PARENTS MATTER

This isn't groundbreaking news but it's worth repeating, as the Partnership
for a Drug-Free America does in its April bulletin: Parents play an
important role in keeping their children away from drugs. Sixty-eight
percent of teenagers believed they ran a great risk of upsetting their
parents if they used marijuana, according to a Partnership study that
tracks attitudes toward drugs.

Also, children are 42 percent less likely to use marijuana if they learn
about drug risks from their parents than are those who don't talk about
drug use with their parents, the Partnership reported on its Web site,
www.drugfreeamerica.org.

Another group that offers helpful information about drugs and kids, The
National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University,
urges parents to start their discussions about drugs and how to say no to
them before age 12. Its Web site is www.casacolumbia.org.

The Partnership for a Drug- Free America gives parents all kinds of tools
to help their children stay away from drugs, talk to their kids about the
dangers of drugs, determine whether their children are using drugs, and
navigate the complex world of treatment, latest studies and drug-related terms.

Plenty of resources exist to help, but it's up to parents to guide their
own children on a healthy path to adulthood. The message seems obvious, but
parents have no greater responsibility.