As Cartels Collapse, Prevention Rises: Foundation for a Drug-Free World Distributes One Million "Truth About Drugs" Booklets During Pro Football's Championship Game Week

SAN FRANCISCO, March 3, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- As news coverage focuses on cartel violence and drug trafficking, the Foundation for a Drug-Free World distributed 1,000,000 copies of its The Truth About Drugs booklet series during Super Bowl LX week across the San Francisco Bay Area. The Foundation said the figures are based on internal distribution records that have been independently audited.

Recent reporting has highlighted the death of Mexican cartel figure Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as "El Mencho." BBC News reported he was killed in a confrontation with Mexican military forces in Tapalpa, Jalisco, on Feb. 22, 2026. El Mencho was Mexico's most wanted cartel boss. He led the notorious Jalisco New Generation Cartel, which had become one of Mexico's most powerful criminal organizations. While removing his name from the list of top fentanyl traffickers marks a victory, there are still 48.4 million people suffering from addiction in the United States—and some of them would do anything to get their next hit.

Addiction is not something a person can opt out of in a day. It holds its grip tightly and does not easily let go. "My goal in life wasn't living… it was getting high," says John, a recovering addict. "I kept saying to myself, I'm going to stop permanently after using one last time. It never happened."

While not everyone can take down a cartel leader, everyone can take a stand against drugs through prevention. It is the key to stopping a young person from falling into addiction. Every addict started with a first hit. That is what the Foundation for a Drug-Free World works to prevent.

Through its educational materials, the Foundation provides factual information about drugs. The Truth About Drugs booklets do not simply tell someone to say no. They provide cold, raw data so individuals can make informed decisions. Each booklet describes what a specific drug is made of, what it does to the body and the mind, and its short- and long-term effects. It also includes testimonies from recovering addicts. By presenting factual information that speaks for itself, a person can decide never to take drugs.

In San Francisco, more people died from fentanyl in 2025 than the previous year. During Super Bowl LX, the Foundation launched a concentrated outreach effort, distributing one million The Truth About Drugs booklets across the San Francisco Bay Area. Some 350 volunteers rallied and gave out booklets to more than 6,800 shops for their customers in the days leading up to Super Bowl Sunday.

"I got out all my display boxes around El Cerrito today," one volunteer says. "Dental offices, barber shops, insurance companies, nail and beauty shops, convenience stores, restaurants and a local medical college. Many of the places I placed the display boxes thanked me for volunteering for such a great cause."

After losing 12 youth to fentanyl, a restaurant manager in Santa Clara welcomed The Truth About Fentanyl booklets. "I went to a barber shop and the guy accepted [the booklets]," another volunteer recounts. "He said he used to be a drug addict but maybe if he had known what drugs would do to his body, he would never have taken them."

A woman who lost her son to a fentanyl overdose two years ago took a box of booklets to place at the front door of her church.

The Foundation for a Drug-Free World is the largest nongovernmental drug education and prevention campaign. It holds Special Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). Thanks to the support of the Church of Scientology and Scientologists, the Foundation provides the secular Truth About Drugs program and materials free of charge to anyone wishing to take action against drug abuse. For more information, visit drugfreeworld.org.

SOURCE Foundation for a Drug-Free World