DRUG REPORT DOESN'T TELL REAL STORY

Marijuana, methamphetamines, inhalants, prescription drugs, Ecstasy.
An extensive survey of Indiana teens indicates that young people are
using these substances less than they did in the mid-1990s.

That's great news. Several advocates rightly claim that their work to
steer students away from harmful substances is paying off. We agree
and rejoice in their successes.

Significant gains were made in regard to alcohol and tobacco. Whereas
nearly 42 percent of high school seniors in 1997 and 1998 said they
smoked cigarettes, just over a quarter said they smoked in 2004.

While more kids are rejecting some of their parents' vices, it appears
that more of them are rummaging around in their parents' medicine
cabinets. One in five teenagers have tried painkillers such as Vicodin
and OxyContin to get high. More teens turn to those drugs than
Ecstasy, cocaine, crack or LSD.

That is a trend that certainly strikes close to home.

As we perused the survey's results, we were left with a nagging
feeling.

Yes, some of the trends are heading south. That's great.

But we are appalled that the numbers are this high now, much less in
the late 1990s. We are absolutely frightened that teens seem to have
such easy access to drugs of all types. Where is this stuff coming
from? And how is it getting into the hands of such young people?

We blanch to even type "teens" in the same sentence as "meth,"
"scripts" or "coke." It's most upsetting.

We believe those substances associated with any teen, any one teen, is
a tragedy of epic proportions.

When a single teen abuses drugs, it affects their family, their peers
and more frighteningly, their younger siblings. Those effects of drug
use are not chronicled in teen surveys.

So how does society keep children from using drugs? We know there is
no simple solution.

But we must start first with parents and other adult role models.
Adults must set good examples for teens, first and foremost, and also
provide positive alternatives for teens. If they are busy doing
constructive things-- well supervised church groups, after-school
activities or working -- we believe the temptation will be much less.

Teens are our future. We have to save them.

We believe

Whereas a recent report that drug use is down among Hoosier teens, we
believe statistics mask the devastation drugs bring to communities.