'NO SHOCK' AT TEEN DRUGS USE

HEAD teachers in Bournemouth say they are not at all shocked at claims
that cannabis has become the 21st century equivalent of smoking behind
the bike sheds.

One third of pupils have tried cannabis by the age of 15 and some use
it on a daily basis, claims research by Queen's University Belfast.

And those who do partake daily are more likely to abuse alcohol or try
other drugs such as cocaine or ecstasy.

advertisementBut while local head teachers acknowledge the growing
problem with cannabis, they claim that schools across the borough are
vigilant and proactive in the war on drugs.

Chris Brady, head teacher at Portchester School and chairman of the
town's Secondary Head Association, said he was not at all shocked by
the one-third statistic.

"We cannot hide our heads in the sand and are realistic about the fact
that young people will experiment with drugs. We face it and deal with
it."

"But this is why in Bournemouth we have a well established personal,
social and health education programme and drug education for children,
as well as an established referral system.

"There are groups such as Young Adults Drug Advisory Service (Yadas)
which help youngsters and not just with drug taking but also perhaps
smoking too much, as was the case with a boy from here.

"We react in a proactive way and the local authority does a fantastic
job in child protection and areas such as staff training.

Ingrid Masters, association secretary and head teacher at Winton Arts
& Music College, said everyone knew that cannabis was widespread
locally in the secondary age range.

"I cannot give indications of the numbers involved locally but we all
know it's there," she said.

"And we know that we cannot relax for a minute. We take rigorous
action when drug abuse is found and agencies in Bournemouth work
together really well.

"We respond to all information we receive about drug abuse whether
from in school or from the community."

Stuart Twiss from Bournemouth LEA said: "Bournemouth runs an effective
drugs education programme through our Life Education Centres, which
visit schools every year.

"One measure of the success of this programme is the pattern of
referral to Yadas.

"Although national data suggests that around one in three young people
have tried cannabis before the age of 15, the number of new referrals
to Yadas for cannabis use has fallen from 53 to 41 in the years April
2005 to March 2006 and April 2006 to March 2007.

"This is a reliable measure used by the government."