CHILDREN HAND IN POUNDS 12,500 CANNABIS FIND

CANNABIS with an estimated street value of pounds 12,500 has been found by
a group of children playing in a wood.

The youngsters, aged 11 and 12, who had recently been given drugs awareness
talks at their schools, took the cannabis to police. A senior officer said
the awareness talks had perhaps averted otherwise "devastating" consequences.

The children found the cannabis in a box at woods near the village of New
Stevenston, Lanarks, on Thursday. It is believed it had been hidden by
dealers. Police are not revealing the identity of the children.

Det Supt Barry Dougall, Strathclyde Police drugs co-ordinator, said: "This
is a fine example of responsible behaviour by children and I would
encourage anyone who finds anything suspicious to contact the police in the
first instance. The action of these children is testament to the fact that
Strathclyde Police's anti-drugs message is getting through.

"The children were able to identify that the box contained drugs as they
had seen different types of drugs when given their talk at school. If they
had not made the right choice the consequences of finding a large quantity
of these drugs could have been devastating."