USAGE of cannabis (marijuana) by students in primary and schools is worrying, says the National Substance Abuse Advisory Council acting chief executive officer Josua Naisele.
While giving a submission to the Standing Committee on Public Accounts last week, he said during counselling, students had also revealed that they had tried methamphetamine and cocaine.
“But the worrying thing now is marijuana (cannabis) cases that are coming up now,” Mr Naisele said.
“Secondary school and also the primary school students are in that, and we’ve received few cases for year eight students doing that.
“We only focus on the school; we are not really aware of what is happening outside of the school.”
He said they had not yet heard from any schools about students taking cocaine or meth on school property.
“According to the recorded cases that are coming to us, there is no case of cocaine, but cases of meth we have seen in our office referred for counselling.
“It’s not directly related to meth, but when we are doing counselling for marijuana, then in the course of counselling, they (students) reveal I’ve also tried that one, I’ve also tried this one.”
He said last year, they recorded about five such cases where students revealed they had tried meth and cocaine.
“The good thing is that they have not come to the stage of addiction.
“So, when they reveal, we try to help them as much as we can and guide them.
“But from school, there are no cases of meth being reported, and that is one good thing.”
Mr Naisele also highlighted that a lot of students were also facing mental health issues in school and they needed qualified counsellors to assist them.
“Doing drugs is a mental health issue, violence — it’s a mental health issue, self-harm — that’s a mental health issue.
“We need the people who are well qualified to address the students and help them recover from whatever they are going through.
“We need people who are properly trained to do that.
“Going forward, we will definitely take this up to the ministry, so that they can see this when they are promoting certain individuals to senior positions.”
