CASH BOOST FOR DRUGS WAR

Schools gain an extra £10m to fight teenage substance abuse.

AN extra £10 million will be invested in drugs education for young people
over the next three years.

Government spending will rise from £7.5m this year to £17.5m in 2003-4.

The announcement came this week as the UK anti-drugs co-ordinator Keith
Hellawell, Education Secretary David Blunkett, and Cabinet Office minister
Mo Mowlam, met pupils during a drugs education class at Holland Park school
in west London.

During his visit, Mr Hellawell, the so-called "drugs tsar", warned pupils
that regular use of cannabis increased their chances of experimenting with
hard drugs.

"There are a large number of young people who experiment with cannabis on
and off and clearly it doesn't lead to them taking hard drugs," said Mr
Hellawell.

"But research shows that regular smoking of cannabis leads to a much higher
likelihood of involvement in harder drugs. Cannabis is a gateway drug and
pro-legalisers will have to look at the evidence."

The sentiment struck a chord with some pupils who agreed that
experimentation with soft drugs increased chances of addiction to class A
substances.

"I think there's some truth in that," said Scarlett Rovenscraft, 14. "They
are all damaging and they are all addictive."

However, some of her classmates were more critical of government policy and
questioned why some drugs were legal and others not.

"There's a lot of debate on illegal drugs," said Matthew Critchley, 15.
"But what about things like alcohol and tobacco which are really damaging?
This seems a contradiction."

Mo Mowlam, who has admitted trying cannabis, said on Sunday that there is
no evidence that smoking pot automatically leads to taking hard drugs.
Speaking on BBC1's On the Record she said long-term alcohol abuse can have
far worse consequences. (On the same day The Sunday Times claimed to have
found cocaine in Parliament. Samples taken from toilets adjoining bars -
including the Press Gallery Bar - had tested positive.

The catchment area for Holland Park school, a mixed comprehensive with
1,600 pupils includes Notting Hill and Ladbroke Grove and acting
headteacher Gale Kellar said: "The misuse of soft drugs among pupils is
widespread."

But he added: "There's not a school in the country that doesn't have a
problem with this.

"By the time they get to school most young people are aware of the
different drugs. They know all the slang names for them. That's the reality
and it's up to us to help educate them."

Year 1 pupils are told how the different drugs affect the mind and body.

In later years, pupils are encouraged to participate in a more critical
debate on drugs through talks from outside agencies such as the police and
social services.

Government ministers want 80 per cent of secondary and primary schools to
have anti-drugs policies in place by 2003.