Wednesday, April 07, 1999
Kids, adults to formulate battle plan for drug war
BY PHILLIP PINA
The Cincinnati Enquirer
About 7,000 drug educators, parents and children will gather in Cincinnati today hoping to build on surveys saying drug use among teen-agers may be declining.
The World Drug Conference will be held at Cincinnati's Albert B. Sabin Convention Center through Saturday, featuring local and national health and drug educators. The conference will share ideas about what prevention programs are working.
A 1997-98 survey released at the 1998 World Drug Conference found illicit drug use among high school students fell to 18.6 percent, from 20.7 percent in a similar 1996-97 survey. The decline was the first significant decrease in 11 years of surveys for the gathering.
“The recent decline is the best news in seven years,” said Luceille Fleming, director of the Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services. But, she warns, the drug prevention programs cannot let up. The drugs remained twice as prevalent as at the beginning of the 1990s.
“If we allow the drug issue to fade out of view again, we could be back next year with bad news,” she said.
The conference, held by Atlanta-based National Parents' Resource Institute for Drug Education, is the largest meeting on drug use in the United States. It is also one of the few that involves youths and adults working together on solutions.
Those programs that have shown some success, and will be talked about at the Cincinnati conference, are those that include parents setting clear rules as well as push youth involvement in the community, school and religious activities. A special program will address the success of mentoring programs in addressing drug prevention.
Throughout the conference, there will be a number of studies and surveys released on drug use among children. A national survey of students in grades 4-6, believed to be the first of its kind for that age group, will be detailed today, said Tamara Sullivan, conference spokeswoman. The survey is expected to show there is a small percentage of children as young as 9 using drugs.
And Thursday, Ohio drug experts will release a statewide survey of students that is expected to show a slight decrease in drug use.
More than 200 speakers will address drug use and related issues such as gangs, juvenile violence and health programs. A rally outside the convention center is planned for Friday.
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