TEENS NEED BETTER ADVICE ABOUT DRUG USE THAN 'JUST SAY NO'

The Issue - A Policy Group Urges Parents And Educators To Give Young People
Information Instead Of Trying To Scare Them Straight.

BY the time they reach their teen years, children are able to distinguish
half-truths and exaggerations and are well aware that drug use transfuses
American culture. So using scare tactics and promoting misinformation
undermines the credibility of drug education efforts. The approach advanced
by the Drug Policy Alliance to give young people clear information about the
risks makes more sense.

Despite the millions of dollars and countless hours spent by schools and the
federal government to push "Just Say No" and similar programs, various
studies and surveys show that as many as 50 percent of teenagers experiment
with drugs and about 80 percent with alcohol. Although abstaining from such
behavior would be ideal, teenagers are inclined to take chances. If they do,
they should be aware of the levels of dangers involved with different
substances, the likelihood of addiction and the legal problems that may
follow them far into the future.

In presentations to education officials in Hawaii, Marsha Rosenbaum,
director of the San Francisco office of the alliance, said that alarming
teenagers with stories about addiction and stretching the facts about drug
use can be harmful when young people find out the truth. Rosenbaum described
a young woman who had been told in drug education classes that if she tried
marijuana, she would become addicted. When that didn't happen, she concluded
that she had been lied to, figured that the other information in the classes
also was false and went on to try heroin. She eventually became addicted.

Of course, most young people won't head down that path, but Rosenbaum
reasons that overstatements and fear aren't the most effective methods to
discourage drug and alcohol use and abuse. Rather, parents and educators
should provide factual information and answer questions teenagers may have
in an atmosphere where they may speak freely. Informed adults should explain
the biological and psychological effects drugs -- both legal and illegal --
and alcohol may have in the short term and through the rest of their lives.
Teenagers are better able to make rational choices when rational guidance is
provided.