Drug Education News

The Telegraph:

“Basically, it’s a waste of time telling students not to do drugs or drink,” says the Telegraph’s resident junior hospital doctor Max Pemberton. “What I do think is worthwhile, though, is making sure they know where to turn if things go wrong. The fact is, universities offer far better support services (counselling, welfare officers, campus Samaritans) than are available in the outside world. Quite often, I come across students who have come into Accident and Emergency with a problem, and I tell them they can either wait six months for an NHS appointment, or see a psychiatrist next week through the university.

“As for student drinking, there’s a lot of hysterical stuff in the media, but real alcoholism is where people are drinking to obliterate some deep underlying problem, and at 18 you haven’t lived long enough, and your personality hasn’t developed enough, for that to have taken hold. Unlike heroin, of course, which you can try a couple of times and straight away think ‘I must have more.’

“From my perspective as a former medical student, among whom the drinking culture is as hardcore as it gets, I have to say that if you are going to binge drink, then it is best to do it at 18 and get it out of your system. In many ways, the whole thing is a self-fulfilling prophecy; when you’re a student and haven’t got a lecture the next morning, then you can stay up till 3am in the Student Union. When you’ve left college and have to be up for work at 9am, you will act in an accordingly more responsible fashion.”

Mentor UK took a look at drug education and prevention in Further and Higher Education recently, you can read their conclusions here.

DrugScope produced guidance for colleges on introducing drug policies that you can download here.