INITIATIVE SEEKS TO CURB DRUG ABUSE AMONG KIDS

DURHAM -- Johnny, 15, wants to go out to a party with friends tonight.

But after phoning the parents of Johnny's friends, mom nixes the plans
because she finds out the party is not chaperoned.

Pretty basic, right?

If the new national initiative Parent Corps proves successful, organized
networks of parents will blanket every school in Durham and across United
States in an effort to curb drug, alcohol and tobacco use by children and
adolescents.

Officials with the 1-year-old nonprofit spoke Friday at a conference at N.C.
Central University's School of Education in the first of several planned
workshops throughout the country.

Parent Corps is recruiting and training both full-time and volunteer
parents. Program literature says it is modeled after the principles of the
Peace Corps.

"America has a problem and every child is at risk," said Sue Rusche,
president and CEO of Parent Corps. "The more kids think drugs will hurt
them, the less chance they will use it."

About 51 percent of high school seniors tried drugs in 2003, a decline from
previous years, according to the Monitoring the Future Survey. But the 2003
figures are still more than a low of 40 percent during the 28-year study.

Rusche urged the 40 people on hand Friday to use the power of a group of
parents to set ground rules for children and then enforce the rules. It's
easier to say no to your children if other parents do, too, she said.

Proposed to President Bush before the 2000 election and unveiled in 2003,
the organization has a $4.2 million budget over three years. Cities in nine
states, including North Carolina, have Parent Corps programs set up, and the
organization set a goal to have a parent leader in every U.S. school, Rusche
said.

Annie Hancock of Graham is a mother of four sons, a grandmother of four
grandchildren and one of North Carolina's original Parent Corps members. As
a parent leader, Hancock contacts parents and mobilizes them into groups to
create a support network. The work was tough at first. Then 49 students were
arrested in February on drug charges in a sweep of six high schools in the
Alamance-Burlington School System.

"The parents grew much more interested," she said. "We're gaining momentum.
Parents and schools recognize the [Parent Corps] name and seek us out."

NCCU, which hosted the conference, has its own team of researchers studying
the effects of drugs on the brain. The team, the Neuroscience of Drug Abuse
Program, receives funding by the National Institute of Drug Abuse and the
National Institute on Alcohol and Alcohol Abuse.

Allyn Hewlett, who researches the presence of cannabinoid (marijuana)
receptors in the brain, said parents must bring factual information to the
table when talking to their children about drugs and alcohol.

"Kids have in mind that there are good drugs versus bad drugs," she said.
"But in medical school, we talk about good uses versus bad uses."

Hewlett said parents should teach children about the medical benefits of
marijuana for chronically ill patients. But children also must understand
how the drug impairs memory and other brain functions, she said.

On the Web: www.parentcorps.org