DOCUMENTARY ON DRUG USE BY S. FLORIDA TEENS TO BE AIRED

HIALEAH -- Osmel Cuan remembers his first toke.

He was a Hialeah High sophomore then, it was junior varsity basketball
season, and Cuan decided to blow off a big game in favor of trying marijuana.

Obtaining it was simple: Ask a friend, buy some rolling papers, hunker down
in a grove of trees behind an apartment complex and light up.

After two joints, Cuan, now 16 and a junior, ambled inside his apartment to
face his mother.

"I wanted to 'fess up to Mom that I did it," he said. "She kind of laughed
it off and drove my friends home, but later she started crying and said she
didn't raise me like that.

"After disappointing her like that," Cuan said, "I couldn't do it again."

He didn't. Instead, he helped create a half-hour video documentary on teen
drug use, Straight Scoop, which premieres at a private showing at Florida
International University on Thursday. The general public can see it
Saturday on MediaOne's cable system.

By request of Barry McCaffrey, director of the U.S. Office of National Drug
Control Policy, Cuan and five other MediaOne student reporters spent 10 hot
August days on a bus visiting Miami, Jacksonville, Atlanta and Richmond,
Va. They interviewed teens in malls, schools and rehabilitation centers
about their attitudes toward illegal drugs.

Cuan recounted on camera his experience with pot.

The documentary reinforces two primary messages to teens and parents: Drug
use never results in happiness or prosperity, and parents should listen
more than speak to their children on the subject of drugs.

The MediaOne cub reporter program, which this year includes Cuan, another
student in Miami-Dade County and two students in Broward County, began in
1996 with the presidential election and allows students to cover activities
and events for local news programs. MediaOne provides free cable service to
140 schools in Broward and Miami-Dade.

Wanda Colon, government and community relations expert for MediaOne in
Miami-Dade, said Cuan was a natural choice for Straight Scoop.

"We met him through a job shadowing program and were impressed at how
quickly he picked up on things," she said. "We gave him a screen test in
English and Spanish, so being bilingual definitely helped him."

Copies of the documentary, the product of a partnership between MediaOne
and drug czar McCaffrey's office, are available to schools through MediaOne
offices.

Having interviewed his peers nationwide, met McCaffrey and publicly
revealed his experience with pot, Cuan, an aspiring actor, said he looks
forward to Thursday's premiere. He's seen a preview.

"Some of the best stuff didn't get in there, like this young girl from
Miami whose parents fight over crack," he said. "But I was really surprised
by some of the stuff we found. Anyone can benefit from watching."