IN OUR VIEW: DRUG SURVEY; SOME NEWS ENCOURAGING, SOME DISCOURAGING

This is a good news, sorta good news and bad news kind of deal. The good
news is that tobacco use among America's teen-agers is on the decline.

The sorta good news is that the use of illicit drugs among teens remained
static over the past year. This is good news in a way because this category
just as easily could have gone up.

The bad news is that too many high-schoolers admit to abusing drugs and
consuming alcohol, and despite efforts to make teen understand the dangers
of drugs and booze, the message still isn't getting through to enough of
them.

All this comes from the annual Monitoring the Future survey, which is viewed
as an important gauge of teen-agers' habits concerning drugs, alcohol and
tobacco. The survey interviewed 45,000 students in 435 random schools to
obtain the information.

The survey reports that while the use of cocaine and crack among teens is on
the decline, the use of heroin and "club" drugs like Ecstacy is on the
rise-which researchers and health observers say is a troubling trend. While
most people are aware of the existence and dangers of heroin, drugs like
Ecstacy are somewhat new to the market and, unfortunately and incorrectly,
are viewed by many teens as a "safe" drug. No illegal drugs can be deemed
safe, and the fact that so many young people don't know this is
discomforting.

We're all aware that some teens are bound to experiment with the things that
adults and parents rail against most, and primarily alcohol, drugs and
tobacco. And must adults know that preaching to young people-especially to
teen-agers-isn't the most effective form of communication to deliver
messages about the dangers of life. But that in no way should discourage
adults, parents and even teachers from continuing to present evidence and
information that hopefully will turn kids away from illicit and dangerous
substances.

If we really want to see the abuse of drugs, alcohol and tobacco among our
young people rise significantly, all we have to do is stand by and do
nothing, say nothing.