TEEN DRUG USE TAKES WELCOME DIP

In spite of the Columbine High School massacre and similar incidents, all
is not bleak on the youth front. Use of illicit drugs among teens has
dropped, the federal government reports. Of every 100 youths between 12 and
17 years of age, 11 did drugs in 1997. Last year, that figure fell to 10.

A year does not a trend make, of course. But drug use had been rising among
the teen set. So the new figures stir the hope of a long-term reversal of
that disturbing upward direction.

Among all age groups taken together, the drug trend was flat. But among
young adults, use went up. No surprise, in retrospect, since these adults
are the same teens who drove up drug use earlier this decade.

The lesson is that, once hooked, it's tough to become unhooked. So the
nation needs to pour more effort into preventing kids from trying drugs in
the first place. Education is key. The nation must not relent in delivering
the message - in schools and through the media - that drugs are uncool. Of
course, parents have to take the lead in getting that word out.