NUMBERS FROM TEEN DRUG SURVEY WORTH DISCUSSING

Eighty-eight percent of high-schoolers drinking?

Eighty-two percent of high-schoolers smoking marijuana and cigarettes?

Those are big, scary numbers.

But hold on.

The good news is that's only what those same high-schoolers, in Lee
County Public Schools, think their peers are doing. Teens report a
far lower level of abuse of alcohol and other drugs and tobacco when
asked about what they know -- their own habits.

Still, 38 percent of high-schoolers drinking, 23 percent smoking
marijuana and 17 percent smoking cigarettes are way too high.

Still further, we have to decide for ourselves what levels of truth
versus exaggeration are at play -- much like we have to do when
adults are polled about politics.

Teen surveys always fascinate. The best part is that they provide
fodder for conversations with parents and other adults who care.