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Media Statement – Drug Strategy

Media Statement – Drug Strategy

Drug Strategy Consultation

As the government began its consultation on the next drug strategy, Stephen Burgess, Chief Executive of Life Education Centres, speaking as Vice Chair of the Drug Education Forum, said:

Research shows that children as young as 7 or 8 can usually name 2 or 3 illicit drugs, know an astonishing amount about them and often where they could get them.

But we know that where children and young people receive effective drug education that allows them to make informed choices, they are less likely to experiment with drugs.

We hope the government?s strategy will ensure that children receive fact based education from professionally trained teachers.  But drug education should not be about trying to scare pupils, as those tactics simply serve to reduce the credibility of the message. 

Drug education should be about making sure that children and young people have the appropriate knowledge about drugs for their age; and equally importantly encouraging them to be positive about their own health, recognising when they are in risky situations and helping them to develop the life skills to avoid the harms that drugs can do.

 

ENDS

25 July 2007