New Publication Provides the Key to Creating a Drug-Free World
The Truth About Drugs initiative, supported by the Church of Scientology, makes highly effective drug education and prevention available to communities everywhere.
The Church of Scientology International announced the next phase of its decades-long anti-drug campaign to launch Tuesday, November 13, 2012. Already one of the world’s largest and most effective nongovernmental drug information and prevention initiatives, the release of a new publication, Scientology: How We Help—the Truth About Drugs, Creating a Drug-Free World, expands the scope of the Truth About Drugs initiative, making the program and award-winning materials available to communities everywhere.
The Truth About Drugs is a secular program supported by the Church of Scientology. Truth About Drugs volunteers have distributed some 7.5 million Truth About Drugs booklets in the last 12 months alone, and, with the Truth About Drugs curriculum adopted by schools, youth groups and law enforcement programs in more than 80 nations, an estimated 10.5 million youth have been empowered with factual information to help them live drug-free lives.
Drugs are more than just another social problem. Some 120 million people at all levels of society consume illegal drugs. Almost 200,000 die from drugs each year.
The greatest toll is on the young. Every 12 seconds another school-age child experiments with illicit drugs for the first time. Drug use in this age group has risen steadily throughout the past decade and children are exposed to these dangerous substances at younger and younger ages.
“For more than 25 years, Scientologists around the world have worked in their communities to combat drug abuse at ground level,” says Tracie Parker, spokesperson for the Church of Scientology. “We have drawn on all this experience to create a program that solves the problem of effectively communicating the reality of drug abuse to teens and young adults. This makes it possible for youth to make their own decisions, uninfluenced by peer pressure and pro-drug propaganda.”
The program began in the mid-1980s with a European grass-roots movement, “Say No to Drugs, Say Yes to Life.” At the same time, Scientologists in the United States began raising public awareness on the issue with the “Lead the Way to a Drug-Free USA” campaign.
In the late 1990s, Scientologists in Europe produced a series of youth-oriented booklets containing straight facts on the dangers of drugs. The booklets were in such high demand, the Church undertook to publish them internationally. Since then, the Church has sponsored distribution of millions of booklets, fliers and posters through thousands of drug education activities in communities, schools, churches and the workplace.
Described by law enforcement officers, educators and community leaders as “astonishingly effective,” “outstanding,” and “the answer to the global epidemic,” all components of the program are geared to interest and engage children and teens.
The Church publishes Truth About Drugs booklets, banners, posters, information packets and educator kits, making them available free of charge to health educators, law enforcement officers and other drug prevention specialists. For more information on the anti-drug initiative supported by the Church of Scientology or to read a copy of the brochure, visit the Scientology website.
Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard wrote, “The planet has hit a barrier which prevents any widespread social progress—drugs and other biochemical substances. These can put people into a condition which not only prohibits and destroys physical health but which can prevent any stable advancement in mental or spiritual well-being.”
The Church of Scientology supports Truth About Drugs, one of the world’s largest nongovernmental drug education and prevention campaigns. It has been conclusively proven that when young people are provided with the truth about drugs—factual information on what drugs are and what they do—usage rates drop commensurately.