About the Drug-Free Marshal Program

Parents, teachers, employers and civic leaders are all in a position to help keep young people from taking drugs. However, moralizing about the evils of drugs doesn’t work. Neither do scare tactics. Answering the inevitable questions with frank, honest data, provides a young person with the information he or she needs to make the intelligent choice to remain drug free.

Experience has taught that people in general, and youth in particular, when they understand the destructive effects of drugs, and when they are provided with activities to interact with positive role models, and when they have the support of their peers to remain drug free, they inevitably come to the conclusion: “I don’t want to take drugs” —which is of course the ultimate purpose of the program.

The Drug-Free Marshals campaign is two-fold. It is about educating young people with the facts about drugs and drug use so they can think for themselves about whether such subtances will provide future benefit or harm. When given the facts, generally, young people realize, like smoking, that drugs have very serious health consequences and will decide for themselves to not participate in the drug culture. Secondly, the Drug-Free Marshals inculcate a sense of responsibility and community in young people by use of the Drug-Free Marshal pledge. The seven-point pledge helps youth realize that they too can help by talking to other young people about drugs and their effects as well as helping their families remain drug-free.

The drug education is based on 10 drug information booklets that have been produced under the umbrella of the Church's "Say No to Drugs, Say Yes to Life" campaign under which the Drug-Free Marshals operate. The booklets - marijuana, cocaine, crack, prescription painkillers, ecstacy, crystal meth, heroin, LSD and "kiddie cocaine" or Ritalin as well as an overall booklet - contain the straight facts about drugs for both youth and adults and millions of copies are now in printing for distribution at the start of the school year.

You can access and download most of the booklets from this site from the links above or you can contact us to obtain the hard copy versions. We also have a "Truth About Drugs" activities manual available which can help you help children by organizing Drug-Free art competitions, doing drug awareness lectures or a number of other activities.

The Church of Scientology has long sponsored the largest non-governmental, anti-drug campaign on Earth. Since the late 1980s, over 8 million booklets exposing the truth about drugs have been distributed world-wide along with some 48 million drug information fliers. 89,000 drug awareness events have also been staged planet-wide.

Let's give our children the chance they deserve and make sure they grow up drug free. Contact us