SCHOOL-AGE KIDS USING DRUG PACK WITH INSTRUCTIONS

Teenagers are buying party packs containing a cocktail of drugs and
recommendations on how to take them, a Wellington drug educator says.

WellTrust executive director Pauline Gardiner said the packs often
contained a tablet of Ecstasy, a cannabis cigarette and methamphetamine,
with written instructions on the order in which they should be taken to get
maximum effect.

Ms Gardiner said the packs, which cost about $200, surfaced at the same
time "P" - a pure form of methamphetamine - began to make a small mark in
counselling figures. Cannabis and alcohol remained the most commonly used
drugs for teenagers.

"I'm worried about kids buying any drugs, let alone a cocktail of drugs.
There's a whole societal perception that, to have fun, you have to have
drugs. A simple ordinary high isn't enough. You have to have more firepower
to keep it going," she said.

"The potential danger is great. They have no idea what their own capacity
is or what the mix is going to do. You can't tell what the quality of speed
is or what the cannabis is laced with. I don't see people who use a bit
from time to time. I see the ones for whom those sorts of things go badly.
I see the ones for whom dope makes them potential mental health cases."

Society was already seeing the effects of teenagers' drug use in
well-documented links to crime and lost education, she said. Now schools
and principals were saying "P" could become a problem on the same scale as
cannabis.

Many schools were doing their best to stem the tide of drug use, but some
teachers did not share the same philosophy. Secondary schools that
drug-tested students should also consider testing teachers, Ms Gardiner said.

But Post-Primary Teachers Association president Phil Smith said this would
not be appropriate unless there were clear reasons for doing so.