There have been 50 cases of reported or suspected drug abuse in state, church and independent schools during the present scholastic year. Education Minister Dolores Cristina said the ages of the people involved ranged from 14 to 16.

Action was taken in all cases by the Substance Abuse Policy Team as part of the Safe School Programme.

Mrs Cristina made it clear that although these cases had been referred by the schools, this did not mean that drugs were abused of in school.

There were no statistics of students aged 14 to 16 who smoked.

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