IN SUPPORT OF U.N. DRUG AWARENESS DAY, SCIENTOLOGY CHURCHES
CALL FOR UNITY IN ERADICATING WORLD DRUG EPIDEMIC
Drug-Free Marshals, such as these in Los Angeles, California, pledge to live their lives drug-free
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Italian Scientologists distribute booklets and flyers giving the facts about drugs at a local fair
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The Scientologists of Hungary work with city and town officials throughout the country to let young people know the truth about drugs
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At a time when illegal drug trafficking generates as much money as the oil industry — upwards of $400 billion a year internationally — and America’s taxpayers now pay more than $100 billion as a consequence of illicit drug consumption, Scientologists are dramatically stepping up their two-decade-long efforts to tackle the spread of drug abuse at its source. Leaders of the Church of Scientology International’s “Say No to Drugs, Say Yes to Life” campaign are calling upon community leaders and concerned citizens to join initiatives organized in major cities around the world in observance of the United Nations’ International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking on Monday, June 26.
Bob Adams, former American football pro who now coordinates the worldwide “Say No to Drugs, Say Yes to Life” campaign, explains, “Experience teaches us that people in general — and youth in particular — when they understand the destructive effects of drugs, and when they are provided with positive role models and the support of their peers to remain drug free, inevitably come to the conclusion: ‘I don’t want to take drugs.’ This is of course the ultimate purpose of our program.”
The UN’s international drug awareness day has a number of outspoken supporters in the Scientology community. Actress Priscilla Presley, in her June 3rd presentation at the opening of the world’s newest Narconon[1] drug rehabilitation center in Michigan (USA), stated, “In a few days it will be international drug awareness day. I look forward to a time when every day is such an awareness day, and the problems of drug addiction are in the past. We all know someone — whether it be a family member, a friend or a co-worker — who struggles with drugs or alcohol. A good first step for all of us to take in helping those we love is to get ourselves educated — then we can reach out and truly help them.”
Scientologists use neither street drugs nor any of the dangerous mind-altering substances pushed as a solution to everything from stress to being overweight.[2] In early 1987 — the same year the UN General Assembly instituted the international drug awareness day — the Los Angeles-based Church of Scientology International initiated its “Say No to Drugs, Say Yes to Life” campaign in Italy. Soon thereafter, the Church’s European effort expanded into a worldwide pledge-signing endeavor, wherein people young and old sign a commitment to live their lives drug-free. From this, a “Lead the Way to a Drug-free USA” program evolved in the United States. In April 1993, that campaign expanded with the launch of the “Drug Free Marshals,” a program that educates children and youth about the dangers of drugs and challenges them to remain drug-free and to set a good example for their friends and family members.
In the last decade, as part of their “Say No to Drugs, Say Yes to Life” campaign, Scientology churches worldwide have printed and distributed more than 8.3 million informational brochures laying out the facts about drugs. The educational effort has also included more than 280,000 drug awareness billboards and posters, 48 million fliers, 89,000 public awareness events, and 10,200 newspaper and television stories promoting drug-free living. To date more than 3.2 million people have signed the pledge for drug-free living — a figure the Churches’ stepped-up efforts will vastly expand in 2006.
To learn more about these anti-drug activities and the “Say No to Drugs, Say Yes to Life” events visit the Church of Scientology International Anti-Drug web site at http://www.drugsalvage.org.
[1] Narconon programs, based on the drug rehabilitation and prevention discoveries of L. Ron Hubbard, operate in more than 40 countries around the world.
[2] Scientologists are not opposed to the use of medical drugs, including antibiotics, for the treatment of physical conditions.
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