Drugs and Substance Misuse

Substances are defined as any substances, whether restricted or prohibited, which may have a harmful effect upon a child, such as:

alcohol, cigarettes, tobacco, aerosols, gas, glue, magic mushrooms (amanita), petrol, solvents and all controlled substances such as nitrous oxide, amphetamines, barbiturates, cannabis, cocaine, hallucinogens, hashish and heroin.

It also includes psychoactive substances which can cause a very similar range of problems to the drugs which they mimic, including a risk of dependence developing with repeated use. Some appear to be more dangerous even than the traditional drugs they mimic.

For procedures regarding smoking and alcohol, see Smoking and Alcohol Procedure.

See: Frank - new psychoactive substances and Frank – Drugs A-Z.

See also: Frank Drugs and the Law.

The manager of each home must ensure that information, guidance and advice on the risks associated with harmful drugs and substances are available to all children in the home.

Additionally, any child known or suspected to be at participating in drug or substances misuse activities must be provided with the following:

• Targeted relevant information, guidance and advice to help reduce or prevent such risks;
• A Strategy for managing the risk, outlined in an Individual Crisis Management Plan.

The strategy should state whether, and in what circumstances, the Police will be notified.

If it suspected that a child is misusing controlled or harmful drugs or substances and no Strategy exists to reduce or prevent the behaviour, the Manager of the home and relevant social worker(s) should be contacted and an agreement reached on how to proceed; this will include whether the Police will be notified.

If there are immediate risks, which make it impractical to contact the manager or social worker, staff should take what actions are immediately necessary then inform the manager and social worker(s) at the first opportunity.

The actions that staff take will be dependent on the circumstances and the degree of offence or injury that is likely, but staff must be mindful of the following:

1. The overall responsibility of staff is to protect children, themselves and others from injury and reduce or prevent the likelihood of criminal offences;
2. If there is a risk of serious harm, injury or of a serious criminal offence and staff are unable to manage safely, the Police should be notified;
3. If solvents are involved, allow air to circulate freely and extinguish naked lights;
4. If any person is unconscious, in a fit or convulsing or otherwise seriously ill, emergency first aid should be given and an ambulance requested. The emergency services should be informed that there are suspicions of drug or solvent misuse;
5. The drugs/substances should be removed or confiscated, preferably with the co-operation of the child(ren), and preferably by two staff who must record their actions, describing what they have obtained and where it has been safely stored;
6. If children do not co-operate or there is a risk of Injury or Damage to Property, it may be necessary to use Physical Intervention, conduct a Search or call for Police assistance.

See the following additional chapters:

• Use of Restraint and Physical Intervention Procedure;
• Searching Children/Bedrooms Procedure;
• Offending and Anti-Social Behaviour – Guidance on when to Involve the Police.

No further action, beyond making the situation safe and attempting to confiscate harmful drugs or substances, should be taken without a manager's authorisation, preferably in consultation with the relevant social worker.

However, the staff should undertake the following if a manager is not available within a reasonable timescale:

• Legal but potentially harmful substances such as cigarettes, alcohol, aerosols, gas, glue, and petrol should then be put in a safe place out of the reach of children or disposed of safely;
• Controlled substances and any associated materials or paraphernalia must be placed in a clearly marked box or other strong container, sealed and given to the manager who must arrange for it to be taken to a competent authority e.g. Pharmacist or doctor; and a receipt obtained.

When safe to do so, the manager and relevant social workers should be notified and a decision reached on the actions/measures, which should be taken. This should include whether the Police should be notified.