A national study by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America tells us that drug use is significantly lower among children whose parents discuss the subject with them on a regular basis. According to the study, teens who hear anti-drug messages at home were 42 percent less likely to use drugs. The study also said that while virtually all parents say they’ve talked with their children about drugs, only 27 percent of teens say they are learning a lot at home about the risks of drug use.

It’s interesting how the perceptions of parents and children can differ.

On this important issue, families need to be of one mind. Drug use is a waste of time and can be a waste of life, and children need to hear that from the people they trust the most their parents.

While 98 percent of parents say they have talked with their children about drugs at least once, only 65 percent of teens recall such a conversation. Only 48 percent of parents of teen-agers and just 53 percent of parents with children in grades four through six reported talking with their children about drugs regularly during the past year.

We’ve seen the message on television commercials: Talk to your kids about drugs. If you don’t someone will. And although we’re well-trained to grab the remote control during those commercial messages, don’t change the channel on this one.

It’s far too important.