negative influences.

The message came from Health and Social Services Minister the Hon. Quinton Edness who used the conference's theme, "Free Your Mind, and the Rest Will Follow'', in his opening remarks.

Mr. Edness pointed out that teens today have many more advantages than those of his generation.

"You have easier access to education than we did,'' he said. "You have access to more help than we did. And you do not have to face the kind of barriers to climbing the ladder of success that we did in my day.'' But he acknowledged that young people today do have problems.

And, he said, all of them are caused or made worse by people who would benefit from thinking about the conference theme.

Mr. Edness urged the students to free their minds from prejudice, peer pressure to do wrong, from low self-esteem, and the fear of being different.

However, he said, youngsters should "chain'' their minds to the danger of AIDS and drugs, including tobacco and alcohol.

"Drugs are very seductive, I know,'' Mr. Edness said. "In the short term, they make you feel good, and it's hard to figure out why you shouldn't allow yourself to feel good.

"I'm in charge of this, you think. But look around you. Tell me the name of one person who has taken any drug for a long time who is still in charge. I can assure you, no such person exists.

"Drugs get you in the end just like AIDS does.'' Mr. Edness also urged the youngsters not to give up.

"You're going to learn that life can sometimes be hard,'' he said. "When it gets tough, you are going to be very tempted to give up, or to take the easy way out. Don't. Don't ever give up.''