Scientology’s slick (and bogus) drug education program snares another school district

 
Rod Keller once again catches Scientology worming its way into unsuspecting classrooms and police departments with its sneaky front groups…

Pulaski County in central Missouri is establishing a drug education program in its public schools. The Waynesville Daily Guide reports that the program is “The Truth About Drugs,” provided by the Foundation for a Drug-Free World. Law enforcement and school officials presenting it are unaware that the program is provided by the Church of Scientology, that there are errors in the materials, or that other schools have judged them unsuitable for use.

Pulaski County has about 50,000 residents, 15,000 of whom live in Fort Leonard Wood, a U.S. Army training base for engineers. There are six school districts, and at least four are teaching The Truth About Drugs this fall in middle and high school: Laquey, Dixon, Richland and Waynesville, which is the county seat.

Former Sheriff Ron Long brought The Truth About Drugs to Pulaski County. He was not satisfied with the program provided by DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) and found a more robust alternative. All indications are that he is not a Scientologist, nor are any of the other law enforcement or school officials in the county. A spokesperson for the Pulaski County Sheriff’s office tells us the department supports the program wholeheartedly. She was unaware the program is provided by Scientology, or that there is any controversy over whether it provides only true information. Scientology hides the origin of the materials, which do not mention the parent organization in any way.

Duane Doyle, superintendent of Dixon School District tells us the program is a response to the growing epidemic of drug use in the United States, although his district has few drug problems of its own. He was unaware of the connection to Scientology, or the falsehoods presented in the materials. Principal Nicole Hanson was also not aware of the Scientology connection. The Laqua school board approved the program, which will be presented in her middle school and the district’s high school. Attempts to reach Steven Bales of the Pulaski County Coalition Against Drugs were unsuccessful.

In May, 2017 Santa Monica High School in California planned to implement the program. When parents became aware of the connection to Scientology the program was quiety abandoned. Scientology accused the school and parents of religious discrimination in making their decision. The problem with the program is more factual than religious. In 2005 the California Department of Education found the Narconon program, also a part of Scientology, to be inappropriate for use in schools. The main inaccuracies in Narconon are the same as in the Truth About Drugs.

— Small amounts of drugs stored in fat are released at a later time causing the person to re-experience the drug effect and desire to use again
— Drugs are poisons
— The amount of a drug determines if it acts as a stimulant or as a sedative
— Drugs ruin creativity and dull senses

 
This page from Truth About Drugs contains false information that comes directly from Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, who wrote in Dianetics – The Modern Science of Mental Health:

Drugs essentially are poisons. The degree to which they are taken determines the effect. A small amount gives a stimulant. A greater amount acts as a sedative. A larger amount acts as a poison and can kill one. This is true of any drug. Each has a different amount. Caffeine is a drug. So coffee is an example. 100 cups of coffee would probably kill a person. Ten cups would probably put him to sleep. Two or three cups stimulate.

The Truth About Drugs curriculum provided calls for teachers to show a series of videos, available on DVD or on Youtube.

All drugs, whether you’re talking about alcohol, marijuana or LSD, these are all essentially poisons. It would depend on the amount you take. A lesser amount might speed you up, you feel really active. A stronger amount or a stronger dosage would act as a sedative, make you slow, sluggish, tired. And even more amounts would kill you – have an overdose. Every drug works in these stages, it’s only really the amount needed to make the effect that makes the difference from drug to drug.

When you take drugs the drug goes through your bloodstream and later on in your life that drug can, you know, come back up.into a flashback when you use the drug. You could have taken LSD one day and like a year down the road it could come back into effect and you can start hallucinating again. And it’s not just LSD, it’s every drug, so you can get hit with the effects of a drug a long time after you stop taking them.

The idea that all drugs can cause flashbacks is false. The idea that LSD can cause flashbacks is possibly true, although rare. Hallucinogen Persisting Perception Disorder (HPPD) is the name given to symptoms that may occur to chronic LSD users. An HPPD incident is not a full flashback, and there is no evidence that one LSD experience can cause flashbacks years later.

 
The false claim that drug residues persist in the body for years forms the core of the Purification Rundown, an essential part of Scientology’s Bridge to Total Freedom. Scientology claims that drugs, environmental toxins and even radiation is stored in fat tissue, and a regiment of sauna, exercise and massive doses of vitamins are required to sweat them out of the body. The procedure can be dangerous, particularly to chronic drug users. Deaths of patients at Narconon facilities have been attributed to the Purification Rundown.

If successful, county officials plan to expand the Truth About Drugs to every school in the state of Missouri. That would be a significant victory for Scientology and its efforts to make L. Ron Hubbard’s theories accepted as the solution to drugs.

 
— Rod Keller

 
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Scientology ‘Volunteer Ministers’ ecstatic to have so many disasters to choose from

Texas isn’t the only beneficiary of Scientology’s photo-opportunity teams parachuting in for the public relations possibilities. We received this report from the sharp photographer who earlier captured scenes outside the Valley Ideal Org (which led to one of our better recent stories), and who this time was on the scene in Burbank, site of the largest brush fire in Los Angeles County history…

Spent the past two days covered in sweat and ash reporting on this wildfire. I make my way over to the fire command center and the yellow shirts of Scientology Volunteer Ministers catch my eye. At first I only saw one holding a video camera and thought about how they are going to turn this into a propaganda video about all the amazing things they did to help out. Then he radios to two more opportunistic vultures and they come out of the brush as he commands them when to stop right as the approaching fire helicopters make their descent to the reservior to replenish their water tanks. Damn, it must have been such a sweet shot for their next video on how they saved three hundred thousand Angelenos from the fires of suppressive engrams. They’re helping so much! Walking all badass not even looking back at that sweet helicopter.

After I snapped the first shot I figured I’d walk by say “what’s up” and tell him to stay cool in this 100+ degree heat, but then he proceeds to tell me about his cool shots. I go about my business and make my way over to the actual command post and see more of them, sulking at a park bench looking as if they’re asking “why isn’t anyone paying attention to us?” right as they then notice me. I get looks of disdain the rest of the time I’m there. They all regroup via their radios and then proceed to stand around instead of sitting and sulking, trying to look like they’re actually doing something.

They set up at least two tents with stacks (big stacks) of cases of water which look like they hadn’t been touched. The fire command post has all the resources they need, was near drinking fountains and public park bathrooms, lots of resources coming and going. Why then don’t these volunteer saviors of humanity try and go and show some love to the firefighters on the front lines sweating their asses off since yesterday risking their lives with no breaks? Because they’d be told to fuck off? Why not go help the people who REALLY need it, like those who have been ordered to evacuate their homes that they may never see again? Why not go and help those who have lost their homes and everything they’ve ever known? Worthless cockroaches.

Sorry I’m just sickened by this. I should have taken more images but I was just caught off guard and disgusted by their presence, there, of all places.

 
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Posted by Tony Ortega on September 3, 2017 at 07:00

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