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Drugs Education

Everyone has something to say about drugs. Often fiction gets in the way of the facts and we make assumptions that may not be true.

There are serious risks linked to taking drugs, and it is vital that young people have access to information they can trust. Young people today need to understand not simply that drugs are dangerous, but why and how.

David Blunkett's opening remarks in 'Protecting Young People: Good practice in drug education in schools and the youth service', Department for education and Skills (DfES), 1998 read:

'Helping young people to resist drug misuse helps them in turn to achieve their full potential. Giving young people the relevant skills and knowledge is one step towards reversing the terrible damage and waste caused by drug misuse and safeguarding the health and well-being of future generations'.

National Healthy School Standard (NHSS) - Drug education

The minimum criteria for assessing school achievements are:

		The school has a named member of staff and a governor who are responsible for drug education provision

		The school has a planned drug education programme involving the development of skills, starting from early years, which identifies learning outcomes, appropriate to pupils' age, ability and level of maturity and which is based on pupils' own needs assessment

		The school has a policy, owned and implemented by the whole school, including parents/carers, for managing drug-related incidents which includes identifying sources of support of pupils and alternatives to exclusion

		Staff understand the role that schools can play in the National Drugs Strategy and are confident to discuss drug issues and services with pupils

		The school works with the police, youth service and local drug services in line with the Drug Action Team strategy to develop its understanding of local issues and to inform its policy.

		The local education and health partnership must ensure that a whole school approach is used in working on specific themes. These can be found on pages 12 - 14 of the guidance document.

Drug use and misuse – definitions

The term 'drug' means any substance that is 'psychoactive', which means 'mind-altering'. The term can cover:

		Legal drugs (e.g. alcohol, tobacco, poppers, butane gas)
		Illegal drugs (e.g. cannabis, Ecstasy, amphetamines) and
		Medicinal drugs, (e.g. Paracetamol, Insulin, Ventolin).

Click on the different sections below to access more information on drugs:

		Illegally produced, owned or supplied drugs etc. - (i.e. those covered by the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971) and volatile substances (glues, gases, aerosol propellants), prescription medicines and other legal substances (e.g. poppers).

		Alcohol

		Smoking


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Drugs Education

National Healthy School Standard (NHSS) - Drug education

Drug use and misuse – definitions

Click on the different sections below to access more information on drugs:

Click on the links on the side navigation bar to access more information on Drug Use.