Chch man expands war on drugs

Press, 31 May 1977, Page 1

Chch man expands war on drugs

By

FELICITY PRICE

A. young Christchurch businessman and “bornagain” Christian, Ray Comfort, has published a paperback book, “My Friends Are Dying,” as a follow-up to an eight-page anti-drug abuse booklet of the same name he published two months ago. Probably best known in Christchurch for his almost daily Christianity preaching sessions in Cathedral Square, Mr Comfort has written the book in response to the strong demand for copies of the booklet, particularly by public bodies and individuals connected with rehabilitation work with drug addicts. The original booklet, produced because several of his friends had died from drug abuse and heroin addiction, was paid for by Mr Comfort himself. However, the initial printing of 10,000 copies could not meet the demand, and an extra 30,000 copies were printed — some at the expense of the printer, and the rest paid for by those w ho had ordered copies. The 95-page paperback follow-up has been sponsored bv the printers, and distributed by the agents at their own expense. It will retail at $1.50 — the low price making it more readily available to young people, particularly students — and the profits will go to drug abuse work promoted by Mr Comfort through his group. Campaign Against Narcotics, which he formed a few weeks ago. The book is mainly an enlargement on the facts, ideas, and experiences related in the earlier booklet, and covers the causes, effects, and a “cure” for drug abuse. It will be on book shop shelves from tomorrow. The cure for addiction, as Mr Comfort sees it. is Christianitv, of a nondenominational variety.

This supposition is backed by five of his friends, who stopped taking heroin, possibly permanently, through Christianity. This, he believes, is because the root cause of drug abuse is lack of fulfilment, and Christianity provides this. "Drug abuse is only a symptom of the sickness of our society,” Mr Comfort says in the conclusion of the book. "In this book I have mentioned how we can find love, peace, and joy through the right relationship with God . . . We are all slowly dying. We need His life in us if we want to live,” he says. The book begins by outlining how the author became connected with drug addicts — surfies who were his friends, although he did not know they were taking heroin or other narcotics until five years ago, just after he had been converted to Christianity. He then describes the fate of his individual friends, how some of them died through overdoses of narcotics, bad “trips” on LSD, or heroin addiction, and how others ended in prison or mental institutions. The second chapter deals with the moral issues of drug taking, and Mr Comfort suggests various causes of narcotics abuse by young people who, he says, are searching for fulfilment in an era when television, films, and the older generation lack morality. “This generation has lost respect for its parents and respect for itself, and is turning inward to destroy itself,” Mr Comfort says. “When you lose respect for your body you don’t care what you do with it Our youth can find no lasting satisfaction in materialism. sex, masturbation, booze, or pornography; so in search of fulfilment they turn to the escapism of drug abuse.”

He quotes at length an article in a recent edition of "Newsweek” about heroin addiction. He also questions the attempts made so far to

counter drug abuse in New Zealand: “We need to ask who these people are who are putting drug-oriented heavy rock music on during the children’s television

slot, and programming anti-drug films at 10 p.m.” Mr Comfort says that he has been disappointed with Government attempts to counter drug abuse, and also with the response by schools to his booklet. “Many feel that antidrug literature will only stir up interest in drugs,” Mr Comfort says. “This attitude is wrong, and shows a lack of foresight, communication, and interest in the long-term welfare of pupils.” He believes that the schools’ job is to educate children for society, and advocates Governmentbacked “communicative” literature on the subject. “The interest in drugs is already in many schools,” he says. “When young people go out to work, they are exposed to the heavy drug scene with little or no understanding of the dangers.” As the father of three young children, Mr Comfort advises parents what to look for in their children to recognise the signs of drug abuse, and possible ways of helping them. The third chapter in the book is relatively factual, outlining the differences between marijuana, heroin,, pills, and hallucinogens. From the end of this chapter the book wanders back and forth, from the author’s own life and his Christian “renaissance” to long passages quoted from the Bible and the Living Bible. These chapters include Mr Comfort’s encounters with the Wizard as a sparring soap-box opponent in the Square, and an account of the Wizard himself, including his marriage and separation. and where he gets his money from. At 27. Mr Comfort is a successful businessman, and has been so for the last six years. He runs his own leather shop, making and selling leather jackets, and used to run a surfing shop in New Brighton as well as a leather business.

“I was never a drug addict,” he says of his conversion to Christianity five years ago. “I was a successful young businessman, and had done everything and had everything I wanted. I had travelled overseas, had a family, my own house, and a good business. Then I realised the purposelessness of my life, and wondered where I was going to go next. Christianity was the answer.” Since the success of his booklet, which contains much less personal opinion, morality, and Christian viewpoint than the follow-up paperback, Mr Comfort has started a group called Campaign Against Narcotics. Through it he hopes to take his individual campaign to a community group level, with the aim of developing a Christian drug treatment centre, based in Christchurch, backed by the Government. Funds from the sale of his book will go to the establisdiment of such a centre, he hopes, and he says he has already discussed plans for using the Salvation Army’s Glentui camp, near Ashley Forest, as a centre. There are no facilities at all in the South Island for the rehabilitation of addicts, whereas there are two Government facilities and one private one for addicts in the North Island —- in Wellington, Hamilton, and Auckland. Mr Comfort hopes to be able to alleviate this situation and provide a centre that gives addicts a reason to live (Christianity) and a means to survive (through the teaching of skills in the leather trade), as well as a place where they can withdraw from their addiction away from the city and their sources of supply.