Call for drugs education reforms

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The head of Scotland's drug enforcement agency has called for a radical shake-up in drugs education in schools.

Graeme Pearson of the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency (SCDEA) said the system was not working.

Heroin addiction is at record levels in Scotland, and levels of abuse of other drugs shows no signs of decreasing.

Mr Pearson called for lessons on the impact drugs have on people's lives, and asked for increased visits to schools by experts and former addicts.

At present, lessons can focus too much on description of drugs rather than on the effect they can have on people's lives, according to Mr Pearson.

The director general of the SCDEA added that lessons in personal and social education classes needed to be backed up in a range of other classes such as biology.

He said these should be reinforced by visits from outside experts, including reformed addicts.

'Informed choices'

The Scottish Executive said it was considering carrying out trials of school visits from former addicts, but added that parents and teachers would be consulted on the issue.

A spokesman for the Scottish Drugs Forum (SDF) said that the policy had long been to educate young people about drugs, with the aim that they will be able to make informed choices knowing something of the downside and dangers of drugs.

He said: "I don't think the use of non-educationists in this context has been fully thought through.

The spokesman added: "The Scottish Drugs Task Force Report of 1994 warned against shock-horror and using glamorous approaches such as using former drug users in school settings. What message does a former user give?"