GRANDPARENTS RECRUITED TO HELP FIGHT WAR ON DRUGS BY TALKING WITH
CHILDREN

BOSTON -- In its war against drugs, the government has enlisted
drug-sniffing dogs, SWAT teams and the military. Now, it's calling on even
more powerful weapons: grandma and grandpa.

The Office of National Drug Control Policy has launched an ad campaign to
coax grandparents into talking to their grandchildren about the dangers of
drugs. It is part of a larger effort to get adult role models to teach
children about addiction, AIDS and violence.

"There is an air of honesty that comes through in a relationship between a
child and their grandparents," said Leigh Leventhal, spokeswoman for the New
York-based Partnership for a Drug-Free America, which is co-sponsoring the
campaign.

A nearly full-page advertisement ran this month in The Boston Globe,
featuring a photo of a young boy looking attentively at an elderly woman,
his hand on her shoulder.

"Grandparents are cool. Relaxed," the ad says. "They're not on the firing
line every day. Some days a kid hates his folks. He never hates his
grandparents."

Leventhal said that talk between children and grandchildren about drugs
should be part of an ongoing dialogue about everything in their lives:
hobbies, schoolwork, friends.

Ruth Blackman, a grandmother of six from Boston who directs a program that
provides children with foster grandparents, said the ad campaign makes
sense.

"It used to be a grandparent's role was to teach grandkids how to cook and
pass on cultural and religious tradition," Blackman said. "Now, there's a
new responsibility. If you open avenues of communication, you can talk about
some very touchy, touchy issues."

The ad campaign, launched by the government in the summer, targets children
up to high school age, as well as parents and other influential adults.

"We're trying to get the message to the grandparents, just as we're trying
to get the message to the parents: Just start talking," said Tom Delaney,
director of Boston Alcohol & Substance Abuse Programs. "It's better than
passing up the opportunity or just saying nothing."

Checked-by: Don Beck