Drug Education News

“Pupils felt that television (78%), parents (76%) and teachers (70%) were the most helpful sources of information about smoking, alcohol and drugs.
“Fifty nine percent of pupils remembered having lessons about drugs in the last school year, 58% recalled lessons about smoking, and 54% recalled lessons about alcohol.”
The Information Centre have produced their full analysis of [...]

The Addiction Smoking Health Education Service has an overview on the influence of parents on young smokers:
There are a variety of relationships and experiences that might influence a person’s decision to smoke. In the last issue of ASHES (2(6)), we reviewed a study that examined the influence of parental smoking on the smoking habits of [...]

icLiverpool report that 5 Mersyside Schools are about to start randomly testing their pupils for illegal drugs:
HUNDREDS of school-children face the prospect of being randomly screened for drugs next term. Northumbrian-based firm Preventx revealed it had started supplying five schools in this area with its kits.
It follows on from trials elsewhere in the country, which [...]

Life Style Extra reports on the levels of self-harm by young people in Britain:
A study reveals that every year a shocking one-in-10 teen girls deliberately harms herself, usually by cutting herself or taking a drug overdose.
The results suggest the problem is around eight times worse than experts had believed, according to the research, which means [...]

Turning Point have issued a press release in which they call for greater urgent action to address the misery faced by one in eleven children in the UK who live with parents who misuse alcohol:
A letter which was delivered to the Children’s minister, Beverley Hughes MP, this morning, calls on the Government to launch a [...]

A New Zealand school, introducing random drug testing of its pupils, is using the Abbey School in Kent to justify its policy. The Whangarei Northern Advocate, which carries the report, quotes the headteacher the school:

Mr Hutching said a school in England which introduced random tests had seen drug use almost completely fall [...]

Young People Now report that the Magistrates’ Association will be debating calling for a change in the classification of cannabis:
The Magistrates’ Association is considering asking the Government to change the classification of cannabis for under-18s to reflect the dangers the drug poses for this age group.
A motion will be debated at the association’s annual general [...]

You can see the results of the Telegraph and RSA opinion poll on drugs here . There’s not a question on drug education as far as I can see, but the attitudes expressed are interesting.

Here’s something from earlier in the summer that I’ve just come across on the BBC :
School children as young as five years old are being given leaflets about the dangers of taking illegal drugs.
The Bridlington Rotary Club is printing leaflets for every pupil in the town in a bid to curb drug use in the [...]

Medical News Today reports on new research from America:
A new study exploring smoking, heavy drinking and marijuana use across three generations indicates that the children of a parent who uses any of these substances are more likely to smoke, binge drink or use marijuana in adolescence and adulthood. Drug transmission across generations, the study found, [...]