Red Ribbon Week event features expert Will Jones on marijuana marketing, risk perception, and prevention strategies.

Washington, D.C. — October 28, 2025 — In observance of Red Ribbon Week, the Foundation for a Drug-Free World, Washington, D.C., hosted an Open House at the Founding Church of Scientology, bringing together community members, prevention leaders, and local officials for an enlightening program on marijuana, drug education, and creating a drug-free community.

Guests began the afternoon with a tour through the Public Information Center, featuring the Drug-Free World educational displays, where they explored factual materials about commonly used drugs and their effects.

The Open House presentations were then opened by Chas Smith, External Affairs Director of the Founding Church of Scientology, who shared drug statistics for the Washington, D.C. area and provided an overview of Red Ribbon Week, the nation’s oldest and largest drug prevention campaign, established to promote the importance of living drug-free.

Following this, Thalia Ghiglia, Church of Scientology National Affairs Office Faith Liaison for the Foundation for a Drug-Free World, Washington, DC, presented an overview of the Foundation’s drug education campaign, explaining how it provides free educational materials to empower youth, parents, schools, law enforcement and community leaders with the facts about drugs so they can make informed choices and lead healthier lives.

The feature presentation, “Marijuana: What Do We Know? Where Are We Now”, was delivered by Will Jones III, founder of Two is Enough DC and a nationally recognized expert on marijuana drug policy. Jones explored the impact of marijuana on communities, comparing areas where it has been legalized to those where it has not. He also exposed the mass marketing strategies that have fueled the demand for marijuana and discussed the organizations investing heavily in the industry.

Jones noted that over 80 percent of the profits in the marijuana industry come from 30 percent of users (the heaviest users)—an imbalance, he explained, which points to a business model that depends on exploitation rather than wellness. He also addressed misconceptions surrounding “medical marijuana.” Normally medicines are highly regulated in terms of dosage and quality.

Marijuana contains a compound in it called THC which is the chemical which makes people feel “high”. In the 1960s-70s, the average level of THC in marijuana were often around 1% to 3%. With modern breeding, today’s marijuana has an average of 15-30% THC. Some marijuana products include preparations which state they contain up to 99% pure THC!

Jones further pointed out that the “legalization versus incarceration” debate is a false dichotomy, arguing that these are not the only two options for addressing drug use, despite being presented that way by legalization advocates.

The event concluded with an invitation to tour the Public Information Center once more to learn about the Church’s community outreach initiatives and an invitation to join forces with Drug-Free World to keep working toward a healthier, drug-free DC.

Contact:

Chas C. Smith

External Affairs Director

[email protected]