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Drug Awareness Campaign (May 96) |
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| 1. Introduction | 4. A Parent's Guide to Drugs |
| 2. Song Writing | 5. What to do in an Emergency |
| 3. A Guidance Teacher's Views | 6. Leah's Legacy - a tragic true story |
In the past we have tackled issues such as "Safe School Travel" and "Anti-Vandalism " because we felt as parents that we had a responsibility for trying to improve these matters for our children.
How many of us know anything about "drugs?". Until a young girl called Leah Betts died from taking Ecstasy I am sure that many of us assumed it would never happen to us.
In launching this competition Lord James Douglas Hamilton said "The objective is to equip pupils with the skills, knowledge and attitudes they will need to make well-informed judgements about their lifestyle. But we need to get across the message that there is no safe way to take drugs."
We would like to hope that this edition of 'Grapevine" might be seen as our first Step towards a more active demonstration of concern about the availability and use of drugs among our young people. But we must ourselves be far better informed about drugs and the culture within which they are used if we are to have any hope of educating our young people. If you share our concerns, if you think you have any expertise or advice which you could offer us, please contact us here at "Grapevine". We need your help as well as your support.
There was a Songwriting Competition!
SSBA announced a competition aimed at 10 - 16 year olds. SSBA invited entries from a pupil or pupils attending school. The theme of the song had to be related to "Drugs" and could take the form of any musical style. A concert with up to 8 finalists took place in December, 1996. Prizes included drum kits, guitars, amplifiers, keyboards, etc.
| Drug Awareness Index |
| Peter Glanton, Assistant Head Teacher at Dumfries High School. He teaches English and Guidance. In this article Peter shares his thoughts after watching 'Sorted" with pupils at his school. |
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As part of the SSBA's 'Drug Awareness Campaign' a poster entitled "What Drugs Look Like" has been included in this edition of Grapevine. It contains pictures of the various substances used and misused by those who take drugs and gives a brief description of their composition and effects. It is intended to be a visual aid to parents who may have little idea of the physical appearance of drugs, their shapes, colours, textures.
Police, social workers, teachers, those who work with young people who have become involved with drugs will offer you other, very different, images of what drugs look like. To them, drugs may look like the frequently bewildered, often naive, sometimes terrified boys and girls who have found themselves sucked in to a pattern of behaviour which denies them control over their own lives, aware that what had seemed bold and adventurous has quickly turned sour, sordid and dangerous. They know that in using drugs or in allowing themselves to become the agency through which friends can acquire drugs they have themselves been used.
Whether those who deal drugs do so to finance a personal habit or to make money, they are stake holders in an industry dedicated to the cynical exploitation of the naive and vulnerable; and there is little realistic possibility of ever countering the drugs problem until we acknowledge the truth that drugs are, literally, big business, marketed on the streets, in clubs, at school gates, with an expertise in selling, knowledge of the consumer and maximising of profits that in more legitimate lines might earn the pusher an award for industry.
To put it more dramatically, the godfathers of dope have declared war on our children.
They have invested vast sums in the campaigns of exploitation while we, the body-count relentlessly rising and the psychologically maimed multiplying in their distress have come terrifyingly close to accommodating drugs as a condition of modern life, to accepting them as perils to be lived with, crossing our fingers and hoping that their next victim will not be our own child.
But it will be, because each child is our child; these young people are all our children. Our obligations to the young are not restricted to those within our own immediate family or school. They are universal; the loss of any child deprives us all.
The video, 'Sorted", is so remarkably effective because of the simple eloquence with which it reminds us of that. There is nothing artificial in its production or in its concerns. The story of a real life and a real death, its pain is raw; you cannot watch it and be unmoved. More remarkable yet, it is also an instrument of hope because what "Sorted" demonstrates is that our young are not lost to us, that it is possible to communicate effectively with them, that the values of the Ecstasy culture, of the drug culture in general, can be challenged, confronted and contradicted. It neither preaches at nor patronises its audience, uses nothing remotely gimmicky in the way of production values, and thereby stands as the best lesson many of us will ever have seen in a classroom. It would be naive to suppose that a sea-change has occurred in the behaviour of the pupils and students who have watched it and had the opportunity to discuss their reactions to it, but something significant has happened which those who determine education policy, those especially who determine where and in what quantity resources are to be allocated, must be made aware of.
Put very simply, the war declared by drugs is costing us lives, the real lives of our young people.
The video 'Sorted" is available in schools.
| Drug Awareness Index |
Drugs are common and available throughout Scotland not just in large cities. Every community and social/economic class is affected. This is a guide to the most widely available drugs. Recent research throughout Scotland has suggested that by 4th year at school at least 50% of pupils will have been offered drugs and about 25% will have experimented with drugs.
| A typical drug kit |  |
Don't expect to find neat piles of white powder lying around; you are more likely to find some possible evidence of drug use rather than the drugs themselves:
| * scorched pieces of tinfoil | * razor blade | * spoon |
| * homemade pipe | * syringe | * lemon |
(Any combination of these could signify drug misuse.)
| Ecstasy (Stimulant) |  |
Ecstasy is available in tablet or capsule form - white, brown, pink or yellow. 'White Doves, ' 'disco burgers' are common types. The effects start after about 20 minutes and can last several hours. Users say that the drug has a calming effect with heightened perceptions of colours and sounds. The drug can cause serious loss of body fluid resulting in some circumstances in severe heatstroke. Long term effects are unknown but recent research has suggested it can lead to liver damage and paranoia and irreversible brain damage.
| LSD (Hallucinogens) |  |
Minute quantities of the drug LSD are impregnated on small squares of usually decorative blotting paper although it can be taken in the pill or pure form. As the drug can be absorbed through the skin care must be taken when handling. Acid and tabs are the most common slang names. Users of hallucinogens describe a change in perception, a trip, which will often depend on the prevalent feelings and surroundings and can vary between euphoria and terror. Users may also experience what is called a flashback'- where even several months later, the 'trip' is relived without actually taking the drug.
| Cannabis (Depressant) |  |
Cannabis is the most widely abused illegal drug and accounts for around 70% of all drugs cases dealt with by the police. It is usually smoked in the form of resin (hash, dope, grass, weed, wacky back), a brown, gold or black solid mass which is crumbled (may be crushed in tin foil)and mixed with tobacco to make a joint although it can be smoked in a pipe on its own or even taken orally, for example, in a cake or mixed with yoghurt.
| Tranquillizers (Depressant) |  |
These drugs are commonly found in many medicine cabinets. Tranquillizers such as temazepam, diazepam (valium) and temgesic are widely prescribed by doctors in the form of pills or capsules. Injecting of dissolved temazepam (jellies) in particular has led to serious problems with HIV, abscesses and gangrene. Taken with alcohol this drug is particularly dangerous.
| Magic Mushrooms (Hallucinogens) |  |
Magic Mushrooms (often known as shrooms, mushies,etc.) refer mainly to the liberty cap mushroom which grows throughout Scotland. It is not illegal to pick them or eat them raw but is an offence to prepare them e.g. through drying or cooking. Normally eaten in a tea or soup but can be smoked. It produces mild hallucinations and the user can feel clear headed. A specific danger with mushrooms is picking the wrong kind - some species are highly poisonous.
| Heroin (Depressant) |  |
On the streets, heroin will be cut with other substances such as glucose and wrapped for sale in small plastic bags; these 'wraps' containing heroin might sell for £5 - £10. Heroin more commonly known as smack, skag, or horse, can be injected, sniffed or smoked and tends to produce a sort of pleasant drowsiness. Highly addictive and as it has a strong psychological dependence it is difficult to come off.
| Amphetamine (Stimulant) |  |
Amphetamine, usually off white in colour, is relatively cheap often no more than £15 a gram) and also heavily cut with other substances that look like the drug. One dose of amphetamine can last three to four hours. Can be smoked, injected or taken orally. Taking the drug can make the user highly active, talkative and excitable although long term use can lead to loss of appetite and paranoia. Slang names such as speed, sulph and uppers are common.
| Cocaine/Crack Cocaine (Stimulant) |  |
Cocaine is a stimulant and is often seen in movies being sniffed in two white lines on a mirror. This drug is very expensive and is not widely misused for this reason. Heating cocaine in tinfoil and sniffing the fumes is known as "chasing the dragon". Usage produces feeling of great energy and strength. Long term use can cause paranoia and irritability. Sniffing "coke" damages the nose lining.
CRACK is cocaine which has been processed into small crystals about the size of raisins for smoking. It produces an intense high which lasts for about 15 minutes. Crack cocaine is very inexpensive when compared to pure cocaine but is much more addictive.
Injecting
Injecting can be one of the most dangerous ways of taking drugs and carries with it a number of risks:
Signs of drug abuse:
Spotting drug abuse isn't easy and many signs can relate to something quite different so it's important not to jump to conclusions. Symptoms may include:
Discovering your son or daughter is using drugs is extremely disturbing but try to stay calm and attempt to discover why your child is taking drugs.
| Drug Awareness Index |
If you find your child drowsy or unconscious, it's important that you know what to do. It could save their life.
There are several excellent publications available from all drug agencies, Health Education Board for Scotland, Police, Scottish Office etc. and there is likely to be a local contact centre in your area. Drug Line Scotland is a free and confidential line and will be able to offer advice and help.
Contact them on 0800 77 66 00
Content produced by Nithsdale Community Safety Unit, Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary and Dumfries High School for the Scottish School Board Association Drug Awareness Campaign (1996)
| Drug Awareness Index |
| Leah's Legacy | of Dumfries High School |
Prior to the Christmas holidays, all schools throughout the country received a copy of "Sorted", a video about the death of Leah Betts who died on November 16, 1995 as a result of taking the designer drug Ecstasy. The video was accompanied by a moving plea from Leah's parents that the video be shown to every pupil in every school.
Senior staff in Dumfries High School felt that it was essential that their pupils and students should watch "Sorted" and have time to reflect on it. Consequently, throughout the school, Social Education in the last week of term was devoted exclusively to this.
When I watched the video, I felt numbed and I still remain speechless by it many months later. As the credits on the video rolled up, with the names of other young people who have met the same fate, everything was still; the silence in the room was piercing and the atmosphere could have been cut with a knife.
During my small survey of pupils in the school, it became evident that the video had made an impact on everyone. Many pupils in the school were left saddened and sure that they would try and prevent their friends making the same stupid mistake Leah made.
One of the lessons to be learned from this tragedy is that there is no "safe and sound" advice about taking Ecstasy. To begin with we were told if you take Ecstasy, "Drink plenty of water". Now however it is apparent that it could be the excess of water in the body that is causing the problems for many victims of this drug.
Mr. Mitchell, the rector at Dumfries High School, stated that his worst ever nightmare was of one day having to hold an assembly in remembrance of a pupil. He also feels concerned that the pupils of secondary school age are the most vulnerable to drugs, and that it is crucial that parents are also made aware of the dangers.
Why did Leah Betts take Ecstasy? Not even Leah's parents can answer that. In their heartbreaking letter, Paul and Janet Betts say, "Why our beautiful daughter felt she needed Ecstasy we will never know".
Within each class of students who watched the video, each individual put themselves in the place of someone in Leah's family. As they watched, the face on the screen became them, their brother, their sister, their mother or their father. This video had a large psychological impact on all of the students at Dumfries High School. I don't think there has ever before been such an identification between the viewer and the viewed.
Leah was not at a night club, or a rave when she took the single Ecstasy pill. She was at home, with her parents, celebrating her 18th birthday. We all know we could get run over by a car or a bus tomorrow, but what happened to Leah could have been prevented. Yet, we cannot really blame anyone, except fate. Leah's parents took every step to ensure their house was as safe as it could be in case of any trouble, yet this did happen! It's tempting to think that God was not looking down on their house that night. Or was He? Perhaps an example may have been set.
We cannot allow Leah to have died in vain. If one life is saved through all this heartache, then there has been a saviour in our day. Leah has gone and answers to questions will never bring her back but we, as a nation, must not let this tragedy go unmarked. Private grief demands not only public reaction but also public ACTION. This tragedy is not an artefact, it is real, so think and act, as we must learn from not only our own mistakes but also those of others - and remember, we are all each others children. Think if it was you, because it so easily could be. In future, just think of what you could leave behind if you are about to risk taking your life as there is definitely no going back, especially from the dead. And remember, you may not think you are taking the plunge to die but, like Leah, you are dancing with death.
And parents: do you want your last memory of your child to be of them attached to tubes and wires? Don't let drugs declare war on your children - get "Sorted"!
- by Lee Kerr who was currently a pupil at Dumfries High School (May 96)
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