LESSONS ON DRUGS

SO how many of you have seen a dirty needle on the streets of Bournemouth?

Every single hand in the room was raised.

The response was worrying, especially as the people answering PC Andy
Scarratt's question were teenagers at Bournemouth secondary school.

The fact that all of the 13 or 14-year-olds in the year nine class at
the Bishop of Winchester School have seen a used needle proves
children are regularly exposed to drugs and the need for drug
education is paramount.

PC Scarratt asks the question in every secondary school he visits in
the borough as part of his drugs awareness talk.

His talk is crucial to Dorset Police's drug awareness campaign and
also forms part of its Operation Dismantle initiative aimed to tackle
drug supply and reduce drug-related crime.

PC Scarratt started off his session by telling the class: "I am not
going to lecture you. I am going to talk to you about the facts of
drugs, what the problems are and what the law is so you will go away
with a better understanding and hopefully make the right choices."

He then gave an exercise to the pupils asking them to connect
pictures of drugs with their correct names. He then told them about
class A, B and C drugs and the penalties for possession and supply.

PC Scarratt stressed drugs affect people in different ways. "You
won't all react in the same way. Some may take an ecstasy tablet and
get a real buzz, someone may be physically sick and another person
might not get any affect at all. You might get a reaction the first
time you take it, or the tenth or fiftieth.

"A number of years ago a batch of strong heroin was circulating in
Bournemouth and a number of people died. We went round picking up
their bodies, it was horrendous. One of them was a woman who had been
using heroin every day for years. But that day it killed her."

Earlier in the session PC Scarratt had held up samples and asked the
pupils to identify them. They decided they were heroin, cannabis and ecstasy.

He said: "What you thought was heroin is brick dust and scouring
agent, the cannabis resin is boot polish and weed fertiliser and the
ecstasy is dog worming tablets.

"Not only have you got the problem of all those drugs being
available, but you have also got the problem of all the imitation
drugs as well."

PC Scarratt takes his talk to all of the 10 secondary schools in
Bournemouth and the two private schools.

Speaking after the session, headteacher Paul Mckeown said: "I think
it's important to all schools that drugs education is given a very
high priority within the personal, society, health education (PSHE)
programme, which it is here.

"All children are at risk of being exposed to drugs because they are
prevalent within the wider society.

"Whether it be alcohol, tobacco or so-called recreational drugs, we
have to ensure children are informed and they need to understand the
risks and consequences of involving themselves in the drug culture.

"When they are faced with making decisions they make informed
decisions and hopefully make the right decisions for their own wellbeing."

He added: "We don't have a drugs problem in school but some schools
unfortunately do. For us it works."