Church of Scientology Community Center commemorates its one-year anniversary November 5 with renewed commitment to create a Drug-Free South L.A.

Once known as South Central, and made famous by the lyrics of gangsta rap, South Los Angeles has risen from the ashes of the 1992 riots—determined, stronger, and committed to positive change. But the specter of drug abuse still threatens to ruin dreams, especially those of promising young people, and cut short efforts to build safe and prosperous neighborhoods.

“The best time to counter drug abuse is before it starts,” says June Middleton, Director of the Church of Scientology Community Center of South Los Angeles. “From talking to former addicts, one point comes home time after time—if they had known what they were letting themselves in for, they would never have started using drugs.”

Located at 8039 South Vermont Avenue in South Los Angeles, the Church of Scientology Community Center is committed to drug education and prevention.  The Center makes available free of charge all Truth About Drugs materials: 13 booklets on commonly abused drugs, “They Said, They Lied” public service announcements and The Truth About Drugs: Real People, Real Stories documentary, featuring former users who survived addiction.

Religious leaders, clubs and parent groups host their own drug prevention activities at the Center’s L. Ron Hubbard Community Auditorium, where the Church also provides free drug prevention training using the Truth About Drugs curriculum.

Middleton and Community Center Community Affairs Director Frizell Clegg reach out to encourage local businesses throughout the South Vermont Corridor and surrounding Manchester Square to join the campaign to create a drug-free South L.A. by displaying copies of the Truth About Drugsbooklets in English and Spanish for their customers to use and pass along.

“Education is a cure for this epidemic,” says Middleton. “Working together, we can save our children and our community by reaching our kids with the truth before they experiment with drugs.”

The Church of Scientology has published a new brochure, Scientology: How We Help—The Truth About Drugs, Creating a Drug-Free World, to meet requests for more information about the drug education and prevention initiative it supports. To read a copy of the brochure or to learn more about the drug education program, visit the Scientology website.

Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard wrote, “The planet has hit a barrier which prevents any widespread social progress—drugs and other biochemical substances. These can put people into a condition which not only prohibits and destroys physical health but which can prevent any stable advancement in mental or spiritual well-being.”

The Church of Scientology supports the Truth About Drugs, one of the world’s largest nongovernmental drug education and prevention campaigns. It has been conclusively proven that when young people are provided with the truth about drugs—factual information on what drugs are and what they do—usage rates drop commensurately.