TEACHERS GET GUIDELINES ON DRUG USE

New national guidelines to help teachers manage drug use among students
will be sent to all primary and secondary schools.

The guidelines, launched by parliamentary secretary Trish Worth in Brisbane
yesterday, encourage schools to play a leading role in drug prevention and
intervention.

Ms Worth said drug problems varied among schools, from petrol sniffing to
alcohol and marijuana use, but the most prevalent drug problem in schools
was tobacco.

The guidelines, therefore, did not focus just on illicit drugs but could be
applied to a variety of drugs used by students, she said.

"I think when we talk about illicit drugs, there is such a pre-occupation
with heroin or ecstasy ... but when we're thinking of school-aged children
the realities are that the other drugs, like tobacco, are very important as
well," she said.

Ms Worth said other drug use that had emerged as a problem among students
was the sharing of prescribed anti-depressants and the "date rape" drug
Rohypnol.

The new guidelines, which have been signed off by all state and territory
ministers, encourage schools to provide a safe and supportive environment
for students who may be affected by drugs.

Ms Worth said the safety of schools needed to be protected, but the welfare
of students affected by drugs was also important.

"If you've got somebody who is having a particularly unhappy time in their
life and has started using drugs perhaps as a result of that ... their
welfare must be a key consideration," she said.

The guidelines suggest that harsh disciplinary action may not always be the
best approach and responses to drug use should be based on knowledge of the
student's home life, background and mental health.

"Suspension from school can also be a great attraction for some people," Ms
Worth said.

She said the guidelines encouraged partnerships between schools, health
workers and the wider community because for most students' drug use was a
health problem rather than a criminal problem.

"There is also an emphasis on making parents, teachers and the wider
community aware that drug use by some adolescents can be a manifestation of
an emerging personality disorder or mental illness," she said.

"That is the sort of thing that has never been discussed widely, and these
issues need to be faced up to."

Ms Worth said it was important that all school teachers were familiar with
the guidelines to know what action to take.

"Students in a school always find one or two people they feel they can
trust, and it may not necessarily be the person who has responsibility for
the health curriculum where these issues should be taught ... That's why we
want all teachers to be aware and have as much information as possible."

Ms Worth said national guidelines were important to reflect the fact that
students moved from state to state and so did drugs.

"We talked today at an international conference that this is an
international problem. We can hardly talk about it being an international
problem if we are not prepared to see it is a national problem and deal
with it nationally."

Ms Worth said all Australian schools would soon be sent the guidelines,
along with a video compiled from a satellite conference on drugs in schools
held in March.