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Guidelines for the Management of Incidents of Drug Misuse
in Schools
EXTRACT FROM THE MISUSE OF DRUGS ACT 1971
Occupiers etc. of premises to be punishable for permitting certain activities
to take place there.
8. A person commits an offence if, being the occupier or concerned
in the management of any premises, he knowingly permits or suffers any of
the following activities to take place on those premises, that is to say-
(a) producing or attempting to produce a controlled drug in contravention
of section 4(1) of this Act;
(b) supplying or attempting to supply a controlled drug to another
in contravention of section 4(1) of this Act, or offering to supply a controlled
drug to another in contravention of section 4(1);
(c) preparing opium for smoking;
(d) smoking cannabis, cannabis resin or prepared opium.
Powers to search and obtain evidence.
23. (1) A constable or other person authorised in that behalf by a
general or special order of the Secretary of State (or in Northern Ireland
either of the Secretary of State or the Ministry of Home Affairs for Northern
Ireland) shall, for the purposes of the execution of this Act, have power
to enter the premises of a person carrying on business as a producer or supplier
of any controlled drugs and to demand the production of, and to inspect, any
books or documents relating to dealings in any such drugs and to inspect any
stocks of any such drugs.
(2) If a constable has reasonable grounds to suspect that any person is in
possession of a controlled drug in contravention of this Act or of any regulations
made thereunder, the constable may-
(a) search that person, and detain him for the purpose of searching
him;
(b) search any vehicle or vessel in which the constable suspects that
the drug may be found, and for that purpose require the person in control
of the vehicle or vessel to stop it;
(c) seize and detain, for the purposes of proceedings under this Act,
anything found in the course of the search which appears to the constable
to be evidence of an offence under this Act.
PROCEDURES FOR MANAGING INCIDENTS OF
DRUG MISUSE BY PUPILS
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A. If Medical Help is Required
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B. If Medical Help is Not Required
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1(a) Provide first aid as necessary, minimise risk of pupil damaging
him/herself or others. As a last resort reasonable restraint may be
necessary (see also supplementary material Drug Situations - medical
emergencies).
AND/OR
b) Send for an ambulance. Arrange for appropriate adult to accompany
pupil to hospital.
2. Send for Head of Establishment (depute if Head unavailable).
3. Access another member of staff for assistance.
4. Arrange for safe removal of drug-related litter (in accordance
with set management procedures).
5. Retain evidence (including vomit, for medical analysis) if at
all possible.
HEAD OF ESTABLISHMENT
(OR DEPUTE/DESIGNATED PERSON) TO
6. Contact police for advice and/or involvement as necessary (see
also paragraph 2.3).
7. Inform parent(s) of incident and that police have been contacted,
invite parent(s) to come to school (see also paragraphs 2.9, 3.2 and
3.3).
8. Arrange for staff and other pupils involved to be interviewed,
with witnesses, to establish the facts of the incident and obtain corroboration.
Records of these meetings must be kept .
9. Inform Director of Education as soon as possible.
10. Arrange interview of pupil(s) concerned when recovered. Records
must be kept.
11. Once investigation has finished, give consideration to the guidance
which has been given in terms of excluding pupils and involving other
agencies such as social work.
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1. Send for Head of Establishment (depute if Head Unavailable).
2. Access another member of staff for assistance.
3. Minimise risk of pupil damaging him/herself or others. As a last
resort reasonable restraint may be necessary. Retain evidence (including
vomit) if at all possible.
4. Pupil (and belongings) should be taken to a private room and
supervised by preferably two members of staff.
5. Arrange for safe removal of drug-related litter (in accordance
with set management procedures.
HEAD OF ESTABLISHMENT
(OR DEPUTE/DESIGNATED PERSON) TO
6. Remind pupil of school policy regarding drug misuse and the procedures
to be followed to investigate the incident, including the intention
to contact parents and police.
7 Ask pupil to hand over any drug-related material. If reluctant
to do so, explain that request will be repeated in presence of parents
and possibly police.
8. Contact police for advice and/or involvement as necessary.
9. Inform parent of incident and that police have been contacted,
invite parent(s) to come to school (see paragraphs 2.9, 3.2 and 3.3).
10. Inform Director of Education as soon as possible.
11. Arrange interview of pupil, with witnesses, to establish the
facts of the incident, at what level pupil involved, and, whether other
pupils were involved. Records must be kept.
12. Arrange interview of staff and other pupils involved, with witnesses,
to further establish the facts of the incident and obtain corroboration.
Records must be kept.
13. Once investigation has finished, give consideration to the guidance
which has been given in terms of excluding pupils and involving other
agencies such as social work.
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Key Aspects of an Effective Response
When interviewing pupils
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DO
Ask factual questions about
* which drug
* source
* quantity
* legal status
* who is at risk
* age of pupil
Act with a witness.
Supervise and respect rights to silence and reasonable privacy.
Operate within school rules and responsibilities for pupils.
Be prepared to receive drug-related equipment given by pupils.
Make clear the limits of confidentiality and refer the incident to
the school's designated drugs co-ordinator if not the Headteacher.
Record the facts on a standard pro forma, store in a secure place and
disclose only on a need to know basis.
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DO NOT
Ask leading questions
Interrogate
Accuse
Make assumptions about guilt
Detain a pupil in a locked room or without access to food or drink.
Remove or search personal belongings or conduct body searches (otherwise,
this could be considered assault).
Pledge secrecy or keep drug incidents to yourself (you alone cannot
have an overview of the situation and the risk factors).
Record the facts on a standard pro forma, store in a secure place and
disclose only on a need to know basis
Rely on memory or general impressions - they may be inaccurate and
make it more difficult for others to help/obtain evidence.
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When responding to the media, what to do and what to avoid
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DO
- Prepare a list of key facts and be consistent with police comment.
- Ask to be called back when more information will be available.
- Show that the incident has been taken seriously and managed effectively.
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DO NOT
- Say more than you want to
- Identify individuals or information prejudicial to individual pupils,
staff or the school
- Comment on events outside the school's responsibilities.
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Drug situations - medical emergencies
The procedures for an emergency apply when a child or young person or
others are at immediate risk of harm. A person who is unconscious, having
trouble breathing, seriously confused or disoriented or who has taken a harmful
toxic substance, should be responded to as an emergency.
Your main responsibility is for any pupil at immediate risk, but you also
need to ensure the well-being and safety of others. Put into practice your
school's first aid procedures. IF IN ANY DOUBT, CALL MEDICAL HELP
ALWAYS:
- assess the situation
- if a medical emergency, send for medical help and ambulance
BEFORE ASSISTANCE ARRIVES:
If the person is conscious:
- ask the person what has happened and to identify any drug used
- collect any drug sample and leave any vomit for medical analysis
- do not induce vomiting
- keep the person under observation, warm, quiet and conscious
If the person is unconscious:
- ensure that the person can breathe and place in recovery position
- do not move the person if a fall is likely to have led to spinal or other
serious injury which may not be obvious
- do not give anything by mouth
- do not attempt to make the person sit or stand
- do not leave the person unattended or in the charge of another pupil
WHEN MEDICAL HELP ARRIVES:
- pass on any information available including vomit and any drug samples
PLEASE COMPLETE AN EMERGENCY RECORD FORM AS SOON AS YOU HAVE DEALT WITH THE
EMERGENCY
RECORD OF DRUG-RELATED INCIDENT (Exemplar form for information)
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School:
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Date of Incident:
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Date & Time Reported: Reported by:
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Pupil(s) involved:
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Name(s)
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d.o.b.
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Home contact number
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Description of Incident:
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Category of Incident:
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Action Taken
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By whom
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Contacted
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Drug-related litter on or near school premises.
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Suspicion, allegation & disclosure in & out of school activities
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Symptoms of drug misuse
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Pupils/parents with drugs on school premises/trip/transport
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Pupils/parents taking drugs on school premises/trip/transport
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Pupils/parents selling/supplying drugs on school premises/trip/ transport
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Drug Type (if known) or description:
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Removed by
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Where retained
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Receipt given & countersigned.
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Contacts made:
(where appropriate)
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Contact Number
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By whom
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Contact Time
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Arrival Time
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Police
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Ambulance
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Other Health Professionals
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Health Promotion Department
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Social Work
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Child Protection Team
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Environmental Health
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Education Department
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Local Drug Support Agency
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Other, please state.
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Drug-related Incident report cont.
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Pupil Interview Details (as appropriate)
If a member of staff is required to be present a summary should be
detailed below
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RECORD OF EVENTS:
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Signed:
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Witnessed by:
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Title:
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Title:
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Date:
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Date:
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KEY STAFF AND ASPECTS OF THE MANAGEMENT
OF AN INCIDENT INVOLVING DRUGS
Key staff and aspects of the management of drug-related incidents which may
require referral to established contacts in other agencies such as environmental,
health or police services.
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Aspect
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Key Staff
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Referral to outside agency via/with information to EA
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Drug-related litter requiring removal
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Janitor/groundsmen via Headteacher
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Environmental Health Services
Police
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Drug overdose
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Staff member on duty via school nurse and Headteacher1
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Accident and Emergency
Service/Ambulance Service,
Police, Children's Reporter,
Press Office, Social Work
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Violence involving drugs
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Staff member on duty via Headteacher
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Police, Children's Reporter, Social Work
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Possession of drugs
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As above
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Police, Children's Reporter
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Sale of drugs
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As above
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Police, Children's Reporter
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Training in first aid and recognising drug misuse
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Staff development officer via Headteacher
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Health Board, National Training
Agency, Local FE colleges,
Red Cross, St Andrew's Ambulance Association, etc
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Confidentiality and the law
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Headteacher and guidance staff
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EA pupil support services and legal department
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1. Local procedures, based on the guidelines, would be required
where input by school nurses is on a part-time basis.
USEFUL CONTACTS
NATIONAL CONTACTS
Childline
Freephone 0800 441111
Drinkline
Freephone 0800 917 8282
Health Information Service
Freephone 0800 66 55 44
National Drugs Helpline
Freephone 0800 77 66 00
Parentline Scotland
Freephone 0808 800 2222
Drugs Scope
32-36 Loman Street
London
SE1 0EE
Tel: 0207 928 1211
Fast Forward
4 Bernard Street
Leith
Edinburgh
EH6 6PP
Tel: 0131 554 4300
Health Education Board for Scotland
Woodburn House
Canaan Lane
Edinburgh
EH10 4SG
Tel: 0131 536 5500
Re-Solv
(the Society for the Prevention of Solvent and Volatile Substance Abuse)
30A High Street
Stone
Staffs
ST15 8AW
Tel: 01785 817885
Scotland Against Drugs
120 Bath Street
Glasgow
G2 2EN
Tel: 0141 331 6150
Scottish Child Law Centre
23 Buccleuch Place
Edinburgh
EH8 9LN
Tel: 0131 667 6333
Scottish Children's Reporter Administration
Ochil House
Springkerse Business Park
Stirling
FK7 7XE
Tel: 01786 459500
Scottish Consultative Council on the Curriculum
Gardyne Road
Broughty Ferry
Dundee
DD5 1NY
Tel: 01382 455053
Scottish Council on Alcohol
166 Buchanan Street
Glasgow
G1 2NH
Tel: 0141 333 9677
Scottish Drugs Forum
5 Waterloo Street
Glasgow
G2 6AY
Scottish Executive Education Department
Area 3A
Victoria Quay
Edinburgh
EH6 6QQ
Tel: 0131 244 7853
TACADE
1 Hulme Place
The Crescent
Salford
M5 4QA
Tel: 0161 745 8925
Youth Access
1A Taylors Yard
67 Alderbrook Road
London
SW12 8AD
Tel: 0208 772 9900
Details of UK generic local counselling services for young people.
LOCAL CONTACTS (to be developed by each School)
Each school will want to develop its own network of local contacts. The following
list is meant as guidance for this purpose.
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Agency
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Function
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Key Contact
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Social Work Dept
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Enquiry & Information
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Name:
Address:
Tel No:
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Social Work Dept
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Substance Misuse Team
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Name:
Address:
Tel No:
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Local Substance Misuse Groups (Drugs, Alcohol, Solvents)
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Support, Advice, Counselling
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Name:
Address:
Tel No:
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Youth Services
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Name:
Address:
Tel No:
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Police
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Name:
Address:
Tel No:
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St Andrew's Ambulance/Red Cross
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Support/training in first aid
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Name:
Address:
Tel No:
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Family Support Groups
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Name:
Address:
Tel No:
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Local Health Promotion Department
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Information and training on drug issues.
Policy and curriculum development
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Name:
Address:
Tel No:
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Drug Action Team
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Name:
Address:
Tel No:
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Children's Reporter,
Local office
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Name:
Address:
Tel No:
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Other
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EXTRACT FROM "TACKLING DRUGS IN SCOTLAND:
ACTION IN PARTNERSHIP": THE SCOTTISH OFFICE (1999).
Young People
Drug misuse is a feature in the lives of many young people. A number of surveys
provide evidence of the availability and misuse of illicit drugs by young
people in Scotland. Information from the Scottish Crime Survey carried out
in 1993 and 1996 shows that around one in four young men aged 16-19 and around
one in five young women aged 16-19 had used drugs in the last twelve months
(Figure 1). In 1996, for males aged 20-24 the proportion rises to over one
in three (37%).
Source : 1993 and 1996 Scottish Crime Surveys.
Several recent surveys of school age children provide further evidence of
drug misuse by sections of young people in Scotland. One survey carried out
in 1998 by the Research Unit in Health and Behavioural Change (Health Behaviour
in School Age Children: a WHO cross national study, HBSC) shows the range
of drugs which have been reported as ever used by a sample of young people
in year four of secondary school (Figure 2).
Source: HBSC.
It is clear that cannabis is the most frequently reported drug ever used
among secondary 4 (S4) pupils in this study, with 42% reporting use. These
findings are broadly consistent with the findings of other national surveys
amongst children of school-age (e.g. those conducted by the Scottish Council
for Research in Education, Fast Forward and the Alcohol and Health Research
Group).
The HBSC study also found that, of those S4 pupils who had ever tried drugs,
around one in five (22%) had first tried drugs at twelve years or younger.
This was supported by another study, carried out by the Centre for Drugs Misuse
Research at the University of Glasgow, which found that one in ten children
in year one of secondary school had reported having tried using illegal drugs.
Reports of drug misuse from other European countries show that Scotland is
not alone in this problem, other countries have similar rates of lifetime
use of certain drugs.
It is not only the misuse of drugs by young people which causes concern.
Children living in families where drugs are regularly used are also at risk.
Based on information obtained by treatment agencies in 1996/97, around one
in five of all people who seek help for problem drug use report living with
dependent children (source: Scottish Drug Misuse Database). This proportion,
which may itself be under-reported, takes no account of drug users whose children
do not live with them. A recent interview survey of over four hundred drug
injectors in Greater Glasgow found that 60% were the parent to one child or
more (source: Scottish Centre for Infection and Environmental Health (SCIEH),
provisional).
IMPACT OF MAJOR CONTROLLED DRUGS
All drug use is potentially harmful and most carries health risks. Some people
take drugs in a recreational way as part of their social activities and their
drug use may not seem to cause obvious problems to them or their families.
However, even when drugs are used in a recreational manner, the use of illegal
drugs may lead to a Procurator Fiscal fine, a criminal record or even, in
some cases, imprisonment.
The use of drugs can result in accidents, anti-social behaviour, crime and
health problems including poisoning or overdose. Some drugs, such as heroin
and crack, are associated with the greater potential to cause more harm than
other drugs, such as cannabis and LSD. This is due to both greater health
risks and greater social risks such as acquisitive crime.
Some methods of drug use are more harmful than others, such as injecting.
Which can lead to the transmission of blood borne diseases such as HIV and
Hepatitis. Some patterns of drug use are also more harmful than others: dependent
drug use, combinations of drugs and alcohol; and chaotic unrestrained drug
use are associated with most harm.
Harmful drug or alcohol use can result in erratic behaviour which can affect
the parents' ability to look after their children. Any drug use has the potential
to interfere with parenting ability e.g. if the parent is intoxicated. Some
drug users may also have alcohol problems and this may be the major factor
in affecting their ability to care for their children.
Drug problems affect people's lives and their families in very different
ways. The effects of drugs will vary according to:
- the individual;
- their physical and psychological state;
- the drugs used and the method and means of acquisition;
- the amounts, patterns and method of drug use;
- the circumstances in which the drug is used;
- whether drugs are used in combination with other drugs, or with alcohol;
and
- whether drug use is away from children and whether there are adults around
who are not intoxicated.
Physical effects: there are risks of overdosing on most drugs which
may cause distress, damage to physical and mental health, or even death. Normal
desires for food and reactions to discomfort and pain may be changed by the
drug. This can lead to self neglect. Injecting drug use carries high risks
of HIV infection or Hepatitis if needles or other injecting equipment are
shared. Drug use, and particularly injecting drug use can also cause vascular
damage and/or thrombosis, septicaemia and endocarditis.
Cognitive effects: anyone taking drugs that affect the mind over a
long time may develop distorted perceptions and responses. Normal functioning
may be impaired. For example, regular heavy use of amphetamines can lead to
mental health problems such as anxiety and paranoia, or even in severe cases,
amphetamine psychosis. These conditions are usually reversible.
Relationships: for people with drug problems, social relationships
may narrow down to a small group of people with similar habits. Finding or
keeping work and housing may be difficult. The lifestyle attached to heavy
or chaotic drug use will have an impact on how members of the family relate
to each other, even if children are not put at significant risk. Combined
drug and alcohol use and alcohol dependency can lead to mood swings and impulsive
behaviour that can have a negative impact on family life. Therefore, drugs
mixed with alcohol may be particularly harmful both to health and to the user's
ability to look after children.
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