WAR ON DRUGS NOT ENOUGH

In spite of the United States' massive war on drugs, a new study shows that
American teen-agers are more likely to use illegal drugs than their European
counterparts.

As reported in the New York Times, a study released to the World Heath
Organization found that 41 percent of American 10th-graders had smoked
marijuana, while only 17 percent of the same group in Europe had tried it.

As for other illegal drugs, some 23 percent of U.S. students surveyed
anonymously in the study said they had experimented with such substances
while only 6 percent of the European youngsters had tried hard drugs.

The numbers reinforce the belief that demand in the United States is major
part of the drug problem.

Certainly, interdiction efforts are necessary to slow the flood of illegal
drugs into the country as much as possible.

But government can't do the whole job. Americans must refuse to tacitly
accept drug use among peers and family members.