PARENTS PLAY OSTRICH ON KIDS' MARIJUANA USE

NEW YORK - Although more kids are trying marijuana at an earlier age, Baby
Boomer parents are convinced that doesn't apply to their children,
according to a national study by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America.

"Boomers - many of whom have 'been there, done that' - are surprisingly and
ironically out of step with the reality of drugs in their children's
lives," Partnership President Richard D. Bonnette said.

Past Partnership studies showed that 60 percent of the Boomers had tried
marijuana at least once.

The group's 10th poll, released Sunday, showed that parents underestimated
the availability of marijuana, their children's view of its risks, and
whether their children's friends were smoking.

"Few sincerely believe their children are exposed to drugs, that drugs are
widely available in the schools their children attend," Bonnette said.

The current study showed that among children ages 9 to 12, the number who
had tried marijuana was up from 334,000 in 1993 to 571,000 last year - an
increase from 3 percent to 5 percent of that age group.

Marijuana use among ages 13 to 16 remained stable, but there was a
significant increase among 17- and 18-year-olds - from 41 percent in 1996
to 48 percent last year.

And among parents, the study found:

Forty-three percent believed their teens could find marijuana easily. Yet
58 percent of children said pot was readily available.

Thirty-three percent thought their kids viewed marijuana as harmful. Among
teens, only 18 percent - less than one in five - felt that smoking
marijuana was risky.

Forty-five percent felt their teen had a friend who smoked marijuana. Among
teens, 71 percent said they had a friend who had used marijuana.

Twenty-one percent thought their teen could have experimented with
marijuana, while 44 percent of the teens said they actually had.

The Partnership is a private, nonprofit coalition of communications
industry professionals, known for its anti-drug advertising campaign.

The survey was conducted last year among 1,922 children, 6,975 teens and
815 parents.

The margin of error for the children's data was plus or minus 2.2
percentage points; the teens, plus or minus 1.2; for the adults, plus or
minus 3.4.