DUTCH DRUG DEALING TEENS

Drug dealing is rife in most Dutch secondary schools

22 December 2005

AMSTERDAM-- Education Minister Maria van der Hoeven urged managers of secondary schools on Thursday to investigate the extent of drug dealing and drug use among their pupils. A discussion about the problem should follow, she said, and pupils who sell drugs should be reported to the police. "It remains the responsibility of the school to be alert. That demands continuous attention for the problem," the minister said.

Van der Hoeven issued her statement early on Thursday in reaction to a survey which indicates both hard and soft drugs are widely available in secondary schools in the Netherlands. In most cases the drugs are sold by pupils. Journalists working for online youth magazine 'Spunk' conducted a sample survey of 80 secondary schools. The researchers looked at the situation in at least two schools in every province in the Netherlands.

At a time when Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende has been expressing concern about allowing cannabis coffeeshops to operate in the vicinity of schools, the survey indicates the presence of student drug dealers in 89 percent of secondary schools. The magazine said 'grass' and 'hash' are available in 93 percent of the schools, and pupils in 61 percent of the schools can obtain Ecstasy on the school premises. Cocaine is on sale in 40 percent of the schools, and 'speed' (amphetamine) in 19 percent of the schools surveyed. LSD, the club drug GBH and magic mushrooms are other drugs often traded in schools.

The 'Spunk' survey covers both 'zarte' (black) and 'witte' (white) schools, terms used to indicate whether the majority of pupils come mainly from an immigrant or native Dutch background. Hard drugs, like cocaine and Ecstasy, are easier to get in the schools that teach the higher HAVO/VWO educational stream, the survey found.