TEENS SPREAD THE WORD ON DRUGS AMONG THEIR PEERS

"Do you want to win a free T-shirt?" If you can answer what to do with a
friend who is sick on ecstasy or what polydrug use is, the T-shirt is
yours.

This is the approach adopted by a group of 40 teenagers, aged 13 and up, in
the Manly area who have been trained to go to Sydney rock venues and youth
events to talk to their peers about drugs.

Another group of over-18s were at the Big Day Out and Vibes as part of new
projects emerging in Sydney to get drug information across to young people.

Billy Cohen, 20, from Manly, who was trained as a peer educator last year,
said it was easy to slip drug information into any conversation.

"If someone says they have some pot, I say, `Really? How do you smoke pot?
Cones? That's not quite as healthy as smoking it other ways. It's safer to
smoke a joint'," he said.

"You're going E-ing this weekend? Keep your fluids up, man."

The architect of the pilot Drug Stop Project is Ms Annie Bleeker from the
Manly Drug Education and Counselling Centre.

She said drug education offered in school was more suited to students who
would not try drugs, so those who would experiment needed to be targeted.

The teenagers chosen to help with the project were "savvy" types who
received 40 hours of training last year.

Ms Bleeker said the original plan was for each of the 40 teenagers to have
at least 20 drug information conversations with friends, or "hits", and to
attend at least three supervised events where they spoke to strangers at a
Drug Stop stall.

By the end of the pilot, they had had 2400 hits, with most conversations
centred on cannabis, alcohol and tobacco. Ecstasy and speed were also
discussed.

New South Wales Health also put Commonwealth Government funds towards
another peer education program which trained over-18s to talk to young
people.