GOVERNMENT MUST REMOVE BLINKERS OVER DRUG ABUSE

Cape Town headmasters are becoming increasingly concerned about the
consequences their pupils face when experimenting with drugs and say the
education department must remove its "blinkers" and take proactive steps
against drug abuse among pupils.

Riyaadh Najaar, principal of Spine Road High School in Mitchell's Plain,
said the government "clearly" did not have an effective strategy in place
to combat the effects of drug abuse.

He said the new drug called "tuk-tuk" had become popular among pupils as it
was easily available from drug dealers in most areas.

"The government has done nothing. They are just not serious about the
scourge of drugs that has bedevilled our community. It is destroying our
youth."

Najaar said parents of pupils flooded to the school daily seeking advice
about their children who had become addicts.

"I do not know what to say to these parents. And they get very annoyed. I
do not want to suggest rehabilitation centres because I think it has become
a lucrative business. We should not be seeking a cure for the problem, we
should have prevented it in the first place," Najaar said.

Deputy principal at Milnerton High School, David Wigget, said the
government should consider taking a proactive approach against drugs.

"There are a lot of assumptions being made by people in higher authority as
to what our children need.

"The problem is that we should not try to catch out the ones who are on
drugs but help those who have a

problem.

"We should meet the kids where they are - try to find out why they are
doing drugs.

"What the education department is doing is reacting to drugs - reacting to
the problem it has created," Wigget said.

Responding to the headmasters' concerns, new MEC for Education, Cameron
Dugmore, said drug-taking in schools was part of a much broader and deeper
problem and it would be extremely dangerous to pretend that there was an
easy solution to eradicate it.

"We must intensify existing strategies as well as come up with new ones to
combat this problem.

"The premier has promised to arrest the three biggest drug dealers in the
province in the next 100 days. That is an indication of the political will
from our new government in the province.

"We know that the removal of these three drug dealers from our communities
will not remove the problem, but it will assist."

Dugmore acknowledged that "tuk-tuk" was a dangerous development in the drug
world but said the government also had to focus on the abuse of other drugs
such as dagga and Mandrax.

"Another part of the solution is for learners to take a decision and to
ensure that there is no place for drugs in schools - they must come forward
and expose those who are abusing it and selling it."

Dugmore encouraged learners to call the department's call centre number -
0800 45 46 47 - to report any crime incidents, such as drug peddling at school.