Scientologist Edith Reuveni, 2012 Northeast Division Community Police Advisory Board Member of the Year

Edith Reuveni, President of the Church of Scientology of Los Angeles, working to make Los Angeles County Drug-Free

For her work to better the community, Edith Reuveni, President of the Church of Scientology of Los Angeles, was honored by Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck as the 2012 Northeast Division Community Police Advisory Board Member of the Year.

Reuveni is passionate about reversing the harm illicit drugs and substance abuse has wrought in Los Angeles, where drug offenses account for the highest percentage of felony arrests and drug overdose (including unintentional alcohol poisoning) is the fourth leading cause of premature death and the 17th leading cause of death overall.

“I’ve lived in Los Angeles my entire life,” says Reuveni, “and I have seen the damage drugs have done to our city.”

Determined to make inroads against this crucial problem, Reuveni, a Scientologist since 1997, has been an active drug education and prevention volunteer for the past eight years.

A member of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Clergy Council, in 2011 Reuveni helped organize and provide the Truth About Drugs drug prevention seminars to nearly 200 clergy representing more than 60 cities. Staff and volunteers of gang intervention programs and community centers, health center personnel and members of the FBI and DEA also participated, and all who attended learned to conduct Truth About Drugs drug prevention persentations.

Reuveni helped bring The Truth About Drugs to Victorville Federal Prison, where a team of inmates trained on the program and have since gone on to deliver drug education to hundreds of fellow prisoners. She also organized implementation of the Truth About Drugs in after-school gang diversion programs through the Sheriff’s Department.

Reuveni has briefed officers and captains of various LAPD precincts on the Truth About Drugs program, resulting in more than 100,000 Truth About Drugs booklets being distributed in local parks as part of the “Summer Night Lights” anti-gang initiative. She also saw to the Los Angeles Mayor’s Office receiving 32 The Truth About Drugs Education Packages, which were used to provide drug education to youth in city parks.

She provided The Truth About Drugs Education Packages and booklets to “Mothers in Action,” which is using the program in South Los Angeles. And she introduced the program to Behavior Health Services, a network of 21 community clinics, resulting in the distribution of some 200,000 Truth About Drugs booklets in Los Angeles County over the last four years.

“The Truth About Drugs program is making a difference in Los Angeles at a grassroots level,” says Reuveni. “The booklets and videos really get kids thinking. The program changes their attitudes about drugs. And the way the program is designed, anyone can learn to use it. So clearing up our communities and making sure our kids have a chance to live drug-free is simply a matter of getting the Truth About Drugs into the hands of parents, educators, friends, community groups, law enforcement officers—anyone who cares.”

The Church of Scientology has published a new 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 to read a copy of the brochure, visit scientology.org/antidrug.

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.