Bermuda will never win the war on drugs if it remains an "apathetic'' society.

A spokesperson for the St. George's Action Group sounded this warning after parents failed to show up at the preview of a drug abuse prevention programme.

Dominique Smith told The Royal Gazette the group sent out more than 600 flyers about the programme to parents via several east end nursery, primary, and high schools.

But she said "not a single person showed up at the St. George's location except four disheartened volunteers''. And 20 parents attended a session at St. David's.

Explaining that the Parent To Parent programme was designed to empower parents and their children to make the right choices concerning substance use and abuse, Mrs. Smith said: "Apparently we have developed into a particularly apathetic society, all too busy to take time out for children's sake and the future of Bermuda.'' In a letter to the Editor, she noted that the programme was sponsored by The Parent Resource Institute for Drug Education (PRIDE) which has been around for more than ten years, but "has yet to win the public support it deserves''.

"If this is the kind of response that teachers and schools receive when PTA meetings or school functions are scheduled then educators have my heartfelt sympathy,'' Mrs. Smith said, referring to the lack of parental support of the Monday night sessions.

Based on the fact that a 1994 secondary school drug survey by Bermuda College lecturer Walton Brown Jr. showed that students using marijuana at least once had risen to 28 percent from 21.4 percent in 1991, she predicted that at least 168 of the 600 children whose parents were invited to the preview will try marijuana.

"We are so quick to criticise and bemoan the lack of action on the part of organisations such as the NDC (National Drug Commission) or the efforts the Police have undertaken,'' she said. "Is it really up to them to facilitate change or rather is it for us...'' "We as a society are responsible whether we choose to be or not. The life skills which we model, role model and teach impact today's child. And consequently, whatever happens to these children, in turn, impacts each and everyone of us.'' But Mrs. Smith said drug use and abuse should not only be a concern of parents.

"Drug abuse is an issue, in my opinion, that effects all of us even if you don't have children or think your children are not substance abusers,'' she said.

"It is not a problem of supply, but a problem of demand when it comes to drugs. And until people start doing something about that, nothing is going to change. It is not somebody else's problem to fix, it is everyone's problem.'' Therefore despite the lack of support for the preview sessions, the first session of the eight-session Parent to Parent programme will be held tonight in St. George's.

And Mrs. Smith said the group will continue to offer the sessions on Thursday evenings for the next seven weeks as long as some parents showed up.

Parents who cannot make tonight's meeting at the former St. George's Community Centre office, near the old St. George's Secondary School site, can call PRIDE's office on 292-3049 for more details.