Taking drugs is no laughing matter. Certainly the head of Abbey School in Faversham, Kent, doesn't think it is. He has just made a name for himself by becoming the first state school head to introduce random drug testing of pupils.
Other schools, though, have demonstrated that although drug abuse could never be considered funny, humour can have a place in drugs education.
A growing number have asked Mike Gunn, a stand-up comic and former heroin addict, to come and talk about drug abuse.
A different viewpoint
Gunn believes he is able to get through to pupils because he takes a different approach and is not a teacher. "Since I've been going into schools and doing my talks, I've been surprised just how bad teachers are at discussing the problem with young people," he says.
"One of the reasons I get through to them is I tell jokes, and I'm not a teacher or a health worker, and I go on and say, 'do what you want'. I say, 'I did lots of drugs, and some of it was great, but I ended up here'. I tell them the truth."
An Ofsted report issued last week seems to give some backing to Gunn's views. The report,which looks at the way personal, social and health education (PSHE) is taught in secondary schools, criticised the way it is delivered by non-specialists, saying that lessons were twice as likely to be unsatisfactory as those taught by specialists.
It also supported the involvement of out-of-school organisations in the teaching of PSHE, which includes drugs education. The inspectors probably didn't have stand-up comics in mind, but there are more conventional alternatives.
An obvious partner is the local drug action team. Richard Wiles, the drug action team co-ordinator in Wandsworth, south London, says all teams would be expected to work in schools. One of the key aims is to prevent drug use through early intervention, and in Wandsworth this begins in primary school.
In Year 1, five-year-olds are taught about the dangers of medicines.
By Years 5 and 6 they are being taught about illegal drugs through an initiative known as Pride. Here the drug action team works with the school PSHE co-ordinator to deliver drugs education to combined groups of parents and pupils.
The idea is that this helps the parent to continue the education at home.
"Some parents have been surprised to discover how much their kids know," says Wiles.
A clear winner
One of the most successful projects for reducing drug use is Merton Youth Awareness, which operates across the south London borough. Nigel Eggleston, service manager, says that according to a study by the schools health education unit at Exeter University, drug use in Merton has remained stable since 2000, with 16 per cent of local 14- and 15-year-olds admitting to having taken drugs, compared with a national average of 21 per cent.
The Home Office-funded project delivers drugs education in schools, and also provides counselling for young people who teachers believe may be taking drugs. The teacher is not told whether their suspicions were confirmed, or what further actions have been taken.
Eggleston says the emphasis is firmly on listening to what young people have to say. "We are all good at giving advice, but nine times out of 10 it blows up in your face," he says. "We are not offering advice, we are getting them to expel emotion."
He adds that the project is not just about getting young people to give up drugs. "Look at harm reduction," he says. "For some people, they may not be in a place at that time where they are even thinking about giving up drugs."
Guidance from the Department for Education and Skills says that all schools should have policies on drug education and dealing with drug use. There is no requirement to work with outside organisations, although it is advised that school policy is developed with them, but it is easy to see why pupils might be more likely to listen to an expert or an ex-addict rather than their teacher.
Whatever approach is taken, it is clear that drugs education is best delivered in an open environment, something that charities such as DrugScope fear could be undermined by testing in schools.
