Volunteers from the Church of Scientology Mission of Costa Rica spearhead a drug education and prevention movement to help youth live happy and drug-free lives.

Costa Rican Scientologists, proud that their country was named one of the three happiest nations on earth by the Happy Planet Index this year, are taking a proactive approach to make sure it stays that way, promoting drug-free living with a drug-awareness walk in the center of the nation’s capital, San Jose.

Costa Ricans are aware that the country is a principal way station for Latin American drug traffickers, and they understand how drug-related corruption and social ills affect nearby countries whose links to the drug trade burden their political and cultural environments.

The Truth About Drugs presents the unvarnished facts
in a youth-friendly format and in terms
that are easy to understand.

As criminal elements traffic drugs through these countries, the risk to youth of being approached to be mules or to traffic the substances locally, increases exponentially. With such easy access to drugs, it is vital that Latin American youth make a commitment—and stick to their decisions—to be drug-free.

For three decades, Scientologists have carried out drug education and prevention activities around the world, and have seen the results—witnessing that youth who become educated on drugs and know the harm they cause are more resistant to pro-drug propaganda and peer pressure.

While Costa Rica’s political leaders have worked toward improving the country’s effectiveness with a more aggressive stance against trafficking, that is not enough, say Scientologists.

For that reason more than 100 volunteers from the Church of Scientology Mission of Costa Rica, along with their friends, carried bullhorns and a 10-foot “La Verdad Sobre Los Droges” (the Truth About Drugs) banner, and walked San Jose’s streets chanting slogans. A team of young dancers in red T-shirts from the Acanda dance troupe led the parade, lending additional excitement to the procession by performing dance numbers during the event.

The volunteers handed out more than 4,000 copies of The Truth About Drugs—a booklet published by the Foundation for a Drug-Free World that presents the facts about the most commonly abused drugs. The Truth About Drugs presents the unvarnished facts in a youth-friendly format and in terms that are easy to understand.

Long known for its drug prevention activities, Scientology Churches and Missions promote drug-free living in countries the world over. This month, in particular, with the World Drug Report scheduled for a late June release, every Scientology Church on six continents is carrying out its own drug education and prevention activities in observance of the June 26 International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.