THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 6, 1996 TAG: 9610030021
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J4 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: 56 lines
Bob Dole, the Republican candidate for president, blames President Bill Clinton, the Democrats' nominee, for the doubling of teen-age illicit-drug use between 1992 and 1995. Dole accuses Clinton of being AWOL in the war on drugs.
And former Republican ``drug czar'' William Bennett wished aloud on a Sunday-morning talk show that the president were as hostile to Colombia Cali drug cartel, which manufactures and distributes cocaine, as he is to Philip Morris, which manufactures and distributes cigarettes.
The Republicans are firing barrages of television commercials with a clip from Clinton's MTV interview in which he jokes about his inability to inhale marijuana to document their charge that the president hasn't taken the drug challenge seriously.
The Clinton administration fires back by noting that the Cali drug cartel has been damaged severely by U.S.-aided anti-drug efforts aimed at producers and distributors and that teen-age drug use had begun to rise during the latter years of President George Bush's administration.
The administration also says that consumption of prohibited drugs rises and falls from generation to generation; that the popularity of specific drugs tends to wane as a maturing generation learns firsthand of the harm they do and waxes when a new generation comes along that has no real knowledge of the toll in health and happiness that illicit drugs can exact.
The deaths of sports and entertainment celebrities from overdoses of cocaine and other drug abuse sent shock waves through a generation of Americans now maturing. But the generation following has different heroes and heroines and, like the generation before it, discounts their elders' warnings about drugs.
The Republicans say that the Reagan administration's ``just say no to drugs'' exhortation led to a drop in overall illicit-drug use, including a decline in teens' use. More likely the overall decline is attributable to the graying of America. The average age of Americans is rising. Americans are drinking less alcohol and smoking fewer cigarettes. Should anyone be surprised that Americans are using fewer illicit drugs, too?
What, then, to do about increased drug use among children? Continue anti-drug education in schools, but be sure the information about the physical, psychological and legal consequences of illicit-drug use is precise, not overstated.
Drugs - legal and illegal - are hazardous. Some drugs - legal and illegal - are swiftly ruinous to health and can kill users. Best to abstain from drug use. But level with young people. Not everyone who drinks becomes alcoholic. Not every pot smoker scrambles his brain. Not every heroin or cocaine user overdoses. And clearly not everyone who breaks drug laws is collared by the cops.
Good information about drugs along with wholesome outlets for youthful energies and constructive adult role models, and healthier families and communities are America's best shot at curbing drug usage by the young. ``Getting tough'' with drug users and expanding drug-interdiction efforts makes some difference at the margins, but only at the margins. by CNB