POLL INDICATES PARENTAL INFLUENCE LOWERS DRUG USAGE

WASHINGTON - Children whose parents talk to them about the risks of drugs
are much less likely to fall prey to narcotics than those who do not,
according to a nationwide survey released today.

"All this data really just screams at parents" to take an active role in
their children's activities, especially in light of the Littleton, Colo.,
tragedy, said Steve Dnistrian, executive vice president of the nonprofit
Partnership for a Drug-Free America, which did the study.

"Kids who are learning nothing at home about drugs are using drugs at far
higher rates," he said. "We're asking parents to consider that they don't
know their teenagers as well as they think they do."

For instance, among teenagers who said they had learned nothing about the
risks of drugs from their parents, 45 percent reported using marijuana in
the last year. Usage dropped to 33 percent for those teens who said they
learned "a little" about the risks from their parents, and to 26 percent
for those who said they learned "a lot."

But getting the message across is not as easy as some parents think.
Whereas virtually all parents - 98 percent - reported speaking with their
kids at some point about drugs, just 68 percent of the children remembered
the conversation, and only 27 percent reported learning a lot at home on
the issue.

And those talks had better start early if parents want their children to
listen, researchers concluded. Although 74 percent of fourth-graders said
they want more guidance from their parents about drugs, that figure dropped
to just 19 percent by the eighth grade.

The link between levels of usage and the amount of parental discussion held
true no matter what the ethnic group or the type of narcotic, researchers
found. Children using cocaine, LSD or inhalants were also much less likely
to have learned about the risks of drugs at home, the survey found.

The $300,000 survey tabulated questionnaires from nearly 10,000 preteens,
teenagers and parents nationwide, probing attitudes toward drugs and their
usage. The group has been doing an annual survey since 1987, but this is
the first time it has analyzed the connection between talking about drugs
at home and prevention.

Drug-policy groups that favor liberalizing drug laws applauded the survey's
message.

"We disagree with the partnership on a lot of things," said Tyler Green of
the nonprofit Drug Policy Foundation in Washington. "But anyone would have
a hard time disagreeing that parents should talk to their kids about drugs
and drug education."

One of the few bright spots came in the rate of drug use. Although usage
increased throughout the 1990s, it appears to have leveled off last year,
even dipping slightly in some areas. Fewer children reported that they had
been offered drugs, and there was a drop in those who said they had tried
marijuana, down to 42 percent in 1998 from 44 percent the year before.