Government to tackle schools drug culture

[thewhoami]

HIgh ya peeps,

Government to tackle schools drug culture

 

The government has today launched a "zero tolerance" campaign against drugs in schools.

The Department for Education and Skills is urging pupils to "say no" to drugs and will detail plans to "root out" drug dealers operating in schools.

Pupils caught dealing drugs will face expulsion under the government's new approach.

 

The Home Office will also be drafted in to examine new measures to tackle drug dealing targeted at young people in the vicinity of schools.

As part of a new, harder-hitting drugs campaign the government will use a video of Rachel Whitear, the student who died after taking a heroin overdose, to promote an anti-drugs message.

Ministers have also announced new plans for new teachers to undertake training in drugs education by September 2002 and new guidance for parents.

Downing Street has rejected claims that it is sending out a mixed message on drugs by softening judicial punishments while talking tough in schools.

"We have said on drugs in relation to the judicial end that it is most important that the government and law enforcement agencies focus their efforts on the drugs that do most harm," said a spokesman.

"But what you are seeing today is the government making it crystal clear to people in schools that there is zero tolerance for those caught supplying drugs on school premises... and similarly shock tactics can have an effect in terms of education and changing behaviour."

Setting out the government's new plans, education minister Ivan Lewis said dealers had to be taken out of the system.

"We have to send out a clear message that drugs, drug takers and drug dealers have absolutely no place in school as well as ensuring that young people are fully educated about the effects of their use," he said.

"We cannot expect children and young people to make the right decisions in a moral vacuum or without adequate information so I am determined that we take a tough and clear stance on this issue.

"Drug misuse is at the heart of some of our society's most intractable and serious problems.

"There is a strong causal link between addiction and violent and other forms of crime. It can lead to serious health problems and in certain circumstances to the tragic death of someone like Rachel Whitear. We have a duty to ensure that young people know that."

The National Union of Teachers welcomed the government's guidelines.

"Our recent survey of drugs in schools showed that around 10 per cent of schools were challenged by the threat of drugs at the school gate. But schools cannot tackle the drugs threat on their own. They must have support from the police and social services," said general secretary Doug McAvoy.

"Shock tactics may have a role in deterring drug use but there is no substitute for genuine joined up thinking which seeks to eliminate the causes of drug use."

The charity DrugScope has welcomed the announcement but is warning ministers that they must be realistic in their approach.

"If by a 'hard-hitting' approach the government means using the Rachel Whitear video as part of a rounded package of factual drug education, it will be a welcome addition to what is already a realistic program," said a spokesman.

"If, however, they intend to turn the clock back to an outdated 'just say no' approach, based on fear and shock tactics, this would be a potentially dangerous development."

The Mentor Foundation works to prevent drug abuse among younger people.

Chief executive of the charity, Eric Carland, warned against the use of "scare tactics" on students.

"They don't appear to be the solution to the problem," he told ePolitix.

Mixed Message

 

 

The government's intervention comes as MPs send out a mixed message on drugs.

As ministers announce a series of new measures to tackle Britain's escalating drugs problem, a cross-party committee is set to call for a softer approach to ecstasy.

The home affairs committee will tomorrow call for the reclassification of ecstasy, which is currently considered a Class A drug alongside heroin and cocaine.

It will also recommend that cannabis is downgraded from Class B to Class C.

The report will back David Blunkett's decision to reclassify cannabis but will argue he should go further.

But the government has signalled that it will resist calls for any change on ecstasy and is preparing to toughen its approach.

The committee is also likely to call for a change in the law to allow GPs to prescribe heroin to address the UK's drugs crisis.

The MPs will also call for a network of safe injecting areas for addicts in a bid to bring their lives under control away from the criminal underworld associated with drug use.

The government is also set to unveil plans to tackle "drug mules" travelling from Jamaica.

The Home Office will announce tougher security at London's Heathrow airport and at Manchester airport.

Under the new approach Jamaican detectives are to be posted at British airports from the summer.

Ministers are also calling on the Jamaican government to take a more pro-active role on the ground.

Recent estimates claim that at least one in 10 passengers on flights from Jamaica to London are carrying class A drugs.

Earlier this year, two Air Jamaica planes were stopped and searched as they arrived in the UK and 27 of the 440 passengers were found to be carrying drugs.

MPs believe that many of the drugs entering the UK from Jamaica are driving the drugs trade around the country.

The Lib Dem MP David Laws said that the government had to act and urged ministers to take a strong stance if the problem continues.

He said the UK should consider changing the immigration rules to force Jamaicans to obtain a visa before entering the country.

"If the problems and the magnitude of it really seems to be quite serious then we really do need to deal with it in an unconventional way," he told ePolitix.com.

"We seem to be finding that there are not only huge numbers of people coming across trying to smuggle drugs, but many of those people are individuals who have been stopped many times before.

"That on-going loop of people coming into the country is clearly unacceptable."

Epolitix :peace: