STUDY: KIDS IN SINGLE-DAD HOMES USE MORE DRUGS

Sixth-to 12th-graders who live in single-dad homes are more likely than
others to use drugs, according to a survey released Thursday.

The survey, done by a division of an Atlanta-based anti-drug organization,
also found that high schoolers' use of such drugs as heroin, Ecstasy and
marijuana increased - reversing a three-year decline in overall drug use.
Meanwhile, cigarette and alcohol use dropped to a 13-year low.

The survey was conducted at schools which contracted with PRIDE Surveys -
an arm of the Parents' Resource Institute for Drug Education - to question
students during the 2000-2001 academic year. More than 75,000 students
nationwide answered questionnaires anonymously, using pencils to fill in
circles on a double-sided answer sheet.

This was the 14th annual survey, but officials said it was the first time
their group broke down the numbers to look at children who live with their
mothers only, fathers only and stepparents.

The survey found that 38.4 percent of students who lived with their fathers
only said they used drugs. The percentages for other family structures
were: father and stepmother, 31.9 percent; mother and stepfather, 29.8
percent; mother only, 28.3 percent; and both parents, 20.4 percent.

Thomas Gleaton, who headed the study, said the results aren't meant to bash
fathers. "I don't want people to think, 'Oh that means these are bad
fathers,' " said Gleaton, president of PRIDE Surveys.

Rather, Gleaton believes the results are a comment on the importance of a
mother's role. "The farther the mother gets away, the more difficult it
becomes for the child," Gleaton said.

A spokesman for a group that lobbies for fathers' rights said he had no
problem with the findings.

"This is just one more argument why - absent of abuse, neglect or
abandonment - there should be mandatory joint custody. Children need both
parents," said Stuart Miller, senior legislative analyst for the American
Fathers Coalition.

A survey of teens released in February by the National Center on Addiction
and Substance Abuse at Columbia University found that the risk of drug
abuse was slightly higher for children living with single moms than with
single dads. It also found drug use was greatly reduced in both types of
homes when the parents were "hands on," or supervised their teen-agers and
imposed rules.

In terms of drug use, the new survey found that 35.3 percent of ninth- to
12th-graders said they had used any illicit drug in the last year, compared
with 34.3 percent in 1999-2000.