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REMARKS BY:		DONNA E. SHALALA, SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
PLACE:			NIDA Drug Abuse Prevention Conference, Washington, D.C.
DATE:			September 19, 1996

Behind the research, behind the science, behind the statistics, the work that you do every day is really about saving lives, preserving families, and building stronger communities for the future of our country.

And that future begins and ends with our young people -- including the young people General McCaffrey and I spoke about a couple weeks ago when we released the results of the 1995 National Household Survey -- conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

That survey showed that the increase in drug use among youth that began with eighth graders in 1991 continued to climb last year.

I know all of you join me and General McCaffrey in calling on every American to join forces to reverse this trend once and for all.

Because as our children go back to school this month, full of hope and promise for the future, now is the time for us to make sure that drugs don't stand in their way.

But this is not the time to point fingers. We must not allow this issue to become a political football. That could send the wrong message to our children -- and make them think drugs are just an issue for the politicians and not something they have to take personal responsibility for.

Drugs are not a Republican or Democratic problem. They're a bipartisan problem -- an American problem. Our problem.

And they present a challenge for all of us -- a challenge that demands real leadership. And that's exactly what President Clinton has provided the American people -- with the most comprehensive anti-drug strategy to ever come out of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

The President's plan attacks the supply side of the problem with tough law enforcement and interdiction.

It hits at demand with resources for treatment, education and prevention. And it includes a strong commitment to drug abuse research.

I am proud to serve with a President who understands the vital role that your work plays in our fight against drugs.

And I am proud of the strides being made every day at the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Thanks to some of the world's best scientists -- we have made very big gains in understanding the unique dangers posed by individual drugs -- and finding new solutions to combat them.

Now that NIDA scientists have found a way to immunize animals against the psychostimulant effects of cocaine, we are one step further to finding a treatment for cocaine addiction.

And as part of the Marijuana Initiative I launched in 1994, NIDA-sponsored research continues to illuminate the dangers of marijuana.

Researchers like Dr. Billy Martin have demonstrated that marijuana is addictive, and researchers like Dr. Peter Fried have shown the dangerous long-term effects that marijuana use during pregnancy can have on children.

In the face of rising marijuana use among our young people, these breakthroughs in scientific knowledge do more than shed light, they have the potential to save lives.

We need to educate a generation of parents, doctors, police officers, teachers and everyone else who cares for children that marijuana is a dangerous drug.

Let me be clear: We need to make the scientific case -- lay out the facts -- and tell all Americans exactly why marijuana is hazardous to our health -- to our heart, lungs, brain, motor skills and ultimately our future.

But there's another critical role for research as well.

We need to hold up our education and prevention efforts to rigorous scientific evaluation, to the very highest standards.

We need more information about what works and what doesn't -- and we need to bring that knowledge to every home, every school and every community in America.

Over the next two days, you will hear more about a number of key research findings that will help illuminate how we can save our children from the scourge of drugs.

Let me touch on three of the most important:

First, I am pleased to see that research done by Dr. Gilbert Botvin, of Cornell University, and others is showing the value of school-based prevention programs.

From years of research, we know that schools often give us the best chance at reaching the children who are most at-risk for substance abuse -- like children with behavioral problems or learning disabilities.

This research confirms the wisdom of President Clinton's fight to save the Safe and Drug Free Schools program -- a powerful resource -- and one with bipartisan roots -- that serves about 40 million school children in 97 percent of America's school districts.

Last year, the President used his veto pen to protect this critical initiative from massive Congressional cuts.

This year, the Congress has proposed big cuts again -- and once again we must lay down our marker and say, "no."

We must make it clear: now is not the time to roll back our commitment to protect children from drugs in their schools.

Now is the time to strengthen that commitment -- extending a hand to parents and children to help them win this fight.

And that's why I am proud to announce today a new partnership between HHS, NIDA and Scholastic News Magazine to bring even more drug education right into America's classrooms.

In November, more than 73,000 3rd-6th grade teachers will receive new materials we designed to educate 2.3 million students about the dangers of inhalants, marijuana, and tobacco.

But that's not all. Our program includes a take-home component for households that lets parents know what their children learned in school that day and asks them to reinforce that strong anti-drug message around the dinner table.

And that brings me to my second finding: Dr. Thomas Dishion of the Oregon Social Learning Center will present research showing that parents -- and families -- are powerful forces for preventing youth drug use.

Our challenge is to put power in parents' hands -- to inspire them to talk early, often and candidly with their children about drugs.

What works is parents talking to their children about drugs -- and at every opportunity -- reinforcing the core message that drugs are illegal, dangerous and wrong.

And that's never been more important than right now.

In a recent survey of teens and parents conducted for the Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, 65 percent of parents who used marijuana in their youth have resigned themselves to believe that their own children will try drugs.

And 40 percent of these parents believe they have little influence to prevent this tragedy.

That is as far from the truth as Moscow is from Maine. The fact is, children trust their parents more than anyone else in the world. And we've got to make sure parents know that -- and protect their children.

That's why we're teaming up with leaders like the National PTA, to conduct a new "Reality Check" campaign that has already given one million parents a free publication to help them send strong no-use messages to their children, even if they've experimented with drugs themselves.

We don't want parents to wait until their children have been exposed to drugs on the playground or at a friend's house. They need to start early -- and that's the third key finding that I want to amplify today.

From research by Dr. Dishion and others, it has been shown that it is particularly beneficial for young children -- especially children at risk -- to hear clear and consistent no- use messages -- early, often, and right through their pre- adolescent years.

Think about some of the earliest messages kids get from parents and other adults, the time-honored ones: "Don't touch that hot stove;" "Look both ways before crossing the street;" "Don't talk to strangers."

We never forget them and, more important, we pass them on to our children.

Make no mistake about it. Our children would fare much better as teenagers and adults if that repertoire of traditional messages also includes repeated warnings to stay away from drugs.

In fact, survey data from the Partnership for a Drug-Free America shows that children tend to have strong anti-drug attitudes right up until age 12.

But then those attitudes begin to erode just before the teen years -- as kids start to receive an assault of pro-use messages from popular culture and other sources.

Let's look at the facts. In 1991, 8th grade drug use jumped up, signalling the beginning of the trend among all teens that we are still experiencing today.

If we are going to move the arrow the other way and bring down the numbers, the place to make progress first is with the youngest group -- eighth graders -- to increase their disapproval of drugs -- and increase their perception that drugs are harmful.

But we can't wait until they hit the eighth grade to do that.

To lower our eighth graders' drug use rates, we must start earlier, bolstering their initial anti-drug attitudes and sustaining them beyond age 12 -- so that they don't soften their disapproval of drugs as they grow into their teens.

And that is the challenge I want to bring to you today.

So, how do we do that? How do we influence our young adolescents? What kind of messages are persuasive to children ages 8-12? Who are their role models? Who do they trust most? How do we compete and win against the barrage of pro-use messages?

We need science-based guidance to answer these seemingly simple questions because the answers to them are complex.

And we need to take these answers -- this science -- -- and translate it into action -- bringing it anywhere that can help us win the battle for the hearts and minds and futures of our children.

We cannot stand still in this fight.

Because as we stand at the doorway to the 21st century, somewhere in America -- there is a 10-year-old girl who, if she stays off drugs, could become a future Fortune 100 CEO.

There's a 14-year-old boy who learned to say no in grammar school -- and now dreams of becoming the next American astronaut to walk on another planet.

And there's the 18-year-old girl who learned to resist drugs in sixth grade -- and can now set her sights on any job she wants -- from the future principal of her high school to the future President of the United States.

These young people are our national hope and our national resource. And with the vast promise of science and research, we can reach them better and earlier -- and in doing so we can reverse these drug trends and paint a brighter future for this generation and every generation to come.

And working together, we will do just that.

Thank you.