TEEN DRUG USE PRODUCES ALARMING SURVEY DATA

The statistics are rather unbelievable, perhaps too much so. A private study released in Washington, D.C., finds that youngsters who live in rural America are 50 percent more likely to use crack cocaine than city youths.

Perhaps what is the most disturbing about the study is the fact a growing number of eighth graders are turning to drugs. We're talking about eighth graders, children who are not yet driving. They're 13 and 14 years old.

The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University suggests that eighth graders in rural America are 104 percent more likely to use amphetamines, including methamphetamine, than teen-agers in bigger cities. Furthermore, the study suggests these young teen-agers are not only using drugs, but they're drinking and smoking at higher rates than their urban counterparts.

To combat the problem, the center suggests the government should dispatch its war on drugs to American's smaller communities instead of foreign countries like cocaine-rich Colombia.

Why would kids in rural America use more drugs than teens in the cities? The study suggests adult drug use was about equal across communities of all sizes. The problem, this group theorizes, is that midsized cities and rural areas are less equipped to deal with these drug problems.

But where do these figures come from? The center examined statistics and studies from a number of states. It conducted interviews with local officials, law enforcement officers and other experts in substance abuse. And it reviewed more than 300 articles and publications.

Too often, statistics are like clay being molded to meet a study's intended outcome. It seems rather hard to believe that a higher percentage of teen-agers in Cape Girardeau use drugs than the city of St. Louis.

Whether the figures are inflated or not, the overall message should still worry parents, educators and officials everywhere. Despite campaigns aimed at reducing teen-aged smoking, more youngsters are taking up smoking. And despite years of anti-drug efforts in classrooms and at home, teen-agers are embracing drugs.