NEW SURVEY RESULTS ENCOURAGING; PARENTS
MUST SPEAK UP TO PROMOTE DRUG-FREE SCHOOLS

ALEXANDRIA, VA-Results of a teen survey released today from the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University are encouraging, but parents need to become more outspoken and demand that their children's schools are drug free.

The survey found that 62 percent of 12- to 17-year olds in public schools say their schools are drug free, compared to 42 percent in 2000. 79 percent of parochial school students say their school is drug free, compared to 65 percent in 2000.

"While I am pleased of this increase in students who say their schools are drug free, I am still disappointed that the rest of the students who took part in this survey still witness or take part in drug use on campus," Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA) Chairman and CEO General Arthur T. Dean said. "I have said all along, our children deserve to learn and prosper in an environment free of drugs and violence."

In order to accomplish that, Dean says that the most proven and effective way is for more parents to demand that their children's schools actively enforce an anti-drug policy and implement a prevention program. "Parents who say that they can't do anything, and think that drugs are a way of life in American schools are just wrong," Dean said. "Nothing could be further from the truth. If more parents worked together to create a united voice, more schools would get the message that parents mean business when it comes to eliminating drugs from their children's schools."

The authors of the survey complied a list of ten questions that every parent should ask of the school their child attends. Visit CADCA's website at www.cadca.org to view the questions.

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Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA) is the premier national membership organization providing training, information and support to anti-drug coalitions across the country.  Community anti-drug coalitions are local partnerships between parents, teachers, young people, law enforcement, health providers, the faith community, business and civic leaders, elected officials and concerned citizens who unite and mobilize to make their communities safe, healthy and drug-free -- one community at a time.