STUDENTS ADDLED BY POT

Chronic cannabis-smoking students drop up to 20 per cent on tertiary
institution entry tests because they are so addled by continued drug use.

The significant drop in academic standards has been noted by teachers,
counsellors and doctors treating an increasing number of Victorian students
who take drugs, according to St Kilda general practitioner, Dr John Sherman.

Dr Sherman, who treats a number of student drug users, says the cannabis
debate does not tackle adequately the great risks to users, including
potentially ruined academic lives and careers.

His says his experience, and that of teachers and counsellors with whom he
has exchanged information, shows that chronic cannabis users drop an
estimated 20 per cent on their Victorian tertiary entrance rank because of
their drug use. "Numbed by cannabis intoxication, addicts do not, or will
not confront their problems, and fail to mature," says Dr Sherman, whose
cannabis-dependent students are aged 15-up.

He estimates a 10-year cannabis dependence would put most young chronic
users in debt, costing - at $20 per gram per day - $73,000.

"This pales into insignificance when compared with the irretrievably lost
opportunities in education and in the workplace," he says.

The issue of drugs in schools sparked widespread debate in Victoria when
Wesley College and Melbourne Grammar revealed they were considering
programs similar to the initiative introduced by Geelong Grammar last year.
There will be testing of some students in some circumstances as part of a
scheme to help drug-takers kick the habit and combat an increasing drug
culture in schools.

Melbourne Grammar's headmaster, Mr Paul Sherman, told parents in a letter
that reliable statistics show 55 per cent of people aged 14-17 would have
at least tried marijuana.

"It is also clear that some students arrive at school, especially after
weekends, with what might be described as a `marijuana hangover', and
consequently not able to concentrate on their school work," he wrote.

The drugs-at-school issue has clearly alarmed Victorian school principals,
who take immediate action to protect school environments.

The Sunday Age has learnt an exclusive Melbourne school, Carey Baptist
Grammar, in January asked for the resignations of two part-time rowing
coaches because they were suspected of taking recreational drugs in their
spare time. They are alleged to have talked about their drug experiences to
elite student athletes.

"The school took immediate steps to ensure the requirements of the school
were upheld and these people are no longer involved in the rowing program,"
the school's deputy principal, Mr John Glasson, said in a faxed statement.

"Carey's clear and public stance on the use of illicit drugs in schools is
well known ... the school will take immediate steps to investigate and deal
with activities which could be harmful to students in the school community."

The coaches are believed to have been confronted by school authorities
about ecstacy use, which is said to be widespread in some rowing circles.
They were reported to the school's director of rowing by Victorian
Institute of Sport rowing coach Noel Donaldson, who is also the technical
director of the school's rowing program, and a member of the school's
rowing board.

"They were asked for their resignation and gave it so, in that sense, they
admitted their involvement. The two coaches concerned were young men and
probably had typical drug use of men their age," Mr Donaldson.

They were reported to the Victorian Institute of Sport and are no longer
involved in coaching. The school also claims to have reported the matter to
"government agencies" but refused to name them.

The Sunday Age has also learnt that three rowers at a rival school,
Brighton Grammar, were given a warning after they were found to have been
taking a muscle-building amino acid, dubbed the "`thinking athletes'
alternative to steroids".

The rowers were warned by the school early last year that muscle-building
drugs were not appropriate.

The substance is legal and used widely by body builders and athletes.

The three rowers began taking the substance after one of the boys had been
told about it at a gym. The substance is an amino acid manufactured in
small quantities by the liver and kidneys. It is said to provide extra
energy while delaying muscular fatigue. Some tests have shown it can
increase performance by as much as 5 per cent.

The school investigation found the boys didn't know there was a problem
with the drug.