The city of Las Cruces, N.M., is terminating an anti-drug program for third-grade students because of its connection to the Church of Scientology, the Las Cruces Sun-News reported Dec. 7.

Five schools in Las Cruces initially worked with the "Drug-Free Marshal" program, but plans called for the Scientology curriculum to be presented to all third-graders in the city as part of the city's fitness initiative.

The Foundation for a Drug Free World had approached Ken Miyagishima, the mayor of Las Cruces, and presented a pamphlet containing anti-drug material endorsed by various Texas police departments. The mayor was asked by Richard Henley, the foundation's representative, to sanction the distribution of the materials to "support eradicating drug use in the community."

The Foundation for a Drug-Free World and other programs listed on the pamphlet, including Narconon and the Association for Better Living, are all part of the Church of Scientology.

The mayor said it was not his intention to promote the religion. "It's my fault for not checking it out," Miyagishima said, conceding that "this is something that I have to put an end to."

Henley said that there was "no religious message in any of the materials." However, the religious and technology/teaching aspects of Scientology are virtually indistinguishable.

The literature distributed in Las Cruses consisted primarily of information related to illegal drugs, although one pamphlet focused on Ritalin, which Scientologists consider a "mind-altering psychiatric drug." Scientology does not consider psychiatry to be a science, and Henley argued that prescriptions should be the domain of a "medical doctor" or "medical physician," terms used in Scientology to distance primary-care physicians from psychology and psychiatry.

"Every single one of the shooters in the schools has been on one form or another of these psycho-pharmaceutical drugs," said Henley.

The mayor's fitness program has been praised by U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman, Sen.-elect Tom Udall, and the New Mexico Department of Health. "I don't want to lose any momentum with this program," Miyagishima said.