"DON'T RELAX ANTI-DRUG EFFORT"

The number of American teen-agers using drugs dropped last year, but the
development doesn't mean it's time to declare victory.

"We have turned an important corner on youth drug use," President Clinton
declared .

Enough hyperbole. A one year decline doesn't represent a trend, and the
level of American drug use among adults remained about the same in 1998 as
in the previous year.

Fighting drugs is an eternal proposition, and Clinton administration drug
czar Barry McCaffery has led the battle admirably. McCaffery's efforts to
send anti-drug messages that youths accept may be bearing fruit.

But much more remains to be done.

The 1998 survey showed 9.9 percent of Americans ages 12 to 17 admittted
using drugs. In 1997 11.4 percent of that age group were using illegal drugs.

However, among Americans of all age groups, 13.6 million were current drug
users, compared to an estimated 13.9 million in 1997.

Continued success among teen-agers could reduce the numbers for older groups
in future years.

We hope the 1998 numbers are the beginning of a new direction. But anti-drug
efforts should be intensified rather than relaxed.