DEPARTMENT HUSHES UP BOOM IN STUDENT DRUG USE

A REPORT showing significant increases in the use of alcohol, cannabis and
illicit drugs by NSW TAFE students has been quashed by the State's
Education Department.

The report - based on a survey of about 5200 students - shows a significant
increase in cannabis use, unsafe alcohol consumption and experimental use
of illicit drugs.

But the department has refused to release the report - estimated to have
cost about $100,000 - claiming it has not been finished despite an almost
two-year interval since the survey was carried out.

National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre researchers - contracted to
analyse the data - are frustrated and disappointed with the delay.

Centre director Wayne Hall has called for the report to be released as soon
as possible.

"There is a concern that (the department) put money into the survey and
because they don't like the results, for whatever reason, nothing becomes
of it," Professor Hall said.

"I think It would be preferable if this information were out in the public
domain so people can be informed about what drug use there is, and sensible
decisions can be made about what sort of response is appropriate."

State Opposition education spokesman Stephen O'Doherty questioned whether
the report was suppressed because it could potentially embarrass the State
Government.

The survey was completed in October 1996 and results were to be released at
the Australian Professional Society on Alcohol and Other Drugs national
conference in October last year.

An abstract of the presentation, published in the conference program, says
important health, safety and educational issues arising from the report
need to be addressed.

The survey found smoking rates among TAFE students had risen from 37 per
cent in 1992 to 43 per cent in 1996.

Weekly alcohol consumption - mostly at unsafe levels - jumped 11 percentage
points to 64 per cent, with a fivefold increase in students drinking
alcohol before their classes.

About two-thirds of students had tried cannabis, compared with about half
in 1992, while weekly use of the drug jumped 7 percentage points to 24 per
cent in the four-year period.

Experimental use of illicit stimulants increased from 16 percent in 1992 to
23percent in 1996, with a similar rise in use of hallucinogens.

TAFE deputy director Jozefa Sobski said a decision not to release the
report was made due to concerns about "research methodology" -
specifically, a lack of national comparisons.

Ms Sobski said the report was lost in the system following a bureaucratic
restructure, but it had been returned to the public health division -
following inquiries from The Australian - to be finalised "as quickly as
possible".

Checked-by: Pat Dolan