PEER MESSAGES ON DRUGS WORTH A TRY IN ILLINOIS

If there were a foolproof way to keep young people away from alcohol,
tobacco and other harmful drugs, everyone would be using those preventive
measures, and it wouldn't be an issue anymore.

Obviously, that's not the case. Drug use among young people generally has
declined in recent years, but sizable numbers of adolescents still try
cigarettes, alcohol and other drugs. For some, the flirtation is brief and
experimental only. For others, the initial sampling leads to steady use or
even addiction.

Searching for more effective ways to inform and educate young people
remains as important as ever.

The state of Illinois currently is working with a Chicago public-relations
firm, Hill and Knowlton, on an initiative that tries something a little
different: Peers trying to influence peers.

The campaign theme is "Be Real" and will feature the faces of young
Illinois residents on billboards, in magazines and in movie theater
advertising.

Considering the powerful role that peer influence plays in so many aspects
of students' lives, there is a certain logic to this approach. Some
observers warn that a mass-media effort, in and of itself, will not succeed.

That may well be, but the peer approach sounds sufficiently promising to
warrant the proposed investment of several hundred thousand dollars.