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KNOWLEDGE: PC Andy Scarratt spells out the facts about drugs to students

SO how many of you have seen a dirty needle on the streets of Bournemouth?

Every single hand in the room was raised.

The response was worrying, especially as the people answering PC Andy Scarratt's question were teenagers at Bournemouth secondary school.

The fact that all of the 13 or 14-year-olds in the year nine class at the Bishop of Winchester School have seen a used needle proves children are regularly exposed to drugs and the need for drug education is paramount.

PC Scarratt asks the question in every secondary school he visits in the borough as part of his drugs awareness talk.

His talk is crucial to Dorset Police's drug awareness campaign and also forms part of its Operation Dismantle initiative aimed to tackle drug supply and reduce drug-related crime.

PC Scarratt started off his session by telling the class: "I am not going to lecture you. I am going to talk to you about the facts of drugs, what the problems are and what the law is so you will go away with a better understanding and hopefully make the right choices."

He then gave an exercise to the pupils asking them to connect pictures of drugs with their correct names. He then told them about class A, B and C drugs and the penalties for possession and supply.

PC Scarratt stressed drugs affect people in different ways. "You won't all react in the same way. Some may take an ecstasy tablet and get a real buzz, someone may be physically sick and another person might not get any affect at all. You might get a reaction the first time you take it, or the tenth or fiftieth.

"A number of years ago a batch of strong heroin was circulating in Bournemouth and a number of people died. We went round picking up their bodies, it was horrendous. One of them was a woman who had been using heroin every day for years. But that day it killed her."

Earlier in the session PC Scarratt had held up samples and asked the pupils to identify them. They decided they were heroin, cannabis and ecstasy.

He said: "What you thought was heroin is brick dust and scouring agent, the cannabis resin is boot polish and weed fertiliser and the ecstasy is dog worming tablets.

"Not only have you got the problem of all those drugs being available, but you have also got the problem of all the imitation drugs as well."

PC Scarratt takes his talk to all of the 10 secondary schools in Bournemouth and the two private schools.

Speaking after the session, headteacher Paul Mckeown said: "I think it's important to all schools that drugs education is given a very high priority within the personal, society, health education (PSHE) programme, which it is here.

"All children are at risk of being exposed to drugs because they are prevalent within the wider society.

"Whether it be alcohol, tobacco or so-called recreational drugs, we have to ensure children are informed and they need to understand the risks and consequences of involving themselves in the drug culture.

"When they are faced with making decisions they make informed decisions and hopefully make the right decisions for their own wellbeing."

He added: "We don't have a drugs problem in school but some schools unfortunately do. For us it works."

7:00pm Friday 8th February 2008

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