Marist Brothers High School students pledge to say no to drugs

Students of Marist Brothers High School today pledged to say no to drugs after hearing and seeing stories of the unimaginable things teenagers have done to themselves due to methamphetamine and ecstasy addiction.

The drug awareness session which was conducted by Special Agent Billy Lewis of the US Embassy Regional Security Office also got parents to share their experiences with the students.

One parent talked about how she was helping a 16-year-old deal with his addiction to methamphetamine.

Special Agent Lewis also told students about the gruesome stories of what people that have been addicted to drugs like meth and ecstasy go through. 

1,634 cases of drugs and substance abuse in schools was recorded by the National Substance Abuse and Advisory Council last year.

There were 417 cases recorded in primary schools while 1,217 cases were recorded in secondary schools.

The National Substance Abuse and Advisory Council says the most number of cases were from schools in Suva which was 434 cases.

738 of the cases involved students smoking cigarettes, 301 of the cases involved students sniffing glue while there were 118 cases of students smoking marijuana.

There were 11 cases of secondary school students dealing drugs in schools.

The data in the International Day Against Drugs Abuse and Illicit Trafficking Booklet was gathered through evaluation forms submitted by 796 primary and secondary schools in Fiji.

The submission rate was 87.5 percent.