Pubdate: Mon, 23 Feb 2004 Source: Manchester Evening News (UK) Copyright: 2004 Manchester Evening News Contact: http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1313 Author: Ian Craig Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Testing) SCHOOLS MINISTER BACKS DRUG TESTS SCHOOLS Minister and Bury MP Ivan Lewis today defended plans for random drug tests in schools. Guidance will be given to head teachers next month, giving them powers to carry out the tests, including taking samples from pupils and use of sniffer dogs, even without the consent of parents. The move, announced by Tony Blair, has caused anger among MPs, councillors and some teachers' unions. Teachers at a Manchester secondary school, St Thomas Aquinas, in Chorlton, have already been told to stop and search pupils suspected of carrying drugs after two 14-year-old boys were caught smoking cannabis on a bus on the way to school. Head teacher John O'Callaghan said earlier this month they did not have a particular drug problem, but he is determined to send a tough message to pupils who will be asked to empty their pockets and their bags if there are suspicions of drug taking. Parents will be contacted. The government plan is for spot-testing of youngsters, but teaching unions and drugs charities fear checks could create more problems than they solve. Procedures Jean Gemmell, general secretary of the Professional Association of Teachers, said: "My first reaction was to be fairly horrified, mostly because I can't quite see how on earth it will work." And Manchester Green councillor Vanessa Hall said it was an incredible attack on young people's rights to be subjected to enforced medical procedures in school. But today, Mr Lewis, MP for Bury South, defended the plan and said he believed it would get the support of a majority of parents - although he admitted he did not know how many head teachers backed the move. "Many of them said they wanted the full range of powers to take the necessary action," he said. "If you found a child taking drugs, and if dealing was involved, the norm would be exclusion. Where you find that for the first time a child is taking drugs, the idea is to get education, rehabilitation and help as quickly as possible to turn the child off the habit. "We need to identify as quickly as possible when children are engaging in drug-taking and I think the majority of parents would welcome that in our schools." The prime minister said that if head teachers believed they had a problem in their schools, they should be able to carry out random drug tests. Tory spokesman Tim Collins accused the government of sending mixed messages on drugs after the recent downgrading of cannabis, and Lib Dem spokesman Phil Willis said tackling drug abuse should not be a problem for head teachers. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom