Pubdate: Sun, 27 Feb 2005
Source: Lowell Sun (MA)
Copyright: 2005 MediaNews Group, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.lowellsun.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/852
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

DESTRUCTIVE DRUGS

Mom, dad -- it's a whole new ball of wax out there today.

At least so far  as drug use is concerned.

But you're not listening, are you? That's what the experts  say, anyway.

The Partnership for a Drug-Free America released sadly  disturbing news 
last week, indicating that parents today are more blasACopyright  about 
their youngsters' drug use than parents of previous generations. The 
parents  they surveyed, some 1,200 across the nation, see less risk in 
drug  experimentation among youngsters, and are less likely to speak to 
their children  about it.

The Partnership survey also indicates that barely half of these parents 
would be upset if their children experimented with marijuana. But they 
wouldn't have much knowledge about today's drug scene,  either.

The survey indicated that most (89 percent) of these "consenting" parents 
are not using drugs themselves. So do they know what they're being 
so  casual about? Probably not. And the illegal drug industry itself has 
grown to  mega-proportions. Innocent people die because of that, but our 
kids -- and  perhaps their parents too -- are glibly unaware of the impacts 
of drug abuse on  global economics. Their casual attitudes and dated 
experience are a concern to the Partnership, trying to convince parents to 
step into this decade in terms of  drug abuse realities. Before looking the 
other way, or making light of drug use by  your kids, folks, consider the 
facts: * Only 21 percent of parents report they believe their 
child's  friends have smoked marijuana.

The teens themselves report that 62 percent of  their friends use the drug. 
* Street knowledge -- questionably reliable at best -- is the prevailing 
mode of communication. Only 3 in every 10 teens say they've learned a  lot 
about drug risks from their parents. * Less than one-fifth of the parents 
surveyed believed their  children had smoked marijuana.

The number of teens who report experimenting is  closer to 40 percent. 
Fortunately, that number is down from the previous year,  according to the 
Office of National Drug Control Policy.

If you'd like to learn more about the study, or the drugs out  there in 
your community, we suggest you explore this site on the 
Internet:  Partnership for Drug Free America, _http://www.drugfree.org_ 
(http://www.drugfree.org/) . You may not prevent your child from 
experimenting. But you may  have a better idea about who is doing what, and 
a far better chance of  monitoring behavior that can easily 
become  self-destructive.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Beth