Meet a Scientologist: Fashion Designer Fights Drug Abuse in Florida and Mexico

In a video featured on the new Scientology Video Channel at www.scientology.org, Julietta Gil talks about how Scientology drives her desire to help fight drug addiction through education.

While glossy fashion ads in the media have been criticized for glorifying drug addiction by showcasing emaciated, hollow-eyed models, a new breed of fashion designer is part of a trend that is bringing drug-free living back in style.

Fashion designer Julietta Gil, 26, is so committed to the cause that she has become the Director of the Florida chapter of the Foundation for a Drug-Free World.

This chapter is running a drug education campaign in the Tampa area with 5,422 The Truth About Drugs booklets that were handed out by volunteers in a single weekend just before the start of school.

As Julietta says in her “Meet a Scientologist” video, her inspiration to start this campaign came from the religion she was brought up in, Scientology.

“I like my community work a lot," Gil says. "I was always interested in helping people, but I did not find how to do that in a way that would really make a change in their lives.”

"Scientology supports many community groups around the world and I started to help there. Then I got involved in the Foundation for a Drug-Free World.”

According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the state of Florida is a primary area for international drug trafficking and money laundering organizations, as well as a principal thoroughfare for cocaine and heroin transiting to the northeastern United States and Canada.

Gil recognized the dangers of drugs—through her experiences in the fashion world—and decided to take action to reach young people before they start using gateway drugs.

“Drugs are a problem. It’s an epidemic in society that reaches more and more youth," Gil says. "I think it can be changed. It’s simply a matter of educating them to know what drugs are and that they don’t have to get into drugs.”

As well as her work in Tampa, Julietta also worked with the Foundation in drug-ravaged Mexico to get The Truth About Drugs out to the youth in need.

“In one area I went to with these booklets there was a very big crystal meth problem," she says. "When I returned there a year later, the same children who had been scared to come near me or take a booklet, approached me and told me about drugs. It’s very rewarding.”

View Julietta Gil’s “Meet A Scientologist” video at www.scientology.org

The popular “Meet a Scientologist” profiles on the Church of Scientology International video channel at Scientology.org now total 150 broadcast-quality documentary videos featuring Scientologists from diverse locations and walks of life. The personal stories are told by Scientologists who are educators, teenagers, skydivers, a golf instructor, a hip-hop dancer, IT manager, stunt pilot, mothers, fathers, dentists, photographers, actors, musicians, fashion designers, engineers, students, business owners and more.

A digital pioneer and leader in the online religious community, in April 2008 the Church of Scientology became the first major religion to launch its own YouTube Video Channel. The Official Scientology YouTube Channel has now been viewed by millions of visitors.