From Project Chanology - Toronto Division

Draft Letter re: Drug-Free Marshals

UNAC Toronto and the Scientology front group "Drug-Free Marshals"

Dear and United Nations Association in Canada,

I was disturbed and alarmed to see your association with the group “Drug-Free Marshals” which celebrated the United Nations’ International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking in Markham, Ontario on June 26, 2008. There is a link to the event and poster by Drug-Free Marshals on your Toronto website, http://to.unac.org/.

As you already know, Drug-Free Marshals is a group wholly controlled by the Church of Scientology which is a criminally-convicted organization in Canada.[1] The Church of Scientology Toronto was convicted of two counts of breach of public trust in 1992 for infiltrating the OPP and the Ontario Office of the Attorney General to steal documents. They were also convicted of libel in a related case in Toronto in 1995.[2] I am concerned that the Drug-Free Marshals is a front group for the Church of Scientology to recruit new members and families.

The Church of Scientology has a record of human rights abuses against its own members. For example, the Church of Scientology maintains a 'disconnection policy', under which individuals within the Church are forbidden contact with those whom the Church deems to be a threat to its security. This policy is used by the Church of Scientology to separate families, creating a rift between those outside the Church and those trapped within it.[3] Another example is the Church’s Rehabilitation Project Force (RPF) which functions like a system of slave labour camps set up by the Sea Org (Scientology’s elite staff), intended to rehabilitate Sea Org staff members who have not lived up to the Church’s expectations or who have violated certain policies. Many ex-Sea Org members have reported grueling and torturous treatment.

The Church of Scientology also maintains a front group called the “Citizens Commission on Human Rights” (CCHR). The main goal of the CCHR is to attack and destroy the practice of Psychiatry and Psychology which the Church of Scientology considers to be its main competition and threat. Part of the CCHR’s strategy is to attack the use of drugs, including legitimately prescribed medications by physicians. This Scientology dogma is disguised in one of the pamphlets distributed by Drug-Free Marshals about the prescription drug Ritalin, which it labels “Kiddie Cocaine”.[5] Ritalin (or Methyphenidate) is a drug used in the treatement of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

Neither the Church of Scientology nor Drug-Free Marshals are registered charitable organizations in Canada.[6]

In light of these facts, I sincerely hope that your organization reconsiders its association with this group.

Sincerely, Anonymous Toronto

###

[1] R. v. Church of Scientology Toronto. A summary of the case can be found on Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._v._Church_of_Scientology_of_Toronto). For the text of the appeal case on CanLII, see http://www.canlii.org/en/on/onca/doc/1996/1996canlii1650/1996canlii1650.html

[2] Hill v. Church of Scientology Toronto. A summary of the case can be found on Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hill_v._Church_of_Scientology_of_Toronto). For the full text of the case on CanLII, see http://www.canlii.org/en/ca/scc/doc/1995/1995canlii59/1995canlii59.html

[3] Disconnection Policy, Sea Org, RPF. The April 24, 2008 episode of ABC News Nightline featured an interview with ex-Scientologist Jenna Miscavige Hill who also happens to be the niece of the current leader of the Church of Scientology. She describes her experience in the Sea Org. http://www.abcnews.go.com/Nightline/story?id=4702271&page=1

[4] CCHR. Radio-Canada (CBC) had a report on the activities of the CCHR/CCDH in Quebec on April 12, 2008. http://www.radio-canada.ca/regions/Quebec/2008/04/10/013-scientologie_quebec.shtml An English-subtitled version is available on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04r_0V-m4Vs

[5] http://drugfreemarshals.scientology-tor.ca/ and http://www.drugfreeworld.org/

[6] http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/charities/ A quick search on the Canada Revenue Agency website confirms that these organizations are NOT registered charities.

For more information about the global protests against the Church of Scientology, visit: www.whyweprotest.net www.anonymoustoronto.org