POLL SHOWS EXTENT OF SCHOOL DRUG USE

More than one-third of young people have attended school under the
influence of alcohol or drugs, according to a new survey.

The survey, released yesterday, was commissioned by the entertainment
channel MTV and carried out by Tpoll. It asked 1,103 young people aged 16
to 24 about their attitudes to drink and drugs.

The poll found that 35% - 334 - of the young people had either been drunk
or influenced by drugs in the classroom. Some 30% of the respondents
admitted to having been drunk at school and 16% - including some who also
admitted to school drunkenness - said they had been under the influence of
drugs in the classroom.

Boys proved more likely to turn up to school under the influence of alcohol
or drugs, the survey found. Some 34% of boys interviewed had been at school
after drinking, compared with 26% of girls, and 20% had been affected by
drugs at school compared with 11% of girls.

Cannabis remained the most tried drug, with 49% of all the young people
interviewed having used it. Although 4% of the respondents had tried
cocaine, 12% ecstasy, 1% crack cocaine and 1% heroin, 50% said they had not
taken any drug.

A greater percentage of boys had tried all five drugs: 51% of boys had
tried cannabis versus 47% of girls, 16% had tried cocaine compared with 12%
of girls, 14% had taken ecstasy versus 10% of the girls and 2% had used
crack cocaine compared with 1%. Only 1% of each sex had tried heroin.