STOPPING BAD HABITS FROM STARTING

Smells like teen spirit is a lot cleaner than it has been in years.
Smoking, drinking and drug use by high school seniors have declined in
recent years, according to a national study published this week.

The survey found a drop in the use of marijuana and the party drug Ecstasy,
which had soared in recent years.

That's good news for parents and kids.

The bad news is that cocaine use rose among high school sophomores.

Nevertheless, the decline in teen smoking is a notable shift from the rapid
climb during the 1990s. The University of Michigan survey, conducted every
year since 1975, showed tobacco use by 12th graders fell to 26.7 percent, a
big drop from its 1997 peak of 36.5 percent.

"The change is quite significant," says Dr. John Santa, administrator of
the Oregon Health Plan, "because the majority of smokers and drinkers start
their addictive behavior in the teen years." Other studies have shown that
Americans who get past the age of 18 without smoking are unlikely to start
later.

Sadly, the survey of 8th-, 10th- and 12th-graders showed heroin and cocaine
use have held steady on average, despite increased use by sophomores.

Health officials say campaigns against those drugs haven't been as
organized as the anti-tobacco efforts or the designated-driver model that
has helped to curb drunken driving. The lesson health officials draw from
the survey is the difference added resources can make.

Indeed, since the settlement of state lawsuits against tobacco companies,
more money has gone to smoking prevention, and health advocacy has gotten
more sophisticated.

Recent anti-tobacco messages have hit home with teenagers by turning a
spotlight on the manipulation implicit in tobacco company advertising. Kids
resent it mightily.

The persistence of hard drugs calls out for equally effective campaigns.
Public health officials should take what they've learned in curbing teen
smoking and drinking and see how it might apply to these other scourges.

That's not to suggest that this will be as easy as flipping a switch. But
tested techniques for reducing some bad habits may have applications to
others and, if they work, should be embraced.

With the right motivation, teen spirit can be life-affirming, not
death-defying.