Church of Scientology Distributes Drug Abuse and Addiction Facts Internationally

Members, friends and allies of Scientologists and Church of Scientology missions and churches in countries around the world are carrying out an all-out international effort this month to do something effective about drug abuse and addiction in their communities.

Treating April as “Drug Information Month,” volunteers distribute copies of 13 separate drug education booklets, which give simple and direct facts about drugs. These free booklets cover the effects of drugs such as marijuana, alcohol, prescription drugs, cocaine, heroine, crystal meth, crack, painkillers, LSD, Ecstasy, and Ritalin (known as “kiddie cocaine”), and show how these substances destroy a person’s health, creativity, family and relationships.

Scientologists distributed over 3,000 drug facts booklets in Hamburg, Germany, and thousands more in Berlin and Dusseldorf. Volunteers in Cagliari, Italy helped several hundred people learn the truth about drugs, many of whom asked for more booklets to pass on to their friends.

Teams in Marseilles, Angers, Clermont, Bordeaux, Nice and Lyon, France passed out more than 10,000 booklets.  In Paris, volunteers went right to the most notorious neighborhoods in the city, passing out booklets to at-risk teenagers and youth while local police quietly stood by to guard against retaliation from drug dealers.

“Our booklets were in such high demand,” said one of the volunteers. “We had teachers coming up to us to ask for copies for their students, two medical doctors wanted them for their waiting rooms and a professor liked them so much he grabbed some booklets and joined us.”

In Amsterdam, where the sale of so-called “soft drugs” is legal and “coffee shop” is a code name for a hash bar, volunteers passed out over 500 drug education booklets.  In Auckland, New Zealand volunteers handed out some 1,200 copies at a marketplace.

Countless lives are lost to drugs. Newspapers and TV news shows spotlight the famous artists who die from drug overdose, but most people have experienced personally the loss of a friend or family member through drug abuse.  Many of those who resort to selling sex are supporting their habits. Our prisons are full of men and women who are there because they dealt drugs or are drug addicts who committed crimes to support their habits. Governments, nonprofit organizations and private individuals spend billions every year in an attempt to combat this tragedy.

Scientologists and Scientology churches, missions and groups partner with people from all faiths, professions and walks of life to do something effective to counter drug abuse.   For more information visit the Scientology video channel at www.scientology.org or www.youtube.com/ChurchofScientology