Health Tips for a Better Life

CLEARWATER: From now until October 31st, in honor of Red Ribbon Week, (October 24 – 30), the Church of Scientology is inviting the community to it historic Fort Harrison to view the 1 hour 42 minute documentary “The Truth About Drugs”.

Directed by Gary Ravenscroft and released last year, the Truth About Drugs tells the real story about what drugs are and how they affect a person’s body and mind. The documentary was produced by the Foundation for a Drug Free World.

With an estimated 208 million people internationally consuming illegal drugs, the documentary’s purpose is to stop the spread of abuse.

The documentary takes 11 different drugs, detailing what the drug is made from, how it is used and the result. The real stars of the documentary are former addicts who tell it like it is. They share their stories of how they started and why, and what happened to them on their descent down into addiction.

For example, there is Daniel, who found himself addicted to crystal meth.

Crystal meth is a more purer form of methamphetamine that resembles small fragments of glass or crystals.

It is made from ingredients such as battery acid, drain cleaner and rat poison. Many users report getting hooked on it the first time they try it, with nausea, delusions of power, increased aggressiveness, hallucinations, anxiety and paranoia as side effects.

In telling his story, Daniel states, “Now what’s the one thing in this world that you know that you would never do – you would never do to somebody, you know? Would you steal from a friend? No. No, you wouldn’t. Okay. This [crystal meth] will make you do that.”

And what if he had known what crystal meth was made of and what it would do to him?

“If anyone had told me what it could actually do to me, I would have walked right away from it.”

“Studies have shown that educating young people about the dangers of drugs will stop them from using them,” said Pat Harney, the Public Affairs Director for the Church of Scientology, the owner of the Fort Harrison.

“The Church has promoted a drug-free message since its inception,” said Harney. “Red Ribbon Week is an excellent opportunity to give residents a clear picture about the harm that drugs do.”

“Like many other organizations, we support this program through donations from our membership so that we can help fulfill the aims of Scientology,” added Harney.

The Aims of Scientology, as laid down by founder L. Ron Hubbard in 1965 state: “A civilization without insanity, without criminals and without war, where the able can prosper and honest beings can have rights, and where Man is free to rise to greater heights…”

“A large percentage of crimes that are committed are committed because people are either on drugs, or are trying to get drugs,” said Harney. “It is impossible for anyone to raise a family, better themselves or better their community if they have that kind of constant threat.”

Red Ribbon Week is the country’s oldest and largest drug education and prevention event, with 80 million people in schools, businesses and churches participating. The event pays tribute to DEA Special Agent Enrique Camarena, who was killed kidnapped, tortured and murdered by Mexican drug traffickers.

The documentary is available to be seen on demand, seven days a week, between 10 am and 7pm. The Fort Harrison, located at 210 S. Fort Harrison Ave

For more information about the Foundation for a Drug Free World, please go to their website at www.drugfreeworld.org.

To find out more about the Fort Harrison, or to book a tour, please contact the Public Affairs Office of the Church of Scientology at (727) 467-6860.

# # #

For some, there are threats everywhere. They fear the world is dangerous and, unless they stay in a constant state of vigilance, their lives will be at risk. In a small number of cases, this gets out of control and tips into paranoia and mental disorder. For the majority, it”s an exaggerated caution because they do not understand how modern technology works. They see how dangerous electricity can be and so are cautious when using powered equipment, particularly when that involves the use of “radiation”. Now there”s a word to get the conspiracy theorists into action. Yet, from a scientific point of view, you cannot escape the fact that television and computer screens give off electromagnetic radiation (EMR), handphones rely on microwave broadcasts, and then there”s light. In coherent form as a laser, it can potentially blind people. As it shines from the sun, we can see our way and, with appropriate protection from ultraviolet, live healthy lives.

The white light we “see” is in fact made up of all the colors blended together. Each color has a property of its own and you may have seen increasing publicity given to light as a treatment for skin problems like acne. When it”s projected from a TV or computer screen, you get both the EMR and light in the visible spectrum, often with a slightly bluish tinge. For the treatment of skin problems, blue and red are used. For the treatment of sleep disorders, blue and green are being used in a series of clinical trials. It”s perhaps slightly ironic, but those who felt an effect from television and computer screens were probably right, except that the effect seems to be beneficial if you want to change your sleeping times.

We know when to sleep because our internal clock is set to match the local daily cycle. If we move to different time zones so that morning is now night, this confuses us and we find it difficult to match local time for sleep. As a trial, a number of people were cut off from the world in rooms without windows or clocks. There was no way for them to tell how much time was passing. The research team kept them awake for fifty hours and then allowed sleep for eight. When awake, half were exposed to blue light, the other to green. All the participants were carefully monitored and it was found that both colors could reset the internal clocks. The only difference between the two groups was that dim blue and bright green lights were less effective. The relevant neurotransmitters and hormones responded more precisely to bright blue and dim green.

So, in all situations where the sleep problem is caused by the body”s circadian rhythms not being properly synchronised to local time, the use of light may well prove the best long-term solution. Although a drug like ambien can and does produce sleep “on demand”, there are always problems if you come to depend on a drug for any long-term solution. Ambien will always help you get needed rest, but the use of alternative methods is preferable. As counseling and therapy is expensive and often not covered by health insurance plans, the development of light treatment may come as a simple and cheap solution to sleep problems.