On any given weekend shoppers in Johannesburg are likely to bring home something unexpected with their purchases—factual information on drugs.  The South Africa Drug and Alcohol Abuse Unit of the Medical Research Council says that more than 60% of the crimes committed in South Africa are drug or alcohol related so Church of Scientology volunteers are tackling the drug problem with broad scale drug education. 

Distributing drug-education booklets in popular locations, the volunteers recently greeted shoppers at the entrances of three separate shopping centers with drug education displays, delivering 10,000 Truth About Drugs education booklets to moms, dads and kids, as well as store owners and managers who were happy to give them out to their customers.  A University of Johannesburg student asked the volunteers to come to his campus and a TV show producer plans to feature the volunteers in a show on drug abuse in South Africa. 

"People were thanking us for doing something about the drug problem," said one of the volunteers. "One woman thanked us over and over, saying she had once been a serious drug addict and knows how important it is for people to have this information."

The Truth About Drugs booklets are published by the Foundation for a Drug-Free World, a secular, non-profit organization based in Los Angeles, California. The Foundation was established to meet the increasing demand for the international "Say No to Drugs, Say Yes to Life" drug prevention program, conducted around the world for more than 20 years by Churches of Scientology in collaboration with the interfaith community, volunteer organizations, educational institutions and government agencies. The Foundation also created a series of drug education public service announcements that are airing on TV stations around the world. For more information visit the Foundation web site at www.drugfreeworld.org.