SUSPENDED PUPILS FACE TESTS FOR SPEED

Whangarei: Kaitaia College has voted to go ahead with testing suspended
pupils for methamphetamine use.

The Kaitaia College board of trustees unanimously agreed on Tuesday night
to adopt urine tests to see whether suspended pupils were taking
methamphetamine, also known as speed, or its pure form, P.

Local police had earlier raised concerns about Kaitaia youth taking the drug.

Kaitaia College principal William Tailby said the board's decision followed
three weeks of community consultation, which yielded 15 responses, all in
favour of testing.

Mr Tailby said the board's disciplinary committee could now drug-test
suspended pupils for methamphetamine as a condition of their reinstatement
at school.

The testing complemented the existing tests for cannabis and would work
under the Suspension Act, he said.

The school sent parents a questionnaire about the tests.

Mr Tailby said earlier that, from the replies to the survey received so
far, all supported the move.

The school will pay for the tests.

Users would probably be reported to the local police because police were
already made aware of those stood down or suspended, he said.

The soaring use of P, which has been linked with a number of high-profile
violent crimes, led Parliament to reclassify it as a Class A drug, meaning
manufacturers and dealers can face a life sentence.