Leading the Way to Drug-Free LA
Anti-Drug Initiative Launched in Hollywood

On the street and in the clubs, this campaign is providing answers to drug abuse.

Police, parents and shopowners are equipping themselves with tools to help them steer youth from the harmful effects of drugs: straight-talk booklets that explain what those effects are.

On any given weekend night in Hollywood, crowds line the streets outside of the dozens of nightclubs with names like Deep, Cinespace, The Ruby, Nacional, Circus and the Palace. Hip Hop, Techno, R&B, and even rare Brazilian grooves spill into the streets as the partying goes on sometimes until 4:00 in the morning. The rocking club scene is further proof that, with its ongoing revitalization, Hollywood is once again the “in place” to be for many of our Southland youth.

But Tinseltown’s expanded club scene brings with it another concern: the proliferation of so-called “club drugs” such as ecstasy, GHB, rohypnol and ketamine. These drugs are an all-too-familiar cause of concern, not just in LA, but in many other cities throughout the United States as well. And, as new shopping districts like Hollywood and Highland begin to draw more tourists and families into the city, worry over the possible spread of these drugs is on the increase here.

Concern over this burgeoning drug-abuse in LA area among youth prompted the Los Angeles Church of Scientology to step up its efforts to work with others in the Hollywood community to educate young people, and their parents, on the dangers of drug use and abuse.

Educational booklets on drugs are distributed by church volunteers

“Education is a formidable weapon in combating the popularization of club drugs and all the peer pressure that comes with them,” said Chel Stith, spokesperson for the Church of Scientology’s anti-drug campaign in Hollywood.

It is a weapon she says the Church of Scientology has been employing successfully with its anti-drug efforts around the world. What the Church now offers in this battle are small, pocket-size educational booklets on drugs for mass distribution: “The Truth About Joints,” “Cocaine and Crack: A Deadly Road to Personal Ruin” and the newly-published, “Ecstasy: The Truth About the Enemy Behind the Mask.”

In Los Angeles, where the Church’s anti-drug campaign operates under the banner of “Lead the Way to a Drug-Free USA,” the widespread distribution of these drug education booklets has begun.

“We have seen it happen again and again — as the truth about drugs spreads through the community, often from teen to teen, parent to child, friend to friend — that drug abuse and drug-related crime start to abate,” said Luis Gonzales, a pioneer of the “Lead the Way” campaign since 1987.

“The city of Los Angeles has been working very hard to revitalize Hollywood. The spread of drugs only undermines the effort to return Hollywood to the glory of its heyday, so we are helping to provide a solution by giving people the truth about drugs,” he said.