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Wolf Creek receives A-Grade for tobacco and cannabis use policies

Sep 19, 2018 | 5:06 PM

An anti-tobacco advocacy group has released report cards on Alberta school district policies that address tobacco and cannabis use on school property with one local school district receiving high marks for their efforts.

Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) is urging school boards to approve effective drug policies prior to cannabis legalization on October 17.

ASH officials say school districts were evaluated in the areas of organization, smoke-free environment, enforcement, tobacco education and cessation and also youth possession.

Wolf Creek Public Schools was given an ‘A’ for their tobacco and cannabis use policies.

Red Deer Public Schools received a ‘C’ while both Chinook’s Edge School Division and Clearview Public Schools received a ‘D.’

Report cards for Red Deer Regional Catholic Schools and Wild Rose School Division were not included in the list of report cards released on Wednesday.

“A growing number of school boards are taking action to prevent the use of cannabis and tobacco on school grounds prior to cannabis legalization” ASH Executive Director Les Hagen said in a release. “October 17 is approaching quickly and we encourage all school boards to review their drug policies to ensure that best practices are being followed.  The ASH report cards will help guide the development of policies to prevent and reduce substance abuse among students and staff.” 

Hagen adds they specifically recommend that school districts prohibit the smoking and vaping of any substance on school property for maximum health impact.

“Children and youth should not be exposed to harmful drug use on school property and they should be offered effective drug prevention education in the classroom.”

ASH officials say eight school districts across the province received an ‘A’ on their report cards, including Wolf Creek, Calgary Roman Catholic Schools, Canadian Rockies School Division, Edmonton Catholic Schools, Evergreen Catholic Schools, Holy Spirit Roman Catholic Separate Schools, Medicine Hat Catholic Separate Schools and St. Paul Educational Regional Division. 

No school district with a smoking policy received an “F”.

“The ASH report cards reflect best-practices to prevent and reduce tobacco and cannabis use among students and staff,” continues Hagen. “ASH has been working pro-actively with school districts to develop effective tobacco and cannabis policies for the past two years.  These outreach activities have included workshops, presentations, consultations and the production and distribution of numerous resource materials.”

Hagen says ASH has presented to over 200 school trustees across Alberta since last November and their workshops have been well-received.

“ASH has created an online resource hub for school boards that contains a model smoking and vaping policy, a comparison table of school board policies across Alberta, a listing of effective prevention and cessation programs, drug survey results, and relevant fact sheets on tobacco and cannabis,” he explains. “As school boards know, report cards are an important measure of progress that are aimed at improving future performance.  We are releasing these report cards in good faith and we are very willing to work with any school district to help enhance their policies and programs.”

Hagen acknowledges that cannabis legalization is posing numerous challenges to school boards but concludes ASH is there to offer assistance and online resource materials for Alberta school boards.

According to ASH, tobacco is the most widespread and deadly form of substance abuse in Canada and is responsible for 48,000 deaths annually, claiming there are currently 25,000 school-aged youth tobacco users in Alberta.