ACTION NEEDED ON DRUG ABUSE

The latest Safe Schools survey found 25 per cent of high school
students are smoking marijuana at school, and while it's not totally
shocking, it does beg the question: Where is the supervision?

Maybe it's not realistic to expect to watch every student for every
minute of the day, but there's something wrong when our kids go to a
public institution and come home stoned.

Perhaps more alarming is the level of alcohol use on school
property.

Alcohol has long taken the biggest toll among abused substances. It is
a factor in a majority of crimes. Alcohol dependence can do
irreparable harm to health and cause family break-ups and accidents.

Society tends to gloss over booze, simply because it's legal. But when
we see one in five youngsters drinking regularly, on the school
grounds, that's too many headed down a dangerous path.

Bullying is another problem in our schools, according to 5,000
students surveyed.

The experts know what's needed - better education, earlier in life,
and if we want to curb substance abuse, we have to start giving our
young people the information as soon as they're old enough to take
it.

Organizers of the survey weren't surprised by the results, and
realistically, it's probably not surprising to anyone with high
school-age children. Should we be alarmed? Probably not.

Should we take action? Yes.

Who should take action - the education ministry, the health ministry
or non-profit groups - is open to debate. But the place to do it is in
the schools, where the students are essentially a captive audience.

It's also where a lot of the drugs and alcohol are being used.