Church of Scientology members take seriously the drug problem in France
With an estimated 850,000 daily users and the 2nd largest cannabis user in Europe, there is a serious drug problem in France.
PARIS, FRANCE, November 17, 2022 – France is the 2nd country with the highest cannabis use in Europe, according to the French Observatory for Drugs and Addictive Trends in a report published in May, with 18 million experimenters. The institute estimates that there are 850,000 daily users.
“Drug trafficking, which feeds drug addicts in some neighbourhoods of large cities, poisons the lives of residents around Europe and our volunteers in France, acting as committed citizens continue to regularly distribute thousands of educational booklets on the dangers of drugs,” said Ivan Arjona, President of the European Office of the Church of Scientology for Public Affairs and Human Rights.
At the initiative of the president of the French association “No to drugs, Yes to life”, volunteers from Paris and Marseille mobilized recently to inform passers-by of the dangers of drugs in the Phocaean city because to counter drug use, it is important to inform about their harmful effects
According to reports in Marseille, a major international drug trafficking network was dismantled, following the opening of a judicial investigation, a joint operation in six French departments led to the seizure on 25 and 26 October of 291 kg of cannabis resin, 13 kg of cocaine, nearly €130,000 in cash and the arrest of 22 people aged 21 to 59.
In order to inform about the harmful effects of drugs, French Scientologists and other volunteers held another information stand in Marseille. They distributed a thousand “The Truth About Drugs” booklets. Volunteers took care of parents who were asking for help for their children who smoke cannabis. For example, an educator availed herself of enough booklets for the young people she cares for. After receiving and going through the booklets, a person from a health agency decided to host conferences to help mothers for the sake of their children.
These examples are just some since the activities take place all over France. Whether in the Arcachon basin or in Clermont-Ferrand, volunteers from No to drugs, Yes to life also distribute booklets in driving schools, which are directly affected by the consumption of alcohol and cannabis by young people.
The drug problem in France is not a light one. Crack user camps are regularly dismantled and evacuated during police operations in Paris. In the district of Châtelet, which encounters many drug problems at the end of the day, Scientology volunteers distribute information booklets of “The truth about drugs” with the objective of assisting the French authorities to diminish the demand, especially by educating young people and adults who should be empowered with information that allows to take the right healthy decision on their own.
As part of this informative campaign, more and more merchants request to have anti-drug booklets displayed on their counters, as it helps them to inform their clients and reach everyone in the communities, especially the most vulnerable ones. Often authorities invest too many funds and taxpayers’ resources in non-existing problems while not putting enough attention to tackling a problem that is creating both a real security and health problem for french citizens, especially youth, and this is why shopkeepers around the country offer informational booklets in the bags of her customers. A restaurant owner told the volunteers about “the problems” she “has with some of her drug-using employees” which of course “diminishes the security and productivity of the restaurant but above all the health” of her employees.
While there is no city in France which must not be helped, Scientologists were recently more active in Angers, Clermont-Ferrand, Toulouse and of course the capital, Paris and Saint-Denis.
The non-profit association No to drugs, Yes to life recognized as a general interest by the French authorities, is a subsidiary of the Foundation for a Drug-Free Europe and the Foundation for a Drug-Free World which is present in 180 countries and has distributed more than 500 million prevention booklets thanks to a huge network of volunteers. The Association is supported by contributions not only by members of the Church of Scientology but by people of other faiths who recognized that “in the fight against the drug problem, as in general, it would be irresponsible to discriminate against anyone based on their religion, belief or conviction” said Arjona.
The founder of Scientology, L. Ron Hubbard, noted the role that addiction plays in the degradation of social bonding. He wrote: “Research has shown that the most destructive element present in our culture today is drugs. »