Scientology Lies

by Alice Thomas, Dispatch Staff Reporter

At least two groups have launched efforts to fight the Franklin County Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services levy.

The opposition to the 10-year, 2.2-mill levy cropped up about a week ago, chiefly in the form of yard signs and fliers.

One group is composed of neighbors upset by a group home for the mentally ill coming to their neighborhood. The other, which claims to have five members, is linked to the Church of Scientology.

The "We the People" network opposes the levy on the grounds that medication given to people at ADAMH-funded community mental-health centers can make them violent, group spokesman Stephen May said.

May, a Clintonville resident and Scientologist, said the opposition is not an "official activity" of the church. But graphs and information on fliers are identical to those found in a publication paid for by the Church of Scientology.

May said group members - using their own money - have distributed about 15,000 fliers and purchased 250 signs.

ADAMH President Phil Cass said the group has not contacted the agency.

"Some of this literature says psychiatry is the source of violence, racism and the Holocaust," Cass said. "That's not what this levy is about."

"This levy is about out-patient care for kids and families, care for people who are victims of domestic violence and treatment for drug addiction," he said.

Ironically, neighbors of a proposed group home at 581 Woodsfield Dr. have been concerned that incoming residents will become violent if they don't take their medicine.

A source who lives in the neighborhood said residents are upset because they feel ADAMH tried to "sneak in" the Woodsfield Drive group home for four mentally ill people.

Since an uproar in August, the Woodsfield Drive residents have been meeting with ADAMH officials and are expected to sign a covenant soon.