JUST SAYING NO WORKS AT TIMES

First, the good news: Fewer young people are using illegal
drugs.

The Associated Press, citing a University of Michigan study, reports
about 13 percent of all eighth graders used an illegal drug sometime
during the past year.

In 1996, 24 percent did it.

There was a particularly big drop in marijuana use.

Fewer young people experimenting with drugs means there may not be as
many adult addicts later.

Now the bad news: More young people are, however, abusing prescription
painkillers, the article reported.

OxyContin, for example.

An online medical dictionary describes OxyContin as "an opioid
analgesic derived from morphine."

Another medical Web site explains how to produce a heroin-like high
from the prescription medication.

There is an air of legitimacy about prescription drugs, and that may
account for their emerging popularity among young abusers.

How do young people get ahold of these prescription drugs? Possibly
from parents' medicine cabinets.

But a drug is a drug.

Abuse is abuse.

And addiction creates terrible problems later.