KIDS LIVING WITH SINGLE DADS MORE LIKELY TO USE DRUGS

WASHINGTON -- 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 2000-01 academic year.
More than 75,000 students nationwide answered questionnaires
anonymously, using pencils to fill in circles on a double-sided
answer sheet.

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 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," he said.

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