FIGHTING DRUGS IS A MATTER OF FAITH

Each week, millions of Americans attend religious services to seek
guidance, reaffirm moral values, offer charity and obtain a sense of
community. Each of these four elements underscores the importance of
faith-based organizations in the fight against drugs. Educating young
people to reject drugs requires us to guide them and teach them
values. Helping someone addicted to drugs reclaim his life is one of
the greatest gifts of charity you can offer. America's drug problem
is made up of a series of local epidemics, only by working together
within our communities can we defeat this problem.

On May 10, I traveled to Colorado Springs to stand with Dr. James
Dobson and the Young Life Christian Ministry. The ministry's youth
programs are model efforts for how faith-based organizations can play
a critical role in helping our young people choose the right path and
remain drug-free. Dobson's Focus on the Family message is also
central to reducing youth drug use. Parents and families are among
the most vital protective factors in safeguarding the futures of our
children. Studies show that getting involved in the lives of your
children - such as regularly attending religious services and eating
dinner together - substantially reduces the risks of drug use.

The One Way 2 Play program of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes is
another example of how faith groups help young people stay drug-free.
The One Way 2 Play program uses sports to teach the importance of
staying drug-free as part of a healthy lifestyle and a commitment to
faith. This summer, 20,000 young people from coast to coast will
participate in fellowship's youth camps, which provide a positive
summer experience and promote the One Way 2 Play message. The
fellowship has run these camps since 1956, when the first camp opened
in Estes Park. The fellowship's pro athlete teammates also provide
young people with positive role models - Coach Troy Dungy of the Tampa
Bay Buccaneers will take his coaching staff to a local fellowship camp
this year.

In addition to preventing drug use, faith-based organizations also
play a critical role in helping those already addicted to drugs. For
example, in Washington, D.C., the Gospel Rescue Ministry has helped
homeless men offering pastoral support as part of a therapeutic drug
treatment program. With federal support, the ministry recently opened
the Fulton House of Hope to help female addicts. The Salvation Army,
which runs flagship drug treatment programs nationwide, is also one of
the nation's largest faith-based charities. Helping someone break
free of the chains of addiction and return to being a productive
member of the community is a gift of life.

In many drug-blighted areas, the local church, mosque or synagogue is
the only institution upon which to rebuild a community. For example,
in 1988, the leaders of the Al-Taqua Mosque in Brooklyn, N.Y., decided
that the time had come to take back their neighborhood from crack
dealers. Working with their local police, the mosque organized
community patrols and helped coordinate police sweeps. The dealers
are now long gone, leaving behind a stronger relationship between the
community and the local police.

The light at the end of the tunnel, however, remains a distance away.
In some areas of the country, gang members still pray to the saints to
protect them as they fight over drug territories, never once
understanding just how far they have strayed from the course of good.
America's faith community has one of the nation's strongest pulpits
from which to empower people to reject drugs. As British Theologian
Dean William Inge said: "If we are to safeguard our children and
communities, rabbis, priests, clerics, deacons, sisters, brothers and
cantors must help lead the way.

While our religions differ in some ways, our shared faith provides a
common ground that reaches across denominations. For all of us
remaining drug free is a matter of faith - faith in ourselves, faith
in our families and faith in our values.