SamoHi Cancels Drug Seminar After Discovering Scientology is Behind the "Foundation for a Drug Free World"

After discovering that Scientology is connected with the Foundation for a Drug Free World, Santa Monica Malibu Unified School District is looking elsewhere for drug education

District Superintendent Ben Drati made the announcement in a Robocall to parents Friday night. The embarrassing gaffe comes as SMMUSD faces a record number of student injuries and incidents involving drugs and alcohol. A SamoHi boy died after falling from a 3d floor window during an acid trip he took with friends.

After the Foundation for a Drug Free World held two assemblies at santa monica high school, one of the parents objected to any group connected to a church sponsoring the events. The assemblies included a film presentation.

A series of 5 had been planned for each of the SamoHi "houses."Principal Antonio Shelton, suddenly informed that Scientology was behind it, cancelled three more planned sessions.

“Samohi Principal Dr. Antonio Shelton fully vetted this organization and felt that it would be excellent for our students.” said spokesman Gail Pinsker. She added that SMMUSD will no longer work with the organization.

The Church of Scientology issued the following statement on the controversy:

“The Church of Scientology is saddened to hear that religious discrimination would stand in the way of saving young lives. The Church is a proud sponsor of the Drug-Free World education program which has helped millions of young people to learn the truth about drugs and how to live a drug-free life. One would think that the tragic death of a student from LSD would be enough to set aside bigotry when there is evidence-based information that is invaluable, free of charge and provided out of good will and open hearts. The mother volunteering to assist santa monica high school with this program gave of her time freely out of her own compassion to help other parents keep their kids safe and living clean, productive lives. The Foundation for a Drug-Free World, http://www.drugfreeworld.org, provides free of charge, secular, educational materials on the danger of illicit drug use and its volunteers — Scientologists, Catholics, Christians, Jews, Muslims and individuals of other faiths or none at all — are heroes helping to make a better world.”

According to Wikipedia, The Church of Scientology is one of the most controversial religious organizations. A first point of controversy was its challenge of the psychotherapeutic establishment. Another was a 1991 Time magazine article that attacked the church, which was rejected by the court as baseless early in 1992. And a third is its religious status in the United States, formalized when the IRS granted the organization tax-exempt status in 1993.

It has been in conflict with the governments and police forces of many countries (including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, France and Germany).

It has been one of the most litigious religious movements in history, filing countless lawsuits against governments, organizations and individuals.

Reports and allegations have been made, by journalists, courts, and governmental bodies of several countries, that the Church of Scientology is an unscrupulous commercial enterprise that harasses its critics and brutally exploits its members. A considerable amount of investigation has been aimed at the church, by groups ranging from the media to governmental agencies. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology#Controversies