Pubdate: Wed, 26 Jan 2000
Source: Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel (FL)
Copyright: 2000 Sun-Sentinel Company
Contact:  http://www.sun-sentinel.com/services/letters_editor.htm
Website: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/
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Author: Heidi Hall, Sun-Sentinel

DOCUMENTARY ON DRUG USE BY S. FLORIDA TEENS TO BE AIRED

HIALEAH -- Osmel Cuan remembers his first toke.

He was a Hialeah High sophomore then, it was junior varsity basketball 
season, and Cuan decided to blow off a big game in favor of trying marijuana.

Obtaining it was simple: Ask a friend, buy some rolling papers, hunker down 
in a grove of trees behind an apartment complex and light up.

After two joints, Cuan, now 16 and a junior, ambled inside his apartment to 
face his mother.

"I wanted to 'fess up to Mom that I did it," he said. "She kind of laughed 
it off and drove my friends home, but later she started crying and said she 
didn't raise me like that.

"After disappointing her like that," Cuan said, "I couldn't do it again."

He didn't. Instead, he helped create a half-hour video documentary on teen 
drug use, Straight Scoop, which premieres at a private showing at Florida 
International University on Thursday. The general public can see it 
Saturday on MediaOne's cable system.

By request of Barry McCaffrey, director of the U.S. Office of National Drug 
Control Policy, Cuan and five other MediaOne student reporters spent 10 hot 
August days on a bus visiting Miami, Jacksonville, Atlanta and Richmond, 
Va. They interviewed teens in malls, schools and rehabilitation centers 
about their attitudes toward illegal drugs.

Cuan recounted on camera his experience with pot.

The documentary reinforces two primary messages to teens and parents: Drug 
use never results in happiness or prosperity, and parents should listen 
more than speak to their children on the subject of drugs.

The MediaOne cub reporter program, which this year includes Cuan, another 
student in Miami-Dade County and two students in Broward County, began in 
1996 with the presidential election and allows students to cover activities 
and events for local news programs. MediaOne provides free cable service to 
140 schools in Broward and Miami-Dade.

Wanda Colon, government and community relations expert for MediaOne in 
Miami-Dade, said Cuan was a natural choice for Straight Scoop.

"We met him through a job shadowing program and were impressed at how 
quickly he picked up on things," she said. "We gave him a screen test in 
English and Spanish, so being bilingual definitely helped him."

Copies of the documentary, the product of a partnership between MediaOne 
and drug czar McCaffrey's office, are available to schools through MediaOne 
offices.

Having interviewed his peers nationwide, met McCaffrey and publicly 
revealed his experience with pot, Cuan, an aspiring actor, said he looks 
forward to Thursday's premiere. He's seen a preview.

"Some of the best stuff didn't get in there, like this young girl from 
Miami whose parents fight over crack," he said. "But I was really surprised 
by some of the stuff we found. Anyone can benefit from watching."
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