TOM O’BRIEN
Suspensions involving illicit and legal substances are on the rise in South East Queensland schools.
According to the data from the Queensland Department of Education, the number of suspensions for ‘misconduct involving illicit substances’ has increased over the past three years.
The reports breaks the data down into short term (1-10 days), long term (11-20) and exclusions, where are student is not allowed to return to school.
The statistics show there are over 300 students in each category.
According to the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, the most common substance used by students is cannibis.
The Gold Coast Region ranked first in number of incidents recorded, followed by Logan and then Brisbane, making South East schools the most drug affected in Queensland.
While illegal substances have seen a significant rise, suspensions for tobacco have decreased from 2014 to 2016 with suspensions down to 1600 from 2200.
The data shows a significant number of cases involving primary school students, with 34 incidents of students being suspended or excluded for drug offences.
Queensland Education Minister Kate Jones said schools were working with young people to address drug related suspensions.
Ms Jones said she believed the number of incidents was stabilising considering the increased number of students in the last few years.