Scientology Press Office

Arriving in Indonesia to help the population cope with a series of natural disasters the Scientology Assist Team has been called upon to help tackle the drug problem in this island nation.

But with life beginning to return to normal, local officials and community leaders have been asking for their help with a different kind of disaster altogether.

Although drug trafficking in this island nation is a capital offense, according to figures released last year even public executions have done nothing to reverse escalating drug use in Indonesia, where the nearly-$4 billion illegal drug industry affects all strata of the society and is responsible for more than 15,000 deaths each year. And the health department and NGOs are particularly concerned over the increase of drug use among children.

In the 1960s, with the advent of the "drug culture" in the United States and other Western nations, Scientology founder, L. Ron Hubbard, engaged in extensive research into the cause and ramifications of drugs use. He was later to write, "the planet has hit a barrier which prevents any widespread social progress — drugs and other biochemical substances. These can put people into a condition which not only prohibits and destroys physical health but which can prevent any
stable advancement in mental or spiritual well-being."

Mr. Hubbard's research in the field not only resulted in breakthroughs in the handling of drug addiction, but in effective drug prevention as well. And the Scientology Assist Team is now working with Indonesian officials and NGOs to help them develop a plan to tackle this problem — a disaster every bit as devastating as the more visible natural disasters that affect the Indonesian population.

Spread the News: