Conference Stresses Educating Youth on the Dangers of Drugs

There has never been a greater need to reach our youth with the truth about drugs and this was the topic at a Church of Scientology Seattle community open house and drug prevention conference timed to coincide with the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.

​According to the World Drug Report 2016, “It is estimated that 1 in 20 adults, or a quarter of a billion people between the ages of 15 and 64 years, used at least one drug in 2014.”

David Scattergood, advisor for the Foundation for a Drug-Free World Washington State chapter, presented a series of educational materials designed to reach youth with the facts about drug abuse.

Drug-Free World makes these drug education materials available free of charge to law enforcement officials, educators, school resource officers, counselors and others at the drugfreeworld.org website. They include:

• A series of 14 booklets on specific drugs such as marijuana, heroin, crack cocaine, painkillers and synthetic drugs.

• The Truth About Drugs—Real People, Real Stories documentary

• A series of award-winning public service announcements exposing the most commonly held myths about drugs

• An educator’s package which includes a curriculum, posters and suggested activities.

Guest speaker was Gerald Apple, Coordinating Secretary for the Washington Traffic Safety Education Association (WTSEA) and Traffic Safety Coordinator for Educational School District 13 in charge of 32 schools over 5 counties in Washington State.

He thanked the Foundation for its educational materials stating, “I use the [booklets] on alcohol, opiates, heroin and marijuana…. Nationally, 40 percent of all traffic fatalities are caused by alcohol, prescription drugs, legal and illegal drugs. In Washington State, it’s 45 percent.”

Given these figures, Mr. Apple stressed how important drug education is and thanked Dave Scattergood for being a presenter at past traffic safety conferences and for speaking at the upcoming WTSEA annual conference in October.

Over the past year alone, more than 7 million The Truth About Drugs booklets have been placed in people’s hands. In the past year, Public Service Announcements aired to over 83 million viewers and visits todrugfreeworld.org doubled to over 14 million.

The Church of Scientology supports the Foundation for a Drug-Free World. Scientologists on six continents work in their communities throughout the year to empower others with the truth about drugs. The Church and its members are dedicated to eradicating drug abuse through education.