Just when you thought you could trust the police...

...they go and do something like this:

POLICE officers across the country have been used by the Church of Scientology to promote its antidrugs campaign in schools.

Officers have been handing out booklets that praise the science fiction writer L Ron Hubbard, the church’s founder, and describe both prescription and illegal drugs as “poison”.

You have got to be kidding me. This is the police force of the UK - if only one group is to be seen as protecting the populace, you'd think it would be them. I appreciate that they need all the help they can get when it comes to increasing awareness of drugs in schools, but do parents seriously want their children being educated by one of the craziest cults in the world? People who believe a science fiction writer who (shockingly enough) started talking about Big Alien Baddies? A writer who had stated explicitly that a great way to make money would be to found your own religion? Go consult Operation Clambake for more info on the great many reasons not to trust this cult with the education of our children in any area.

Sure, they might get a kid off drugs. And many years later, after giving the Church inordinate amounts of money and cutting herself off from all family ties, she might even get to hear the one about that guy called Xenu.

The most practical point, putting aside the wackiness and dangers of the cult itself, is that the material they gave the police officers to distribute in schools is pretty damn misleading - claiming that all drugs, prescription drugs included, are "poison", and that other detoxification methods are ineffective. I seriously cannot believe that those who are entrusted with our protection are blithely distributing the lies of a dangerous cult. I'd say "this had better be the last we hear of this connection", but I've got a horrible feeling that some Church official is saying the same thing to a police representative.

Hat-tip to The new Humanist.