DRUG TESTS AT SCHOOL FORMALS

THE growing popularity of ice and ecstasy has forced organisers of
school formals to introduce screening tests for students suspected
of using the amphetamines.

One Sydney event organiser, who runs formals for about 30,000
students each year, has developed a set of procedures to check for
illegal drug use.

Elliot Kleiner, senior partner with Prom Night Events, said the
procedures were necessary because the successful policing of alcohol
use had caused some students to opt for stronger alternatives.

"It's hard to get inside the teenagers' minds and ask them why they
are choosing eccys [ecstasy] but the obvious inference is that if
they know there are very accurate and effective methods of detecting
alcohol then this may contribute to them choosing other things as
an alternative," Mr Kleiner said.

The school formal season is set to begin with most events in NSW
held between the end of the HSC exams in November and the beginning
of schoolies activities.

Prom Night Events, which organises formals for years 10, 11 and 12
students at public and private schools, sends a security team of up
to 10 guards to its events depending on the type of venue and number
of students attending.

It screens and sweeps the venue for drugs and alcohol and everyone
attending the formal, including students, teachers and parents, is
breath tested for alcohol.

Bags and receptacles are searched, metal detectors are used and
tickets are validated electronically.

The new three-step drug screening process includes initial visual
checking for symptoms. If these are confirmed, a variety of
"non-intrusive" electronic implements are then used to further
determine whether the drugs have been used.

Mr Kleiner would not elaborate on the exact screening instruments
used by his company, saying that doing so would make it easy for
students to escape detection. He stressed that the methods were
quick, unobtrusive and only students exhibiting symptoms of illicit
drug taking would be tested.

The drug procedures, trialled at 20 formals organised by the company
late last year, will be introduced in the 2006 formal season.

Of the five students identified as "red flags" in the first stage of
analysis, all were cleared after the second stage of testing.
Finally, verbal checking takes place with a series of questions
asked by the security team.

"The ultimate aim of these procedures is the safety of emerging
young adults," Mr Kleiner said.

Alcohol & other Drugs Council of Australia chief executive Donna
Bull said the availability of ice was increasing and that Federal
Government figures showed that 4.4 per cent of 14- to 19-year-olds
said they had recently tried methamphetamines.

She said ecstasy and ice were both stimulants and symptoms of use
included increased heart rate, energy and blood pressure.

She said that the company's methods were "quite a proactive
approach" but she warned that not all drug testing equipment was 100
per cent reliable.