Drug prevention initiative helps protect youth of the country from the ravages of addiction.

The urgent need for drug prevention in Macedonia is highlighted by several significant factors:

• In December, Macedonia’s Public Prosecutor’s Office discovered the biggest synthetic drugs laboratory in Southeast Europe in the northwestern city of Tetovo.
• Most of the heroin from Afghanistan flows in to Western Europe through the Balkans.
• Macedonia is also a minor transit point for South American cocaine destined for Europe.

Last year, a project to translate the Drug-Free World educational materials into Macedonian was launched by the Hungary chapter of the Foundation for a Drug-Free World, the Church of Scientology of Budapest and the Church of Scientology Mission of Skopje. With booklets now available, the Foundation’s Macedonia chapter has launched its campaign to educate people of all ages on the harmful effects of drugs.

The Church of Scientology and its members support the Foundation for a Drug-Free World, a secular nonprofit corporation that empowers youth and adults with factual information about drugs so they can make informed decisions to live drug-free. The Foundation’s Truth About Drugs campaign is one of the world’s largest nongovernmental drug education and prevention initiatives. Thanks to this support, the Foundation provides drug education booklets, videos and educator guides free of charge to teachers, mentors and civic and community leaders.

According to the United Nations Office on Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, “Every dollar spent on prevention can save governments up to ten dollars in later costs.”