Helping Township Youth Live Drug-Free Lives

Volunteers from the Church of Scientology of Pretoria help protect youth in the South Africa township of Shoshunguve from the danger of drugs.

Volunteers from the Church of Scientology of Pretoria helped organize a park cleanup and drug education seminar July 20 in coordination with the Agape Youth Movement of Soshanguve to provide township youth the information they need to decide to live drug-free lives.

Shoshunguve was established in 1974 during the Apartheid era. Its name is a melding of the names of the four tribes resettled in the township: Sotho, Shangaan, Nguni and Venda—Shoshunguve.

The urgency of effective drug education in the area is highlighted by a Southern Times article published in July that states “Black South Africans in the townships are at the centre of drug and substance abuse and children as young as seven-year-olds are hooked on intoxicants. More ominously, even anti-retroviral drugs that fight HIV are now being used to make potent intoxicants.”

The article quotes a South African National Council on Drugs and Alcohol (SANCA) report that 5.7 million South Africans (11 percent of the country’s total population) are prone to drug and alcohol abuse and that black people are most affected by the scourge.

The Soshanguve drug prevention seminar was based on the curriculum of The Truth About Drugs, an initiative supported by the Church of Scientology. The drug education materials include booklets, public service announcements, a feature-length documentary and an educator’s guide.

Scientologists on five continents work in their communities to empower others with the truth about drugs. The Church and its members are dedicated to eradicating drug abuse through education.

The Church of Scientology has published a brochure, Scientology: How We Help—The Truth About Drugs, Creating a Drug-Free World, to meet requests for more information about the drug education and prevention initiative it supports. To learn more or 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 the 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.