This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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First Minister pledges effective and comprehensive drugs education for all Scottish schoolchildren
22/02/2001
Henry McLeish today gave a firm commitment that no child at a Scottish school will be left in any doubt of the dangers of illegal drugs.
After a week of major announcements on the battle against drugs, the First Minister and Iain Gray, Deputy Minister for Justice, visited Glenwood High School in Glenrothes to see for themselves the effectiveness of current drugs education.
Following a worrying EU report that warned that 4 in 10 British teenagers said they had taken drugs such as cannabis and ecstasy, Mr McLeish also took the chance to talk directly to pupils about the serious risks of drug-taking, and to find out the effectiveness of what they are being taught on the subject in schools.
The First Minister used the visit to confirm that every school in Scotland will provide drug education to every pupil by 2002. They will also have to have clear, written procedures for dealing with drug misuse in schools. Currently 95 per cent of schools provide drug education, and 70 per cent have guidelines in place or in preparation.
Mr McLeish said:
"It is important that we have been able to take this opportunity to talk directly to pupils and teachers about drug education. I take a great personal interest in the battle against drugs and have placed it firmly at the top of the political agenda.
"We are serious about tackling drugs misuse in Scotland. We recently announced a £100m package to take forward work on our anti-drugs strategy which included an extra investment of £21m over the 3-year period for children, young people and families. This will target key areas of work with young people.
"The opportunity today to discuss drugs education with teachers and pupils is therefore important in helping us to understand their views and to help inform the way forward on the School Drug Safety Team recommendations. We will act on what we have heard."
Mr Gray said:
"Drugs education is crucial if we are to build a drug-free Scotland. We are now tackling drug addiction through initiatives like drugs courts. But if new users continually step into the shoes of reformed users we will never get on top of the problem.
"Most young Scots do not take drugs. Today's visit is about asking them and their teachers why that is and then making sure all our children have the same support. That's how we'll make the next generation a clean one."
BACKGROUND
1. Scotland's drugs strategy, set out in - Tackling Drugs in Scotland: Action in Partnership, has a particular focus on Young People. Its key aim is to help young people resist drug misuse in order to achieve their full potential in society.
2. The School Drug Safety Team (SDST) was set up with the following remit:
"In the first place the group will concentrate on ensuring that appropriate guidance on handling drug incidents is available to teachers and thereafter advise on the effectiveness of drug education in schools, consider teacher training needs on drug matters and promote the exchange of best practice."
3. The Team's first priority was to ensure that effective guidance on handling drug misuse incidents in schools was made available to teachers. The resulting Guidelines for the Management of Incidents of Drug Misuse were launched by the Minister for Children and Education on 28 June.
4. The final report of the Team was made available on 23 January. The Executive has accepted all of the Team's recommendations and will be making £1M available over the next 3 years to fund these.
5. This funding is part of the additional £100 million package of measures over three years announced in September 2000 to break the cycle of drug offending. £21m has been allocated to ensure effective drug education for every school pupil, provide more support for the care of vulnerable young people and families where there are drug-misusing parents, and for the provision of alternative activities to divert young people into positive, drug-free lifestyles. £18 million of this will be administered as part of the Children's Change Fund, which will support projects or programmes covering the full range of prevention, treatment, rehabilitation and community education approaches within the drugs strategy. The remaining £3 million of this extra funding will support implementation of the recommendations of the School Drug Safety Team. This will include the development of further teacher training to meet the Executive's commitment to ensuring that all children receive effective drug education.
6. This week the Scottish Executive has made a series of significant announcements on extra funding for Scotland Against Drugs, the creation of drugs courts, and the fight against drug driving.
News Release: SE0433/2001
22 Feb 2001