APPEAL OF NARCOTICS DEADLY, DRUG CZAR WARNS STUDENTS

Highlands High School students had some tough questions yesterday for the
man known as President Bush's "drug czar."

Should the prescription drug Ritalin be illegal because some kids sell it
on the street? Aren't there more problems, such as drunken driving from
alcohol, which is legal, than from marijuana, which isn't? How is he going
to respond to the attempts to legalize marijuana?

John P. Walters, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, in
turn, had a direct request of students -- say "no" to drugs and help family
and friends who use them to seek treatment, even if they're in denial.

More than half of the six million Americans who need treatment don't
believe they have a problem, he said.

"It's time to grow up" and to help save lives, he told the students.

"This is about taking care of the people around us."

Walters visited the Harrison school with U.S. Rep. Melissa Hart, R-Bradford
Woods, as part of a program in which the drug czar is talking to students
in cities across the country.

Walters views the war against drugs as an ongoing battle.

He said drug use today is half of what it was during its peak in 1980, but,
"there is still too much drug use."

As in many school districts, this wasn't the first time the Highlands
students have thought about the drug question. Three members of the Class
of 2001 have died from heroin. Some classmates now are in treatment.

Walters told the students that teens make up a growing percentage of
addicted drug-users -- 23 percent.

He said those who stay away from drugs as teenagers are unlikely to do them
later. Chemical changes that occur in the brains of young people who use
drugs, he added, increase the likelihood of addiction.

Drug use "begins with a lie: 'It's fun.' 'You can handle it,' " Walters said.

Then the user realizes too late that it's too much to handle, he said.

In addressing some of the students' questions yesterday, Walters said some
prescription drugs that help people, such as Ritalin, have the potential to
be abused. He urged students to help friends who abuse them. But he said
the prescription drugs are too beneficial to remove from the market.

Walters also said he didn't intend to minimize the danger of alcohol. He
said society has decided that alcohol is legal for adults.

"We pay a terrible price for that," he said, saying it is a big factor in
crime, family abuse and dependency.

As for the legalization of marijuana, Walters said he believes proposals to
legalize the drug in three states can be defeated if people voice their
opposition.

He questioned how much more tragedy there would be if, through
legalization, there were many more users of illegal drugs.

"That is something a civilized society should not do," he said.