SCHOOL EYES WIDER DRUG TEST

A Northland school which intends to test some suspended pupils for the drug
methamphetamine also has a test available to check for heroin or cocaine.

And it says it is considering whether to make students take this test.

Kaitaia College's board of trustees has approved the introduction of new
rules under which suspended students may be asked to prove they are not
using methamphetamine before being allowed back to school.

College principal William Tailby said the school would consider using a
more extensive multi-drug test.

He said three types of drug tests were available to the school - one
already in use that tested only for cannabis, one that checked for
methamphetamine at a cost of $10 a test, and a more costly test that could
detect six different types of drug, including cocaine and heroin.

The school's move follows police and community concerns that
methamphetamine use was rife in the area, and could be the cause of
behavioural problems in some school pupils.

Other school principals yesterday welcomed Kaitaia College's hard line on
drug use, but Commissioner for Children Roger McClay urged the school to
respect the dignity of young people it wanted to test.

Mr Tailby said the tests would be conducted by a nurse at a doctor's surgery.

A student's urine sample would be tested to determine whether it contained
any traces of the drug.

The school would pay for the test, and the results would be known within
minutes.

A school disciplinary committee will decide who has to be tested.

When suspended students provided a doctor's certificate showing that they
had no traces of the drug in their system, they could return to class.

"If the family don't like the conditions of reinstatement then they are
free to choose another school," Mr Tailby said.

Students who tested positive would be referred to counsellors for help.

The police would not be told about the tests.

Methamphetamine use has been linked to some of New Zealand's most serious
crime, including a triple murder at the Mt Wellington-Panmure RSA club.

Use of the pure form of the drug, known as P, is spreading rapidly.

Rangitoto College principal Allan Peachey yesterday strongly supported the
Kaitaia College decision.

"It is a brilliant idea and the board should be heartily congratulated in
taking a strong stand and showing strong leadership in what is becoming an
increasingly dislocated social problem," Mr Peachey said.

New Zealand Secondary School Principals Association president Paul Ferris
said speed was "a drug that puts young people at risk".

"If their behaviour became unsafe in a workshop or a laboratory, that could
jeopardise the safety of others," he said.

Morrinsville College principal John Inger said he was worried about the use
of speed by young people in his area, and he wanted to know more about the
methamphetamine tests.

"I am scared as hell of this," he said.

"It is a terrible drug. It is addictive. It has terrible consequences."

Kaitaia police Senior Sergeant Gordon Gunn said police did not expect the
Kaitaia College to pass on the results of the students' drug tests.

Last year 1471 students were suspended from schools for taking drugs.