TRENDS: DRUGS AMONG TEENS, CANDIDATES

What's wrong with this picture? According to a government survey, there is a trend that fewer teen-agers are trying illegal drugs. According to widespread media reports, more and more candidates for political office are admitting to drug use -- in many cases, when they were teen-agers.

Reports of the government's study on teen-age drug use and reports about candidates who must face questions about prior drug use have collided on newspaper pages and television talk shows and newscasts. The mixed message contains some good news, but also prompts questions, particularly about how candidates should respond when asked about drugs in their lives.

First, the good news. Even though the government's report showed some decline in teen drug use -- the second yearly dip over the past three years, there are still twice as many teens who say they have used illegal drugs as there were in 1992. The survey didn't just look at illegal drugs. It also questioned teens about cigarettes and alcohol. There are just about as many teen-age smokers now as there were in 1992, although the numbers are down from 1985 levels. The same trend hold for alcohol consumption, even though more teens use alcohol than tobacco. And as teens pass the legal age for drinking, consumption goes up even more.

The news about candidates and their drug usage -- if any -- has been spotlighted by reporters pushing Texas Gov. George W. Bush for answers to questions about rumors he has used cocaine. Initially, Bush took a stance that he did not intend to answer questions about his private life that weren't relevant to his interest in becoming the next president. Then he offered qualified answers that partially resolved some of the rumors but, at the same time, fueled even more questions.

Bush's first inclination was probably his best. If he really intended to keep his private life -- particularly events that occurred 25 or more years ago -- out of the public's eye, he should have stuck to his no-answer-to-probing-inquiries position. But he didn't, and he thus pierced a hole in the dam.

The corner Bush has backed himself into is one where every candidate could likely wind up. As a result of the sitting president's problems in this area, voters say they don't care what presidents do privately as long as they perform well in their official duties. That's baloney, of course. Some voters, indeed, many not be influenced by immature or poor-judgment indiscretions. But humans never get their fill of intimate details about important and influential people. Gossip is still the nation's No. 1 commodity, whether you are commander in chief, Indian chief or chief bottle washer.

As a result, anyone with presidential aspirations needs to figure out a way to satisfy this craving. The simplest way is to answer every question. The answers might not change a voter's mind, but they would put an end to the inevitable conclusion that unanswered questions are to be interpreted as something to hide.