Voice for Humanity: Helping Baja Youth Escape the Grip of Drug Cartels

In commemoration of World Humanitarian Day, the Church of Scientology is honoring men and women whose work makes a difference.

The Church of Scientology International is releasing a series of videos on the Scientology Video Channel in commemoration of World Humanitarian day. These video presentations honor men and women who are improving the lives of those in desperate need of help.

The first, published on August 15, features John Redman, Executive Director of Californians for Drug-Free Youth.

“Drugs have no economic boundaries. They have no religious boundaries. They have no geographical boundaries. And it really affects all youth across the board,” says Redman.

He began a program to reverse the drug problem in Baja, California—a problem he describes as “horrendous.”

“Kids were ending their education early, dropping out. And they weren’t going into gangs anymore,” he says. “They weren’t even going into drug trafficking organizations. They were going straight to drug cartels and starting to work for them…ending their youth, ending their education, ending their childhood.”

His answer: to get to youth first with the facts—help them understand what it really means to themselves and their families if they decide to turn to drugs; how drugs will ruin their lives. To create that kind of impact, Redman decided to use The Truth About Drugs curriculum.

“I’ve worked on a number of educational programs on substance abuse,” he says. “I haven’t seen anything that is as comprehensive, but maybe more importantly, that is geared towards youth. The curriculum of The Truth About Drugs—it presents it in a very visual way that captures the youth’s attention.”

Redman is passionate about his work. “We really have that mission of drug-free youth, safe and drug-free communities,” he says. “That’s our mission. That’s our goal.”

The Church of Scientology supports The Truth About Drugs initiative, one of the world’s largest nongovernmental drug education and prevention campaigns. More than 800 government and community organizations have adopted these materials and some 24,000 Truth About Drugs educator kits and 62 million The Truth About Drugs booklets have been distributed in 123 countries.

To make this and the other humanitarian and social betterment initiatives it supports even more broadly available, the Church of Scientology has published a new brochure, Voice for Humanity—Real Help, Real Results.

Inspired by the words of L. Ron Hubbard, Founder of the Scientology religion, that “a being is only as valuable as he can serve others,” Scientologists wholeheartedly support these programs. Participation and collaboration in these initiatives is invited and welcomed from all who seek to improve conditions for themselves and others.

For more information, visit the Scientology website at www.Scientology.org/how-we-help/voice-for-humanity.