FAITH LOWERS RISKS AMONG TEENAGERS

I read with interest the News-Leader's Aug. 21 editorial regarding
drug testing in high schools, "Study argues drug tests misplaced." The
study cited in the editorial was conducted by the National Center on
Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University. The News-Leader
editorial correctly noted that the researchers were unable to
determine with confidence what impact, if any, random drug testing has
on the likelihood that a school will be drug-free.

But buried within the study was a factor that did have a significantly
favorable impact on reported drug use by teens. "Teens who attend
religious services at least once a week (49 percent) are at
substantially lower risk than those who attend less frequently or not
at all."

These findings were echoed by John P. Waters, director of the White
House Office of National Drug Control Policy, at a recent meeting with
religious leaders in Tulsa.

"We know that youths who are involved in their faith are many times
less likely to be involved in self-destructive behaviors," he reported.

Those who decry our president's emphasis on faith-based initiatives
might be well advised to consider these remarkable statements. Could
it be that an answer to teen drug abuse is a working partnership
between students, parents, school officials, law enforcement and churches?

Randall Smith

Ozark