TRT: 2:57

(animated graphic prints in dictionary font with typewriter SFX)

Narr: ADDICTION. HABITUAL…

Sot: Nick I need another one and another one and another one.

PSYCHOLOGICAL AND PHYSIOLOGICAL DEPENDENCE….

Sot: Lavalle Lassiter: I never though I could be so dependent. to a product that I know would kill me.

SOT -Dan Obrien: "I drank to get drunk."

ON A SUBSTANCE OR PRACTICE WHICH IS BEYOND VOLUNTARY CONTROL.

SOT -Chris: "It just climbs on your brain."

NARR: ADDICTION IS MORE THAN JUST A WORD…IT'S MORE THAN A MEDICAL DEFINITION. …EXPERTS CALL IT A PSYCHO-SOCIAL-BIO-GENETIC DISORDER…
BUT, ADDICTION HAS A FACE. IT HAS MANY FACES. SOME OF THOSE FACES ARE GETTING YOUNGER AND YOUNGER.

SOT Dan Obrien: I was 12...Igot high in my backyard with my sister.

Sot Christina: I had a girl die in my arms of a heroin overdose… it was a little girl, she was only like thirteen years-old.

Nats: kids laughing

THE VOICES OF CHILDREN TELL US SOMETHING ABOUT ADDICTION.
ABOUT ITS POWER. … ITS CONTROL.

SOT Nick: - "I felt 10 feet tall and bulletproof"

ITS GRIP.

SOT Chris : - and then you're like aaahh..next week I'm gonna eat another rolllI'm gonna be on that and you eat more and more and more."

WHEN HE WAS JUST 12 YEARS OLD, DAN O'BRIEN TRIED MARIJUANA FOR THE FIRST TIME.

SOT Dan O'brien: "We smoked it and just got stoned. And I was just…I loved it. I absolutely loved it."

DAN SPENT THE NEXT 7 YEARS ADDICTED TO DRUGS AND ALCOHOL.

FOR CHRISTINE ADDICTION BEGAN AT AGE 13.

SOT Christine Greene - "a shot every day, just a shot everyday."

DRINKING EVERY DAY - AND CHRISTINE'S MOTHER NEVER HAD A CLUE.

SOT ANITA MASON: "I didn't know she was coming home intoxicated."

FOR LAVALLE LASSITER, THE DRUG WAS NICOTINE…AND THE ADDICTION WAS ALMOST INSTANT.

SOT LAVALLE LASSITER: - "From like one cigarette a day to like a pack a day."

THE DEFINITION OF ADDICTION IS PRECISE…BUT HOW ADDICTION WORKS SEEMS ANYTHING BUT.

MANY KIDS TAKE RISKS AND EXPERIMENT WITH DRUGS AND ALCOHOL…AND THEY NEVER WORRY ABOUT BECOMING ADDICTED.

SOT CHRISTINA: "all I care about is how I feel at the moment and I feel wonderful."

SOT: You come here, you see the drugs, you do the drugs.

SOT: "some kids are gonna continue to do it and some aren't"

SOME NEVER GET HOOKED.

WHILE OTHERS…LIKE NICK...FIND THEMSELVES SUDDENLY OUT OF CONTROL…BARRELLING TOWARDS DESTRUCTION.

NICK SOT: I was sure that my beloved friend was dead and I had killed him.

STILL WE HAVE MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT DRUG AND ALCOHOL ABUSE…ABOUT HOW LONG IT TAKES TO BECOME AN ADDICT, ABOUT HOW EASY IT IS TO DETECT, HOW SERIOUSLY WE TAKE IT…AND ABOUT HOW PARENTS CAN PROTECT THEIR CHILDREN.

Graphic spells out "Addicted Kids"

WE'LL BE RIGHT BACK.

((Break 1))

Addicted Kids
Part One
TRT: 6:45

SUPER (:10) DAN O'BRIEN/AGE 19
SOT: Dan O'Brien: "I mean I didn't have a bad childhood or anything like that. I wasn't trying to run away from anything. I just liked the feeling of being drunk or high… I just loved it."

19-YEAR-OLD DAN O'BRIEN IS A DRUG ADDICT. FOR MOST OF HIS TEENAGE YEARS, HE'S BEEN HIGH.

SOT DAN OBRIEN:"Like a lot of people say the first time they smoke pot, they don't get high or anything …we smoked two joints and I was like stoned as hell.. I can remember thinking like I need to get a whole bale of stuff… I don't know…I just loved it."

THIS IS THE MISCONCEPTION. WHAT SO MANY MISUNDERSTAND. FOR SOME KIDS, ADDICTION DOESN'T SLOWLY DEVELOP … THEY ARE ADDICTED ALMOST INSTANTLY. . . THE VERY FIRST TIME. NEW RESEARCH PUBLISHED IN TOBACCO CONTROL SHOWS KIDS CAN GET HOOKED WHEN THEY SMOKE THEIR FIRST CIGARETTE.

SUPER: (1:01) Dr. Bob Margolis/Substance Abuse Counselor
SOT: DR. MARGOLIS: "You need to understand that if your child begins smoking cigarettes, you're only talking a few cigarettes or even a few hours or days before they begin to become dependent on that cigarette to feel ok... and that's a very scary thing."

LISTEN TO WHAT YOUNG ADDICTS TELL DOCTOR GUY SOMMERS DURING COUNSELING SESSIONS.

SUPER (:1:21) Dr. Guy Sommers, Psychologist, Substance Abuse
SOT DR. SOMMERS: "Yeah, I snuck into Mom & Dad's liquor cabinet when I was about 12 and I started sneaking drinks and from the moment I tasted it, I knew I had found heaven!

SHE FOUND THAT HEAVEN AT HOME. SO DID DAN. . .

SOT DAN O'BRIEN- I'd spend the night at a friend's house and we'd steal some liquor from their parents or steal some beer.

WHAT HOOKS KIDS? THE SAME SUBSTANCES THAT PARENTS USED…AND MOST OFTEN TOLERATE: ALCOHOL. .. NICOTINE. . . MARIJUANA. THE EXPERTS CALL THEM GATEWAY DRUGS. MOST DANGEROUS . . . BECAUSE TO KIDS AND THEIR PARENTS. . . THEY ARE THE LEAST SCARY. . . THE MOST ACCEPTED.

SOT DAN O'BRIEN:"The first thing I ever tried anything… I was 12 and I got high in my backyard with my sister…."

SMOKING A JOINT IN HIS OWN BACKYARD WAS MORE EXCITING THAN SCARY. . . BUT VERY QUICKLY, THE EXPERIMENT BECAME AN ADDICTION… AND DAN'S LIFE BECAME A NIGHTMARE.

SOT DAN OBRIEN: "Got high, every morning, go to class, at lunch go get high again. alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, acid, computer keyboard cleaner, prescription medicines… that was a biggie, like pain killers, amphetamines.. Like every time I would go into someone's house I would look into their medicine cabinet and see what they had-see if someone had prescription for Ritalin or whatever."

AND ALL THE WHILE …HE FOOLED HIS PARENTS.

SUPER: (2:57) DENNIS O'BRIEN, DAN'S FATHER
SOT DENNIS O'BRIEN: "You'd think if a child was involved with drugs and alcohol, you'd be getting some warning signs. They'd be getting into trouble, money would be missing, from the house, he'd be coming home late from curfew….um, just things like that.. but nothing, none of those signs ever occurred."

SUPER (3:15) HEDWIG O'BRIEN, DAN'S MOTHER
SOT HEDWIG: "Faithfully, I stayed up every Friday and Saturday night to check to see if he was sober…. to make sure that he got home and he always appeared to be fine to me. I really didn't. I was clueless."

"CLUELESS'…LIKE A LOT OF PARENTS. BUT MANY OF US QUESTION THE IGNORANCE. HOW COULD THEY NOT SEE THAT THEIR SON WAS GETTING HIGH ALMOST EVERY DAY? THIS IS ANOTHER MISCONCEPTION…WE BELIEVE ADDICTS ARE EASY TO SPOT. BUT THE EXPERTS SAY…THEY ARE MASTERS AT HIDING THEIR SECRET.

SUPER: (3:48 ) Dr. Vincent Ho, Psychiatrist
SOT DR HO: " It's not like these parents are bad or are missing something… the kids are just really good at tricking people."

SOT DAN O'BRIEN:" I was living a double life. . . I um. . . on one hand I was just the great kid. . . never got into trouble in school. . . great soccer player. . . always had a bunch of friends . . . all the parents love me. . . um and then on the other hand I was just stealing from people. . . stealing from my best friends. . . stealing from my parents.

DAN'S PARENTS DIDN'T KNOW HE WAS DRUNK ALL THE TIME. . . BUT THEY DID KNOW HE OCCASIONALLY TOOK A DRINK OR EVEN SMOKED A JOINT. ADDICTS HIDE THEIR HABIT FROM THEIR PARENTS. . . BUT FEW CAN HIDE EVERY INCIDENT.

SOT ) DENNIS O'BRIEN- I found dope in his car one time.

SOT: Dan O'brien: I mean they knew that I smoked pot and they knew that I drank but they had no idea to what extent it had progressed.

SOT Dennis O'brien: I wouldn't let him use the car

SOT Dan - They didn't know how bad it was

SOT Dennis O'brien: My thought was he's experimenting with it. . . it's a phase he'll get through.

IT'S ONE OF THE MOST COMMON AND YET MOST SERIOUS MISTAKES PARENTS MAKE. .

SOT: Dennis O'brien: "I kept waiting for the light to go on for Daniel and all of a sudden he'd reach some level of maturity. . . that you know grades are going to get more responsible. . . um things such as that. . . and it never happened ."

WHAT HAPPENED INSTEAD WAS MUCH WORSE. DAN WAS BUSTED FOR MARIJUANA POSSESSION. HIS PARENTS FOUND OUT WHEN THEY RECEIVED A LETTER FROM THE COURT.

DAN SOT: And my parents were waiting for me at the kitchen table.

DENNIS SOT: I confronted him with it, you know, Dan what's this all about?

DAN SOT: and I mean by that time I was just like string out and I just could not keep on keeping on how I was…I couldn't do it.

HEDWIG SOT: "It was just like the opening up of the can of worms and then he started to tell us what happened that night and it was dreadful.

DAN SOT: I just kind of broke down and was like I'm just like crazy addicted to drugs and alcohol and I just can't keep on living like this.

DENNIS SOT: "I said 'are you having a problem? Do you need some help?' I'll just never forget, he looked at me and said…'I need help. I've got a problem"

DAN GOT HELP…BUT THE ADDICTION HAD ALREADY BEEN FORMED.

NOW SMALL, DAILY VICTORIES ARE THE MOST DAN AND HIS PARENTS CAN HOPE FOR. AFTER COMPLETING A SENTENCE IN REHAB, DAN IS DRUG FREE. . . BUT HE WILL ALWAYS BE AN ADDICT. HE WILL ALWAYS STRUGGLE.

Title graphic…music up

PARENTS CAN'T CURE ADDICTION. . . BUT THEY CAN HELP PREVENT IT. . . . . BEFORE IT RUINS LIVES. MORE ON THAT WHEN WE COME BACK.

Break #2

Addicted Kids
Part Two
TRT: 6:59

SOT NICK: "The party was lame so I decided to finish off every bottle of tequila and whiskey I could find-every chug made the party a little more lively.

NICK IS A DRUNK. HE HAS HAD THREE DRUNK DRIVING ACCIDENTS AND HE'S ONLY 17. NICK ASKED US NOT TO SHOW HIS FACE…WHILE HE READS WORDS FROM AN ESSAY HE WROTE ABOUT HIS LAST WRECK.

SOT - NICK (reading from his essay…cover w/shots of words, broken glass, accident scene): "I lay in the middle of the truck covered in blood and glass. When things came to focus I saw I saw Johnny hanging half-way outside the passenger side window, his body doubled over a frightening unnatural way…"

HE WAS DRIVING TOO FAST, HE LOST CONTROL, AND THE TRUCK FLIPPED OVER AND OVER NICK WAS INJURED.

Nats: "this is road rash from sliding."

AND IT SEEMED THAT HIS PASSENGER… HIS BEST FRIEND JOHNNY…ONLY HAD A FEW MORE MINUTES TO LIVE.

SOT NICK: "Just as I raised his head high enough to see his face, his eyes rolled in the back of his head…I was sure that my beloved friend was dead and I had killed him."

SOT KATHY (NICK'S MOM):"It was just horrible. You can . . .you're so happy that your child's still alive and then you feel guilty for having that kind of happiness because we really thought the other boy was gonna die."

MIRACULOUSLY, JOHNNY DIDN'T DIE. . . BUT HE NO LONGER SPEAKS TO NICK. IT TOOK NICK ALMOST KILLING AND ULTIMATELY LOSING HIS BEST FRIEND TO FORCE HIM INTO RECOVERY. INTO ACKNOWLEDGING HIS ADDICTION, AND INTO GETTING TREATMENT.

SOT NICK: "Never…I will never take another drink of alcohol again."

BUT IS THERE SOMETHING THAT CAN BE DONE. . . BEFORE A CHILD HITS BOTTOM? COULD SOMETHING. . . SOMEONE… HAVE PREVENTED NICK'S ALCOHOLISM? DAN O'BRIEN'S ADDICTION? AND WHAT ABOUT CHRISTINE GREENE? SHE STARTED DRINKING AT THE AGE OF THIRTEEN.

SUPER (1:52) CHRISTINE GREENE , 17 YEARS OLD
CHRISTINE SOT: A shot everyday, just a shot…everyday."

CHRISTINE ENDED UP AN ALCOHOLIC, IN JAIL. WHY?

Nats: jail door

IF YOU LISTEN CAREFULLY TO PARENTS AND TEENAGERS… WHAT YOU HEAR BETWEEN THE LINES IS…THAT DRINKING BEER, WINE, EVEN VODKA OR WHISKEY… SMOKING POT. . . OR SMOKING CIGARETTES. . . IT'S NO BIG DEAL. THEY DON'T TAKE IT SERIOUSLY . . . BECAUSE WE DON'T .

SUPER: (2:25) ROBERT/18
SOT ROBERT:"…There are a lot of parents who buy us alcohol, so you know.

SUPER (2:28) JERAD
SOT: "It's gonna happen you know…kids are going to experiment, kids are going to wanna drink, some kids are going to continue to want to do it…some kids aren't"

SOME EXPERTS SAY THE NATION IS IN DENIAL, THAT TEENAGE ALCOHOL USE DOESN'T SCARE US ENOUGH.

Nats: "you know this one right..etc. that's where you get your eyes from…yeah…your grandmamma."

17 YEAR OLD CHRISTINE GREEN HAD A DRINKING PROBLEM FOR YEARS, BUT HER MOTHER DIDN'T KNOW IT.

SOT: ANITA MASON: "I didn't see it."

SHE DRANK DAILY… SHE WAS CONSTANTLY GETTING INTO FIGHTS… AT HOME, ON THE STREET, AND AT SCHOOL… AND THEN THE POLICE WOULD BE CALLED AND SHE'D BE SENT OFF TO JAIL.

SOT: Christine reads: "locked up everyday truly missing home."

IN FACT SHE WROTE ABOUT HER NIGHTS BEHIND BARS.

SOT CHRISTINE: "Cry myself to sleep at night, holding myself tight. Locked up isn't where I wanted to be, how I miss my family.

BUT UNTIL CHRISTINE ENDED UP IN JAIL. . . HER MOM DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT THE ADDICTION. SHE WAS SHOCKED AND HURT WHEN SHE LEARNED THE TRUTH BECAUSE CHRISTINE'S MOM THOUGHT SHE AND HER DAUGHER WERE CLOSE.

SUPER (3:34) ANITA MASON/MOTHER
ANITA SOT: The thing I did. . . and I thought I was doing right is communication. Christine and I we always talk. . . I knew about her fights. I knew about the lying. I felt like if I be quiet long enough she'll tell me everything.

Nats: "I gotta write my speech today."

LIKE DAN'S PARENTS. . . CHRISTINE'S MOM SUSPECTED EXPERIMENTATION. SHE WAS TALKING TO HER DAUGHTER. . . BUT NOT ABOUT HER PROBLEM. AND CHRISTINE BECAME AN ADDICT WHILE MOM WAITED FOR THE PHASE TO END. CHRISTINE'S MOM NOW ADMITS IT WAS HER BIGGEST MISTAKE.

SOT ANITA MASON: Don't let the kids get away with something the know is wrong.

SUPER: (4:20) ASHLEY KILIPATRICK/SUBSTANCE ABUSE COUNSELOR
SOT: ASHLEY KILPATRICK: "One of the standard things we get from parents obviously is to kind of blow off alcohol with their teenagers.

AND STUDIES SHOW . . . WE BLOW OFF MORE THAN JUST UNDERAGE DRINKING. IN A NATIONAL SURVEY PERFORMED BY THE HAZELDON FOUNDATION. . . 98 PERCENT OF PARENTS SAID THEY WOULD BE UPSET IF THEIR KIDS TRIED POT. . . BUT ONLY 40% HAD ACTUALLY ADVISED THEIR CHILDREN AGAINST IT. WHY? MAYBE BECAUSE OF THE PARENTS HAZELDON SURVEYED. . . 41% HAD SMOKED MARIJUANA THEMSELVES.

SOT: Resa Beardslee --"I didn't want to tell the truth… about my experimentation with drugs."

WE DON'T KNOW WHAT TO SAY. . . . SO WE SAY NOTHING. THEY KNOW WE KNOW, AND THEY PROBABLY KNOW WHY.

SOT: MIKE BEARDSLEE.: I kind of had my suspicions but, you know just because when I could come in the house stoned at 13 or 14 she knew exactly what I'd been doing, and somebody who's never done it before isn't gonna know.

SUPER (5:22) Dr. ALEXANDRA PHIPPS/PSYCHOLOGIST
SOT DR. PHIPPS.By not commenting directly, they're, in essence, giving their child permission to continue to drink or get stoned or do whatever they're doing because the child will interpret their silence as it's okay, it doesn't matter. I would tell parents if you don't talk about things with your child, it's probably going to happen again and again and it's probably going to get worse.

Nats (Chistine) "I started drinking when I was 13.

CHRISTINE IS NOW IN RECOVERY. SHE VISITS SCHOOLS WARNING KIDS NOT TO MAKE THE SAME MISTAKES SHE DID. THEY LISTEN TO HER.

Nats of Christine's speech. . "I believe in each and every one of you. And, now, all you have to do is believe in yourself.

BUT KIDS DON'T HAVE TO HEAR IT FROM A STRANGER. . . PARENTS CAN HAVE THE SAME KINDS OF CONVERSATIONS AT HOME. . . AND IT'S MORE LIKELY TO HAVE AN IMPACT. STUDIES SHOW THAT KIDS WHO GET A STRONG ANTI-DRUG MESSAGE FROM THEIR PARENTS ARE MUCH LESS LIKELY TO TRY DRUGS. EXPERTS SAY DON'T EXPECT YOUR CHILDREN TO EXPERIMENT. . . EXPECT THEM NOT TO.

SOT: DR. Alexandra Phipps:"Not every child will experiment…absolutely I don't think every child will experiment. I know kids who don't experiment-who will tell me drugs are stupid. I will never take drugs. I don't want to ruin my brain. I've got goals. I've got plans."

TALK TO YOUR KIDS. BE HONEST WITH THEM BEFORE THEY TRY DRUGS THE FIRST TIME. IT SEEMS LIKE TRITE ADVICE. . . BUT IT COULD SAVE YOUR CHILD'S LIFE.

Title graphic, music

HOW TO HAVE THOSE CONVERSATIONS. . . AND WHEN THEY SHOULD BEGIN. . . WHEN WE COME BACK.

Break #3

Addicted Kids
Part 3
TRT: (7:04)

Nats: kid pushing mom in wheelchair.

SUPER (:11) PAM LAFFIN
Sot Pam Laffin: "When I started smoking, I had no idea. I didn't know about smoking related illnesses. I didn't know about addiction."

PAM LAFFIN WAS TEN-YEARS-OLD WHEN SHE STARTED SMOKING. AND THAT DECISION CHANGED HER LIFE.

IN FACT, IT WILL END IT.

Nats: Pam gasping for air.

NOW PAM LAFFIN IS DYING OF EMPHYSEMA-A LUNG DISEASE CAUSED BY YEARS OF SMOKING.

SOT PAM: "When I'm acutely ill and I can't breathe, that is terrifying and I've had …there are times when I've had panic attacks that have lasted hours …because I can't breathe and that's terrifying and I'm afraid if I move, I'm going to die and it's irrational…but it's really terrifying."

AND WHAT SCARES HER EVEN MORE IS THAT SHE WON'T SEE HER CHILDREN GROW UP. HER DAUGHTERS ARE AFRAID TOO. AND, SOMETIMES THEY ARE ANGRY BECAUSE…NIGHT AND DAY…THEY HAVE TO TAKE CARE OF THEIR MOTHER.

SUPER (1:12) AMANDA LAFFIN/AGE 13
"Once in awhile I'll get mad because like, I don't know, it's just like I didn't make her sick… like sometimes I think I didn't make her sick so why should I be suffering for it."

Nats: grabbing wheelchair

SUPER: (1:27) KRYSTELL/ AGE 11
SOT: KRYSTELL " "There's the possibility that she could die, and if she did then our family would be separated."

ALL BECAUSE OF A DECISION PAM LAFFIN MADE WHEN SHE WAS TEN.

SUPER: (1:340 Dr. Samuel Aquayo /PULMOMOLOGIST
SOT DR.AQUAYO:"the earlier the smoking begins, the worse the consequences…we know that."

BUT T0O FEW HEAR THAT KIND OF STRONG MESSAGE FROM THEIR PARENTS.

DR. SAMUEL AGUAYO (PRONOUNCED uh GWY oh), A PULMONOLOGIST, SHOWS HIS DAUGHTER PICTURES OF DAMAGED LUNGS. . . AND ROUTINELY INTRODUCES HER TO PATIENTS WITH CANCER AND EMPHESYMA. LAURA IS ONLY NINE.

Nats (Dr. Aguayo) This is a lung of someone who died from emphysema.

BUT DR. AGUAYO WANTS HER TO EXPERIENCE THE PAIN HE SEES EVERY DAY. . . SO SHE WON'T TAKE THE CHANCE ON EXPERIMENTING WITH CIGARETTES.

SOT: Tape Disc 13 (2:07:46) Laura Aguaya
"I'd say no thanks, I don't want to hurt myself. Because people would think, you know, cool kids 'c'mon try it, it's really cool, ' but when you say no it's actually being cooler than they are."

TALK TO YOUR KIDS. . . TALK TO THEM EARLY. . . .NINE IS NOT TOO YOUNG. . . IN FACT EXPERTS SAY THE CONVERSATIONS CAN BEGIN EVEN SOONER.

SUPER (2:40) Dr. Guy Sommers/PSYCHOLOGIST
SOT DR. SOMMERS: "Now what we're seeing more and more in the past 20 years is addiction starting earlier and earlier and earlier and so we're seeing a huge population of increasingly immature young adults."

TALK TO YOUR CHILDREN EARLY. . . . AND TELL THEM THE TRUTH.

LAVALE LASSITER IS ON A MISSION OF TRUTH. . .AT 13 LAVALLE STARTED SMOKING AND GOT ADDICTED ALMOST INSTANTLY.

SUPER (3:11) LAVALLE LASSITER, 20 YEARS OLD
SOT LAVALLE: "As soon as my pack was finished I got to run to the store and get another one….I was actually addicted to this."

HIS PARENTS DIDN'T GIVE HIM A CLEAR MESSAGE ABOUT THE DANGERS OF NICOTINE. . . SO LAVELLE BELIEVED THE LIES. HE WAS SUCKED IN BY THE ALLURE OF CIGARETTE ADVERTISING. NOW HE'S PART OF A TRUTH TOUR. . . DESIGNED TO COUNTERACT TOBACCO INDUSTRY PROPOGANDA.

SOT LAVALLE: We are letting tobacco people know…tobacco companies know, we're not taking It anymore, we know that we're targets. We know that you're spending 6 billion dollars in direct marketing to us teens. To replace those people kill you everyday. We're on to you guys, you know what I'm saying, we're not taking it anymore."

BUT MOST KIDS ARE NOT 'ON TO' THEM. AND PARENTS NEED TO COUNTERACT OTHER MESSAGES THAT KIDS RECEIVE ABOUT DRUGS.

SUPER (4:00) GARY WHEELER
SOT GARY WHEELER: "The real tips is to make the kids realize that they're being manipulated. They're very susceptible, they're not able to process information as well as adults. So they get all the subliminal messages that are passed on about cigaretting that it's cool, that it's glamorous , that's romantic, so you have to get across the anti-cool message and we have to be proactive in doing that because there are billions of dollars, literally, sending kids a different message."

LAVALLE . . . DR. AUGUYO... ARE BOTH REACHING KIDS WITH A DIFFICULT MESSAGE. WHY? BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT JUST TALKING. . . THEY ARE TEACHING.

Nats: stick a sticker right on the back of this and maybe you've lost a love one due to tobacco or maybe you want to dedicate this to someone who is fighting an addiction to tobacco."

EXPERTS SAY DON'T JUST LECTURE A CHILD ABOUT THE DANGERS OF ADDICTION. . . CONSIDER SHARING YOUR OWN EXPERIENCES.

SUPER (4:45 ) DAVID BURKE/SUBSTANCE ABUSE COUNSELOR
In fact ... the greatest teacher of all is the law of natural consequence. You tell them the truth, sometimes it's not what they want to hear and it certainly depends on the situation as far as how much information you give them. The belief is to tell them the truth. I did it. I'm sorry I did it. I made a mistake. But it's not okay for you to do it.

BY ADMITTING OUR OWN MISTAKES. . . WE INVITE CHILDREN TO CONFIDE IN US.

SUPER (5:13) Dr. VINCE HO /PSYCHIATRIST
"The greatest way to affect any kind of change is being empathic…empathic means being able to place yourself in someone else's shoes. And that usually means you're listening….you're listening carefully to what people have to say and when you're talking, you're not talking to your kid, you're talking with them."

SUPER: (5:32) Hedwig O'Brien./ Dan's Mother
"The parenting advice that you hear from people is 'talk to your children, talk to your children'…and I feel like I talked too much. - "if I had any advice to give anybody, I would give just the opposite, try and get your kids to talk and you listen."

BECAUSE WHEN PARENTS LISTEN TO THEIR KIDS KIDS WILL LISTEN TO THEM.

SOT KID: They lived through like the whole era of like 60's 70's whatever, when drugs were real popular and they're like I've always had I've done drugs…they were like straight up and they it's bad you know…I've had bad experiences please do not do that and love my parents and I can't think of anyone else that I'd rather take after than my parents."

TALK TO YOUR KIDS. . . LISTEN TO THEM. IT'S NOT TRITE ADVICE. . . IT IS THE MOST EFFECTIVE WAY TO PROTECT YOUR CHILDREN. THE ONLY WAY TO PREVENT EXPERIMENTATION FROM SPIRALING INTO ADDICTION.

MUSIC…CREDITS…