SAYING NO TO DRUGS

To the Editor:

Richard Rothstein (Lessons column, Sept. 27) underestimates the value of
direct antidrug messages, including antidrug advertising. Research has
shown that delivering consistent antidrug messages to children can
significantly influence the decisions they make about whether to use
illegal drugs.

If we wish our children to learn that illegal drugs are dangerous and
should not be used, we must be clear. It is impossible to suggest that
there is a safe way to use drugs without making it seem as if drug use is
something we are willing to accept.

Mr. Rothstein suggests that mixed messages can save lives, but as the
country's experience with alcohol and tobacco - two legal, socially
acceptable drugs - shows, they also expose more young lives to the risks we
would have them avoid, creating more lives in need of saving.

Tom Hedrick
Vice Chairman, Partnership for a Drug-Free America
New York, Sept. 28, 2000