MORE DRUG-RESISTANT KIDS

Stopping the intense production and massive use of illegal drugs remains a
national priority, though it's not getting much attention on the hustings.
There are, however, some things worth noting and celebrating.

Statistics show sharp declines in youth drug use. Drug use among
12-17-year-olds declined 21 percent from 1997 to 1999, a strong sign that
an education-based strategy is working. Over the past three years, total
youth drug use is down 34 percent. Drug-related murders are at their lowest
point in over a decade.

Other areas cry out for improvement.

Illegal drugs are cheaper and more plentiful in this country than ever,
despite concerted interdiction efforts. Nearly 4 million adults use 75
percent of the cocaine and heroin in the US.

In the 1980s, the Reagan and Bush administrations campaigned to make drug
policy "tougher." The country has stuck with that approach, including life
sentences for petty dealers. But increasingly critics argue for more
health-oriented drug policies instead of more imprisonment. Drug courts,
where an individual can choose between treatment and prison, are a step in
that direction.

The federal Office of National Drug Control Policy acknowledges that a
better job should be done to educate Americans about drug treatment, and
why and how it can cut crime.

It's doubtful the US can arrest its way out of the illegal drug challenge,
or rehabilitate its way out. An approach that equally targets both supply
and demand makes the most sense.

The challenge remains immense. Illegal drug trafficking represents 8
percent of all international trade. In Europe, where cocaine use is rising,
and in other countries, such as China, the US can do much more to form
antitrafficking alliances and share law-enforcement information.

Moreover, the assertion that Colombia (where cocaine production is up 140
percent in the past three years), is a Vietnam-in-the-making needs greater
perspective. The Colombia Plan, which calls for a 50 percent reduction in
drug production there over the next five years, is worth US financial and
military support. Past successes cutting coca production in Peru and
Bolivia offer hope.

Finding the most effective programs, whether enforcement or treatment, and
replicating them makes for sound policy. So does involving the community.
Drug czar Gen. Barry McCaffrey has rightly decided most of the "war" needs
to be fought in the trenches, at the neighborhood level. He wants to
achieve a 50 percent decrease in drug use by 2007. New grants to form
community coalitions made up of parents, teachers, ministers, coaches, law
enforcement, and the media should help form more drug-resistant future
generations.

Amid the smoke of battle, a persistently applied, long-term strategy
remains the best way to combat drugs.