POPE URGES ACTION ON DRUGS `PLAGUE'

POPE John Paul II, urging more efforts to combat drug use, today suggested
that there should be more places where young people can have ''healthy''
fun.

Visiting a parish on Rome's outskirts which largely lack cultural, social
and sports facilities, easy transport to the capital's centre and other
development the Pope noted it has a drug problem.

''I think about the lack of centres capable of offering healthy
entertainment and occasions for cultural growth for adolescents and
adults,'' the pope told the parishioners.

''Faced with such situations, don't be inactive,'' the Pope urged. ''It's
up to you, in the first place, to construct a new solidarity, which will
facilitate prevention and the rehabilitation of all those who unfortunately
fall into the net of drug addiction.'' He urged families to react
courageously against drug use, ''this plague of our times.'' He added that
the Catholic Church, convinced that ''interventions of the social and
medical kind are not enough,'' seeks increased emphasis on ''human and
Christian values in society and an authentic solidarity toward individuals,
especially if weak and alone''.