2013 Year in Review – Drug-Free South Tackling Drug Problem in Tennessee

Nashville, TN, December 27, 2013 --(PR.com)-- A recent study of 7th-12th-grade students revealed 10 percent of them abused over-the-counter drugs typically found in the home medicine cabinet. The U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy reports that prescription drug abuse is the country’s fastest-growing drug problem. Drugs are finding their way into the nation’s classrooms and schoolyards.

For a quarter of a century, Scientologists around the world have been working with youth, educators, parents, religious and community leaders and law enforcement officers to provide drug education to children and teens. The result is a series of drug education resources that work—a multimedia program that speaks to the youth of today, informing them of the truth about drugs and empowering them to make their own decisions to live drug-free.

The cornerstone of the program is a series of booklets that provide the facts about the most commonly abused drugs: marijuana, alcohol, Ecstasy, cocaine, crack cocaine, crystal meth, inhalants, heroin, LSD, prescription drugs, painkillers, and Ritalin.

Next is a series of 16 award-winning “They Said, They Lied” public service announcements. They are contemporary, high-impact communications aimed directly at youth.

Finally, the core of the Truth About Drugs educational program is a 100-minute documentary, The Truth About Drugs: Real People, Real Stories. The film is a hard-hitting, no-holds-barred presentation told by former users who themselves survived life-shattering addiction.

Parents and teachers can order Truth About Drugs booklets and DVDs free of charge from the drugfreeworld.org website or download the free Truth About Drugs Education Application onto their iPads or iPhones.

The Tennessee Chapter of the Foundation for a Drug-Free World, which uses The Truth About Drugs materials, began the year with a bang, visiting four counties before Spring. Each visit, the chapter delivers seminars to students on the Truth About Drugs program which includes the documentary film and educational booklets. By the end of the year, volunteers for the program had traveled nearly 5,000 miles, educating students along the way.

To date, the Tennessee chapter has visited 30 counties, delivered over 230 seminars on the program, and distributed more than 50,000 booklets to those in need.

For more information on the Truth About Drugs program, or to order materials, visit drugfreesouth.org.