French Scientologists Wage Effective Anti-Drug Effort - Scientology Effective Solutions

The drug awareness campaign run by the Church of Scientology in France since the early 1990s has accumulated some impressive statistics.

In a single year, Scientologists who volunteer with the Church’s Say No to Drugs (SNTD) group have held more than 2,650 information events to alert the public to drug dangers, manning booths in the streets of cities throughout the country. French police have remarked on their courage, as they will enter areas worst hit by the drug problem, where dealers make their living.

The Church’s now famous drug awareness booklets — Freeing Society from Drugs, The Truth about Joints, Ecstasy: The Traitor Exposed, and Heroin: Death in the Blood — are credited with persuading hundreds of young people not to embark on a life of drug abuse. The booklets can be found in dentists’ waiting rooms, law offices, schools, police offices and private homes throughout France. Many shops and charitable organizations distribute them. The SNTD team’s posters and billboards carry the same message, often in areas severely hit by the drug menace.

In June 2005, the SNTD team produced another tour de force in the fight against drug abuse—a short film entitled “Vie de rêve” (A Life of Dreams), released to mark the international day against drugs. The project was funded entirely by volunteers and the film has aired so far on eight TV stations throughout France.