PARENTS MUST LEAD ON SLOWING DRUG USE

Some years bring decreases in reported drug use among American youths. In
other years, the trend increases.

Drug use jumped among teen-agers last year. The National Household Survey on
Drug Abuse found that 11.4 percent of the nation's teens used an illicit
drug within a month of being surveyed, compared to 9 percent in 1996. A 2
percent jump in marijuana use also was recorded.

The numbers aren't a cause for panic although they are headed in the wrong
direction. Most importantly, the statistics reinforce a grim reality: The
fight against drugs never ends.

Whether it's the surprising attraction to heroin among high-schoolers in an
upper-crust Dallas suburb or the wave of methamphetamine abuse sweeping
rural areas across the nation, a new wrinkle always is around the corner.

Law enforcement must continue to do its job to stamp out drug trafficking.
But new waves of manufacturers and dealers always will return peddling this
year's model of feel-good poison.

Parents must step up to their role on the frontline in the war against
drugs.

Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala said last week that
children are trying marijuana more because they believe it is safe. The
misguided attitude stems from parents, she said.

The messages received at home are key to developing a young person's
attitudes about the drug culture as a whole.

Many American parents know from personal experience that while smoking dope
may not kill you, marijuana use can have damaging effects on education,
memory and ambition.

Marijuana is not a soft drug for young people who need to stay focused on
learning and developing life skills.

It is a tragic mistake for parents to suggest otherwise.

Checked-by: Rolf Ernst