STUDENTS DISCIPLINED FOR ILLEGAL DRUGS AT SCHOOL

TWENTY-EIGHT students from Queensland state schools have been
disciplined for using or possessing illegal drugs this year, including
10 pupils caught with marijuana at a leadership camp, latest records
show.

In another incident, five 11-vear-olds from Toowoomba North Primary
School were disciplined after stealing wine from a cask at a parents
and citizens' function.

The drug possessions, all for marijuana, were spread across nine
schools while 88 students were caught smoking cigarettes and 35
drinking alcohol in schools across the state, according to figures
released by the Education Department yesterday.

The worst drugs case involved 10 Maleny High School students who were
suspended after being caught with marijuana "joints" during a Year 12
camp on Moreton Island.

Maleny High principal Paul Tarbuck confirmed that three other pupils
on the camp were suspended for drinking alcohol during the week-long
camp.

"I don't think anyone was caught actually using but it was a matter of
being in possession and then as a result of inquiries by the staff
concerned, a lot of kids owned up to the fact they had it and they
suffered the penalty," he said.

"They (the drugs and alcohol) were kept until they could be handed
over to the police. They (the students) were all suspended."

The next highest incidences of state school marijuana abuse after
Maleny were Harristown High and Miami High, both with three students
disciplined, according to the departmental figures which dated from
the start of term in January.

Bundaberg, Lowood, Mossman, Rosewood, Sunnybank and William Ross state
high schools all recorded drugs incidents involving two students each.

Toowoomba North Primary School principal Maxine Hetherington said
yesterday the students, four in Year 6 and one in Year 5, had consumed
one or two small mouthfuls of wine each from a cask set up for a P&C
function.

The revelations of the expulsions came a day after the release of a
report showing almost 19,000 students from Queensland state schools
were suspended or expelled last year.

Substance abuse was one of the main grounds for expulsion, along with
bullying and disobedience.