PARENTS' BACKING FOR RANDOM DRUG TESTS IN SCHOOLS

SCOTS parents want teenagers to be given random drug tests in schools,
according to new research.

More than three quarters (78 per cent) of Scottish parents said they would
support the move in a bid to stamp out the growing use of drugs in the
playground.

The research found that almost all parents (95 per cent) said they were
worried about the problem.

Two-thirds (65 per cent) said they backed random testing - because they are
afraid schools are not doing enough to tackle the drugs problem.

They want education leaders to introduce random urine tests for
recreational drugs such as cannabis, ecstasy and cocaine.

Researchers questioned more than 600 parents and guardians of secondary
school teenagers across the UK.

Nearly half of those questioned thought testing was the most effective way
to reduce drug abuse among teenagers.

But fewer than one in five thought information campaigns worked.

One in nine wanted an increased police presence near schools that have a
problem with drugs.

The poll comes after a study by Glasgow University's Centre for Drugs
Misuse last year found that Scots children as young as ten have taken
cocaine and heroin.

And it revealed that hundreds of primary school pupils regularly smoke
cannabis and experiment with other Class A drugs.

The most recent study was carried out for drug-test supplier Euromed by
market research company, IFF Research.

Euromed sells tailored test kits - which provide results in under ten
minutes - to clients such as NHS trusts and the UK Prison Service.

A spokeswoman for Euromed said: "Drug testing in schools is a very
sensitive issue and they must be careful if they are considering
introducing them.

"But random testing has proven a successful way to tackle drug misuse.

"This research shows how drugs in secondary schools are a worry to parents
and how parents are not confident that schools are successfully tacking the
issue."

She added: "In Scotland there was by far the highest concern among all UK
parents about drugs being available in secondary schools.

"And more parents in Scotland backed their own children being randomly drug
tested."

A spokesman for IFF Research said: "Concern about drugs was most highly
perceived in Scotland."