ALL MUST ENLIST IN WAR ON DRUGS

We can no longer ignore it.

Despite our relative affluence and beautiful neighborhoods, the wealth of
educational and recreational opportunities we offer our children, and the
time and money we invest in their health and safety, increasing anecdotal
evidence around town indicates that more teens are using and abusing drugs
and alcohol than we imagined.

In meeting after meeting being held by civic groups, law makers and
enforcers, and substance-abuse counselors throughout Smithtown, astounding
numbers of parents are coming forward. They recount nightmare tales of
their teen's heroin addiction, or suspected drug dealers living next door,
attracting crime and preying on their children.

And according to local substance abuse experts, surveys of students don't
add up to their parents' sense of reality. Far more kids report being
exposed to or using drugs or alcohol than their families realize. In
addition to long-known teenage gateway drugs like tobacco, alcohol and
marijuana, youth are secretly getting hooked on their parents' prescription
pain killers, with heroin as the next step.

It's time that we own up to this challenge in our midst, and meet it.

It would be easy, and far from optimal, to simply demand better drug
education programs in our schools, or call for more police to monitor our
neighborhoods.

Now, despite their clear time constraints, school districts must ensure
they dedicate adequate time to substance abuse prevention courses, which
themselves must be evidence-based -- no feel-good efforts here like
deceased DARE, but programs with data showing they work in deterring teens
from drug abuse. Luckily, such programs are offered free of charge by the
state Office of Alcohol and Substance Abuse services and the town Horizons
department and Youth Bureau. Many local schools, public and private,
already utilize these proven courses, or their equivalent. Those schools
that don't, should.

And of course, the county must ensure that it devotes adequate resources to
staffing the war on drugs. Kudos to the county Legislature for keeping
Suffolk police levels constant heading into the current recession, as
studies show increased crime often accompanies economic hard times.

But, whether or not it takes a village to raise a child, it certainly takes
a whole community to keep the kid off drugs, experts say. All residents of
Smithtown must accept their role in fighting the drug-crime scourge.

For parents, Horizons and the Youth Bureau offer a number of courses aiding
guardians in recognizing and preventing the substance-abuse risks
confronting their children. Businesses can offer internships or sponsor
activities to offer youth enjoyable, productive ways to pass their
after-school hours -- or they can notify parents and schools when they see
teens hanging around areas notorious for drug activity.

Residents without kids can pay attention to suspicious activities in their
neighborhoods and clue in police using one of the multiple drug-tips hot
lines established recently, 273-1353 or 854-8487.

Everyone should attend one of the upcoming community forums on local drug
abuse, whether the event be offered by a community group, school district
or municipality, to learn of other measures to counteract the local rise in
drug abuse and narcotics dealing.

Our children are facing these drug-use dangers. It's time we confront them
as well.