DECLINE IN DRUG, SMOKING USE IS A POSITIVE SIGN

Everyone should welcome the recent report that smoking and drug abuse
among teenagers is on the decline, not only across the nation, but
locally as well.

According to a nationwide survey conducted by the National Institute
on Drug Abuse, the smoking rate among younger teenagers is half what
it was in the mid-1990s. Drug use among young teens is down by a
third, while the decline among older teenagers is smaller.

This information indicates that teenagers are learning the physical
and mental consequences of using drugs and of smoking.

Locally, the news is also encouraging, according to a PRIDE survey of
drugs taken by all students in the Bowling Green and Warren County
school districts earlier this year.

Smoking has dropped significantly since 1999 in Bowling Green and
Warren County.

"I feel good about what we're doing. Kids are getting the message, but
there are still too many kids smoking at early ages. It's a work in
progress," said Nancy Bertuleit, safe and drug-free schools specialist
for Warren County Schools.

Progress has been made, but there is still a way to go. We should push
to lower these numbers even more.

There are many programs that have been implemented that deserve credit
for the declines, such as requiring identification for everyone buying
tobacco or alcohol, smoke-free ordinances and science-based anti-drug
programs.

Drug specialists and law enforcement agencies deserve credit for the
decline as well.

One major problem still affecting teenagers is the so-called "gateway
drugs," such as inhalants.

Local schools saw a huge jump in inhalant use among 12th graders in
2003; 9 percent admitted using them in 2003, compared to 4.7 percent
in 2002.

These numbers prove that there is still plenty of work to be done to
keep our kids drug free.

But they also show that progress is being made, for which we should
all be pleased.