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Fence Post: Truth is best defense against drug abuse
Chicago Daily Herald
August 29, 2001
The July 27 editorial regarding the rise in emergency room visits for drug abuse certainly underlines the need for more effective drug prevention education. The question must be asked: Do we have a situation where one drug of choice is being replaced with another? How do the "pro-drug" commercials that are seen each day by teenagers fit into the picture? Pills for depression - pills to stop smoking - pills to control appetites. Then there are commercials for pills that don't really even state what they are for - just that you should ask your doctor if it might be right for you. The message is very clear: Got a problem? Take a pill.
As the chairman for the Drug-Free Marshals anti-drug crusade in the Midwest, I believe in validating kids for their ability to recognize the truth when they hear it. But first, they have to be given the truth, which is just what a program called Narconon does. Supported by the Church of Scientology and based on the drug rehabilitation technology developed by L. Ron Hubbard, the Narconon drug education program discourages drug use simply by telling the truth about the long- and short-term effects of drugs on the mind, and by going over the mechanics of how these effects occur.
The program also goes into exactly what drugs are made of and how they are developed. Have you ever looked at the fact that alcohol is actually a byproduct of rotten food? Give them the truth, and keep it simple - they will recognize it.
The Rev. Susan Strozewski
Church of Scientology
Chicago