DRUG USE STILL INTOLERABLY HIGH

Good news in the war against drugs is hardly worth mentioning, in light of
the accompanying bad news.

The good news is that fewer American youngsters are using illegal drugs,
according to a federal government study.

But here's the bad news: Even with the decrease, more than half of high
school seniors admit to having used illegal drugs. Nearly one-third of them
have tried drugs other than marijuana. Ready for some more bad news? Use of
cocaine and heroin - among the most dangerous illegal drugs - does not seem
to have decreased.

Analysts say there is some reason to believe that many young people stop
using specific drugs when they become worried about health hazards. That,
they say, explains why less use of the "rave" drug Ecstasy was reported
during the past year. Unfortunately, that theory doesn't explain why young
people continue to use cocaine and heroin in large quantities. Frankly,
we're tempted to wonder if the drop-off in Ecstasy consumption is because
the drug represented a fad, the novelty of which has worn off.

Some studies of behavior by young people are suspect for a variety of
reasons, including relatively small samples in surveys. But the annual
Monitoring the Future study of youth drug use, conducted by the National
Institute on Drug Abuse, is persuasive; it surveyed about 44,000 students
in grades 8, 10 and 12 at 394 schools throughout the nation.

Percentages of eighth- and 10th-graders using illegal drugs dropped
slightly during the past year, according to the study's findings. The
percentage of 12th-graders using some drugs, including Ecstasy and LSD,
also dropped. But, again, overall use of illegal drugs by young people
remains intolerably high. When more than half of high school seniors admit
using them, there's a problem.

How to handle it? A mixture of education and enforcement seems to have
helped - but clearly, there is much more to accomplish. And, to judge by
the fact that use of drugs such as cocaine and heroin, targeted for
education campaigns, has increased, it would appear the emphasis should be
on enforcement. Cutting off the supply of illegal drugs to young Americans
should be a priority.