical or purely spiritual, depending on context.

Hubbard put forward his ideas about niacin in a book called All About Radiation. He claimed to have discovered that large doses of vitamins could both alleviate and prevent radiation sickness. He marketed this anti-radiation mixture in the form of a tablet, calling it "Dianazene". Twenty-one thousand such tablets were seized and destroyed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 1958.

The 1979 predecessor of the Purification Rundown was known as the 'Sweat Program' and was similarly designed to remove traces of LSD which, according to Hubbard, remained for long periods in the body. The participant had a restricted diet, including large doses of vitamins and a teaspoon of salt, and spent at least an hour a day jogging in a rubberised suit. For some, this regimen lasted for months.

The program was developed for use in Narconon, and was published in Hubbard's Technical Bulletins of Dianetics and Scientology as well as the book Clear Body, Clear Mind. Two other books describe the procedure, Purification: An Illustrated Answer To Drugs and Narconon New Life Detoxification Program: the effective purification program by L. Ron Hubbard. The term "Purification Rundown" is a trademark of the Religious Technology Center (the governing body of the Church of Scientology), though an RTC spokesman has denied any licensing arrangement with Narconon.