STUDY: KIDS LISTENING TO PARENTS ON DRUGS

Teen-agers' drug use is leveling off amid growing evidence that America's
youth, which once viewed drugs as almost a rite of passage, now views them
as uncool, according to the annual survey by the Partnership for a
Drug-Free America.

The 12th survey of U.S. teen-agers, released Monday, found that 40 percent
of those questioned felt "really cool" teens did not use drugs - an
increase of 5 percent from last year.

Among 13- to 15-year-olds, only 8 percent believed marijuana smokers were
popular, down from 13 percent last year and 17 percent in 1997, the survey
found.