Pubdate: Sat, 24 Sep 2006
Source: Sydney Morning Herald (Australia)
Copyright: 2006 The Sydney Morning Herald
Contact:  http://www.smh.com.au/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/441

DRUG TESTS AT SCHOOL FORMALS

THE growing popularity of ice and ecstasy has forced  organisers of 
school formals to introduce screening  tests for students suspected 
of using the amphetamines.

One Sydney event organiser, who runs formals for about  30,000 
students each year, has developed a set of  procedures to check for 
illegal drug use.

Elliot Kleiner, senior partner with Prom Night Events,  said the 
procedures were necessary because the  successful policing of alcohol 
use had caused some  students to opt for stronger alternatives.

"It's hard to get inside the teenagers' minds and ask  them why they 
are choosing eccys [ecstasy] but the  obvious inference is that if 
they know there are very  accurate and effective methods of detecting 
alcohol  then this may contribute to them choosing other things  as 
an alternative," Mr Kleiner said.

The school formal season is set to begin with most  events in NSW 
held between the end of the HSC exams in  November and the beginning 
of schoolies activities.

Prom Night Events, which organises formals for years  10, 11 and 12 
students at public and private schools,  sends a security team of up 
to 10 guards to its events  depending on the type of venue and number 
of students  attending.

It screens and sweeps the venue for drugs and alcohol  and everyone 
attending the formal, including students,  teachers and parents, is 
breath tested for alcohol.

Bags and receptacles are searched, metal detectors are  used and 
tickets are validated electronically.

The new three-step drug screening process includes  initial visual 
checking for symptoms. If these are  confirmed, a variety of 
"non-intrusive" electronic  implements are then used to further 
determine whether  the drugs have been used.

Mr Kleiner would not elaborate on the exact screening  instruments 
used by his company, saying that doing so  would make it easy for 
students to escape detection. He  stressed that the methods were 
quick, unobtrusive and  only students exhibiting symptoms of illicit 
drug  taking would be tested.

The drug procedures, trialled at 20 formals organised  by the company 
late last year, will be introduced in  the 2006 formal season.

Of the five students identified as "red flags" in the  first stage of 
analysis, all were cleared after the  second stage of testing. 
Finally, verbal checking takes  place with a series of questions 
asked by the security  team.

"The ultimate aim of these procedures is the safety of  emerging 
young adults," Mr Kleiner said.

Alcohol & other Drugs Council of Australia chief  executive Donna 
Bull said the availability of ice was  increasing and that Federal 
Government figures showed  that 4.4 per cent of 14- to 19-year-olds 
said they had  recently tried methamphetamines.

She said ecstasy and ice were both stimulants and  symptoms of use 
included increased heart rate, energy  and blood pressure.

She said that the company's methods were "quite a  proactive 
approach" but she warned that not all drug  testing equipment was 100 
per cent reliable.
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MAP posted-by: Elaine