DRUG INCIDENT ON DECREASE IN SCHOOLS

DRUG-related incidents in Suffolk's schools have dramatically
decreased over the last three years, police figures have today revealed.

An investigation by the Evening Star has revealed police were called
to the county's schools nine times in 2003 to deal with complaints
about drugs compared with just three incidents in 2005 and one so far
this year.

Jan McDonald, Suffolk County Council's education advisor on personal
and social development, said she welcomed the news.

She said: "Overall I am delighted. We work closely with the police
and school staff and they are being very proactive on this issue as
well."

But Mrs McDonald did add a note of caution.

She said: "I do not think we have cracked the issue of drugs on
schools. These figures are encouraging but it is hard to assess if it
is in fact a trend."

Mrs McDonald said she thought increased confidence of the county's
headteachers in dealing with drug related problems may also account
for the reduction in incidents attended by the police.

She said drug education programmes in the county's schools plus
improvements in the curriculum had increased awareness of the issues
related drug taking among the county's students.

She said: "We also have 45 teachers in the county who have now
achieved the national PSHE Certification which focuses on both Sex
and Relationships and Drug Education skills development. Alcohol and
tobacco remain serious problems for young people and their parents
across the country, Mrs McDonald said.

She added: "Parents need to be more aware of the dangers of drinking
and the correlation between early smoking and experimentation with
illegal drugs. Alcohol, the cause of considerable anti social
behaviour, crime and health problems is an illegal drug for school
age young people and all schools now have to develop smoking free
schools for all including staff."

Detective Chief Inspector Debbie Griffiths said: "We take the issue
of drugs extremely seriously in Suffolk and this is especially the
case where young people are involved.

"Fortunately we deal with relatively few incidents in schools and we
hope to keep it this way by working closely with them and having
regular inputs to young people via our Police Education Partnership
Officers."