Crack ‘not addictive’, says Executive-backed drugs lessons

As the crack problem spirals out of control, the Scottish Executive has recommended drugs lessons which say that crack cocaine is not necessarily addictive to first-time or occasional users. The Executive has recommended a teaching pack which also includes lessons which suggest that children role play being a drug dealer. They also cover tips on how to react when confronted by the police over drugs possession and include quizzes covering whether smoking heroin is safer than injection or whether sniffing glue is worse than gas. Young people are asked to predict their future drug careers and asked to write down dares on a card such as “drink half a bottle of spirits in half and hour”.

The lessons appear in a teaching pack called Taking Drugs Seriously which has been officially recommended by the Scottish Executive and Learning and Teaching Scotland in the official Teachers’ Handbook for Health Education 5-14. The Westminster Government has today (Monday) warned that the problem of crack addiction is spiralling out of control. Anti-drugs minister, Bob Ainsworth, says crack is in many ways the most difficult drug to deal with because the levels of addiction are so high.

The drugs pack is currently the subject of an investigation by the Scottish Parliament’s Education Committee which has been looking at a raft of controversial health education materials recommended by the Executive for health education. The pack, Taking Drugs Seriously, is produced by the controversial Liverpool-based group Healthwise. The same group is running the Executive’s Know the Score drugs helpline.

Mike Judge, Spokesman for the Christian Institute (Scotland) said today:

“The Government has warned that the problem of crack cocaine is spiralling out of control. The levels of addiction for crack are high. I am therefore particularly concerned that the Executive is officially recommending a pack which teaches children that crack, one of the most addictive substances known to man, is not necessarily addictive to first-time or occasional users. This is a wholly irresponsible message to be giving out to children. We should be encouraging children to see the real dangers and tragedies of crack and other drugs. There are also many other lessons in this pack which gives me cause for concern. The Executive must withdraw their recommendation of this harmful teaching pack. Better still, they should ban the pack from Scottish schools.”