Young people need to be able to make informed choices about their lives and giving them factual and accurate information from a reliable source is vital. The Know the Score campaign continues to offer reliable and non judgemental advice via our helpline and website and we continue to support Choices for Life which has seen over 250 000 primary 7 pupils experience the programme which helps them be positive and resist negative peer pressure.
Curriculum for Excellence outlines a more holistic health and wellbeing agenda which places substance misuse education within the physical wellbeing subsection. Schools have a big role to play in educating young people about substance misuse, but they cannot do it on their own. There is a wide range of cultural and environmental factors that contribute to young people's involvement with drugs. Parents, and others in the wider community such as youth workers, have a role to play in educating children and young people about drugs. In addition, young people can and do educate one another, increasingly exchanging information through the use of social networking websites.
We recognise the role of young people in developing and improving substance misuse education and we have commissioned Young Scot to develop the capacity of substance misuse peer educators across Scotland. We believe using the peer networks of young people can have a significant impact on substance misuse education. Young Scot will use their expertise and significant role in the youth sector to develop the capacity of peer educators in Scotland. This project will establish Youth Investigation Teams which will represent the diversity of young Scots. They will work over the summer months before coming together to present their findings and recommendations to the Minister for Community Safety, at a national discussion day in late 2010.
The key is educating Scots about the risk and harms of drug misuse in a way that is relevant and meaningful to them. Our drug prevention campaign, 'Know the Score', has been both successful and innovative in ensuring that people are aware of and understand the risks and dangers of drugs by presenting them in a factual, non-glamorising and credible way. The latest 'Know the Score' campaign, launched in January 2010, aimed at 16 - 22 year olds and focused on the dangers and risks associated with cocaine. It aimed to dispel the myth that cocaine is a 'safe party drug' using a cinema ad, alongside considerable on-line support as well as outdoor media.
While we continue to provide information on drugs via our 'Know the Score' helpline and website we recognised the need for gathering expert advice on emerging drug trends sometimes known as 'legal highs'. That is why we have commissioned the drug service Crew 2000 to develop a training resource to be made available to all Alcohol and Drug Partnerships and youth and community organisations. The training and resources will focus on raising awareness about the harms of using so called 'legal highs' and will be kept up to date using on-line networks, enabling drug and youth workers to keep pace with the fast changing substance misuse field.