KEEP TALKING

A Few Words About Drugs

Talk's cheap when it comes to talking about drugs -- a lot cheaper
anyway than the nation's long-waged war on drugs and much less costly
than financing the fallout from legal, health and emotional problems
that drug abuse can cause adolescents.

And this straight talk, from parents to their kids, apparently is
paying off, according to a new study by the Partnership for a
Drug-Free America. The 12th survey by the Partnership found that 57
percent of parents said they had talked with their children at least
four times in the past year about drug use. Sixty-four percent said
they had "thoroughly" covered the subject.

In 1998, just 44 percent of parents said they had spoken with their
children at least four times. Fifty two percent of parents said they
had "thoroughly" covered the topic.

A study last year by the partnership indicated that teenage approval
of marijuana and other drugs was declining.

The latest survey indicated, however, that only a third of parents
surveyed said they believed what they were saying was having any
influence on whether their child experienced drugs.

Not so, says Richard D. Bonnette, president and chief executive of the
partnership.

With teenagers, many things go in one ear and out the other. But what
parents are saying about drugs appears to be sticking.

Recent studies show that teen's approval of drug use is falling. And
guess who influenced them the most?