North Wales Police Support Coleg Cambria in Zero Tolerance Drugs Initiative

Coleg Cambria and North Wales Police have been working closely together to drive home the message of zero tolerance of drugs/substance misuse to students.

As part of a range of proactive college initiatives to raise awareness of and help to combat drug, alcohol and substance misuse, North Wales Police carried out a drugs detection operation at Coleg Cambria Northop on Tuesday 22nd October.

Although over 200 students were involved in these latest checks, no students were found in possession of drugs; neither did a search of part of the premises provide evidence of illegal substances.

Coleg Cambria Director of Curriculum Land Based and Independent Living Skills, Vivienne Martin said:

“Coleg Cambria, like every other college and schools in the country, will probably have a small percentage of students who choose to take drugs. Whilst we know that this issue is not a significant problem at our sites, we are seriously committed to ensuring that the College is a safe place for students and staff. We set very high standards in everything that we do at the College, and this applies equally to drugs issues.

“Coleg Cambria has a zero tolerance policy towards drug, alcohol and substance misuse on all our sites and we are proactively working with a range of agencies including North Wales Police, support charities and the local Health Board to combat these problems. Our strict disciplinary procedures and close links with the Police ensure that quick, effective action is taken if anyone is involved in the taking or supplying of drugs. As part of this policy we have carried out a procedure with Wagtails which was planned to cause minimum disruption to the learning process and to cause minimal disquiet to the learners. This was carried out very successfully.”

“We are also involved in a range of initiatives to ensure that every action possible is taken to discourage students from misusing drugs. We offer a range of support and counselling services, with referral to relevant external agencies, as appropriate. “