DRUGS A DRAG YET YOUNG PEOPLE STILL OPTIMISTIC

If anyone knows about the hardships of being a young Australian, it's
Sasha Lenskyj.

"I had three friends recently and they died in a car crash," he says.
"They were all under the influence and they had a head-on with a truck."

Mr Lenskyj, 18, used to drink about two to three bottles of bourbon a
week, has had experimentation with drugs such as marijuana and speed
and has seen a friend suffer severe depression.

Mr Lenskyj lives at Old Bar, a town with a population of 2,700, near
Taree. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare study found
people living in remote areas are twice as likely to die young as
people living in cities.

But Mr Lenskyj is anything but depressed. In Sydney yesterday, he said
he was enjoying life and optimistic about his future. Like the
majority of young Australians, he thinks his health is very good. He
often surfs, boxes and goes to the gym.

His sister, Adele, 15, said the problems of youth were sometimes blown
out of proportion.

"It's a little bit over-rated," she said. "But then you see people who
have deteriorated from drugs and it's sad when they are your age."

She said depression was a problem because young people had to live up
to certain images. Depression was particularly bad if ending a
relationship, she said. "You try to let it out in different ways."

The risk of suicide, also greater in remote areas, is a growing
problem across Australia.

Among young males, suicide increased by 71 per cent from 1979 to
1997.

Jamal Eid, 19, of Greenacre, said he thought about suicide when he had
a drug problem with ecstasy a few years ago.

But he has learnt from "other people's experiences" and things have
turned around. He no longer drinks, smokes nor takes drugs. Yesterday
he was optimistic about life, beginning a course at a tourism college.

Sophie, 14, of Surry Hills, said the Government could do more for
young people.

"They are not trying hard enough to see the problems," she said. "They
don't understand no matter how bad you make drugs look, people are
going to try them anyway."

She said she had not tried drugs but it was "easier to get drugs than
it is to get into a movie".

"The safest thing they could do is legalise certain drugs."