Children, 12, taking legal high drug meow meow on school bus
Children as young as 12 are turning up at school under the influence of a "legal high" drug, teachers and health workers have warned.
Teachers have reported a dramatic surge in the number of children showing signs of taking “meow meow” – or mephedrone – before attending lessons.
The drug, which is sold as fertilliser on the internet and can be bought for as little as £3, is believed to have similar effects to ecstasy.
Teachers towns and cities, including Brighton, Durham, Harrogate and York, are now being given emergency training in spotting signs of the drug.
The dangers of “meow meow” and other legal highs is also being added to lessons in personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE) in some areas.
The move comes just months after the drug was linked to the death of schoolgirl Gabrielle Price in Worthing, West Sussex. The 14-year-old suffered a cardiac arrest and died in hospital after taking a suspected cocktail of drugs including mephedrone.
This week, a teenager is also believed to have died at a house party after experimenting with the drug for the first time. The body of the 18-year-old was found at a flat in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, on Tuesday.
In Brighton, it was reported that children as young as 12 and 13 are taking the drug on school buses.
Sam Beal, healthy schools team leader for Brighton City Council, told the Times Educational Supplement that increasing numbers of pupils “started using ‘meow meow’ at the end of last summer and we have big concerns about this”.
“Teachers hear about this more and more and they are concerned that the drugs are being brought into schools,” he said.
Sgt Geoff Crocker, from North Yorkshire Police, based in Harrogate, said: “It’s easily available and cheap and we’ve seen enterprising pupils start selling it in school.”
Darren Archer, manager of the County Durham drugs and alcohol action team, told the TES: “We’ve mostly seen it as part of a risk-taking culture among young people, particularly in colleges.”
The drug, which is sold as fertilliser on the internet and can be bought for as little as £3, is believed to have similar effects to ecstasy.
Teachers towns and cities, including Brighton, Durham, Harrogate and York, are now being given emergency training in spotting signs of the drug.
The dangers of “meow meow” and other legal highs is also being added to lessons in personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE) in some areas.
The move comes just months after the drug was linked to the death of schoolgirl Gabrielle Price in Worthing, West Sussex. The 14-year-old suffered a cardiac arrest and died in hospital after taking a suspected cocktail of drugs including mephedrone.
This week, a teenager is also believed to have died at a house party after experimenting with the drug for the first time. The body of the 18-year-old was found at a flat in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, on Tuesday.
In Brighton, it was reported that children as young as 12 and 13 are taking the drug on school buses.
Sam Beal, healthy schools team leader for Brighton City Council, told the Times Educational Supplement that increasing numbers of pupils “started using ‘meow meow’ at the end of last summer and we have big concerns about this”.
“Teachers hear about this more and more and they are concerned that the drugs are being brought into schools,” he said.
Sgt Geoff Crocker, from North Yorkshire Police, based in Harrogate, said: “It’s easily available and cheap and we’ve seen enterprising pupils start selling it in school.”
Darren Archer, manager of the County Durham drugs and alcohol action team, told the TES: “We’ve mostly seen it as part of a risk-taking culture among young people, particularly in colleges.”
H/T Times
Stick to the weed kids...
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