DRUGS: THEY'RE `NOT FUNNY -- THEY'RE POISONOUS'

DPA , ZLIN, CZECH REPUBLIC

As soon as spring breezes turn warm, armies of Czech teenagers grab their
sleeping bags and head to the wooded hills of the country's Moravia region.

But increasingly these traditional spring camping trips for young Czechs
are raising red flags among drug-abuse counselors.

More than ever, counselors say, teen camping trips are combined with
surreptitious searching for various weeds, flowers, mushrooms and other
wild plants rumored to give a safe and natural high.

In Czech schools, youths these days are bombarded with health warnings
about synthetic drugs.

They're urged to stay away from the disco favorite ecstasy and a uniquely
Czech amphetamine produced in underground labs called pervitin. They hear
scary tales about sniffing glue, popping pills and shooting heroin.

"But they think that whatever [drug] is in nature must be good," said Petr
Netocny, drug counselor and director of the Zlin

Prevention Center. "So now they abuse natural drugs, like mushrooms."

And although synthetic highs are still popular, natural drugs that grow
wild in the woods are gaining ground.

A good example is the poppy. Zlin regional anti-drug coordinator Magda
Cernicka said area youths are now abusing the poppy more than any other drug.

A red-petal variety of poppy related to the Asian opium poppy grows wild
and under cultivation across the Czech Republic.

The tiny seeds from poppies, or "mak" in Czech, are commonly used in pastry
fillings and potato dishes.

Mak seed is a traditional treat for Czech children. But now teens "cut a
little piece from the mak and take the juice" that oozes out, Netocny said.

"They put the juice on the end of a cigarette and smoke it," he said. "Or
if it's a young plant, they can dry it for smoking."

Other favorite drugs from Czech forests include cockle, a weed billed as a
natural alternative to LSD, and hallucinogenic mushrooms.

Locally grown marijuana is an old favorite as well.

"The problem involves many different plants," Netocny said.

To reverse the trend, anti-drug educators are expanding their school
lessons. Now in addition to synthetics, they're warning teens about the
dangerous consequences of supposedly harmless highs.

"We're trying to explain to them that these plants are not funny -- they're
poisonous," Netocny said. "I've seen too many young people in the hospital
being treated for these drugs."