DOPES HIGH ON SCHOOL RUN

DEADBEAT parents and relatives are picking up and dropping off school kids while high on drugs.

A Kelso man was allegedly busted with methamphetamines and cannabis in his system during primary school drop- off yesterday. On Tuesday, a young mother had a baby and child in her vehicle when she returned a positive reading for cannabis.

Police yesterday slammed drug- driving on school runs as particularly reckless and irresponsible.

The Kelso man, 50, was pulled over at Allambie Lane about 8.20am.

The mother, 28, was stopped at Cranbrook on Tuesday afternoon.

Townsville Road Policing Command officer- in- charge Senior Sergeant Brendan White said 76 drivers had returned positive tests for illegal substances between July 1 and July 28, with methamphetamines accounting for about 75 per cent of the detections.

“We detect cannabis mostly in older drivers and methamphetamines in the young driving demographic,” he said.

Townsville MP Scott Stewart, a former high school principal, said school zones were meant to keep kids safe.

“For a caregiver to be driving under the influence, well, that’s just crazy stuff,” he said.

“They are setting a really bad example for the children and I would hope every caregiver has a good think about their use of drugs and alcohol, and the impacts it has on their families and the community.”

Parents and Citizens Queensland chief executive Kevan Goodworth urged community members to report any dangerous driving behaviour in school zones.

“We have a duty to report it. It may save a life,” he said.

Dr Kevin Arlett, of Townsville and Suburban Medical Practice, said driving while on drugs was very dangerous.

“The meth and cannabis combination is unusual because methamphetamines are a stimulant and cannabis is a depressant, so they would likely be working against each other,” he said.

Townsville Rapid Action and Patrol’s Inspector Joe Kitching said all its officers were trained to conduct drug tests.

“It is not acceptable in our community and puts people at major risk of injury or death,” Insp Kitching said.

“It can take several days to get illicit substances out of your system, particularly amphetamines and ice, and drivers will be impaired for a much longer period of time.”

TOWNSVILLE anti- Muslim campaigner Kim Vuga is certainly a divisive character.

A well- known local activist and prominent in the Reclaim Australia movement, Ms Vuga’s appearance this week on SBS’s Go Back To Where You Came From has thrust her and her polarising views into the national spotlight.

Ms Vuga argues Australia should accept fewer Muslims, that multiculturalism has failed and Sharia law is “alive and well”.

She even says indigenous AFL star Adam Goodes is “un- Australian”.

Ms Vuga claims she has received overwhelming support from SBS viewers who share her views, so much so that she is now considering embarking on a political career.

It’s startlingly similar to the rise of Pauline Hanson and the One Nation party in the 1990s.

Just as Ms Hanson and One Nation did, antiMuslim and anti- multiculturalism views appeal to dark places in our hearts where we fear that which we do not understand.

With the continuing conflict in the Middle East and news of terror attacks from extremists who hate the Australian way of life, it is easy to slip into thoughts similar to Ms Vuga’s.

It is pleasing to see Ms Vuga has received messages criticising her views as well.

Australia was built on principles of inclusion and most people welcome migrants and embrace the positives in foreign cultures.

While Ms Vuga speaks from Townsville, we are certain most people in the city would reject any suggestion she speaks for Townsville.

Throw book at high parents HOW a parent could get high on drugs and drive their kids to school is mind- boggling.

The affect the drugs have on these people can’t be understated. These people need to wake up and realise when they get behind the wheel under the influence of drugs that they are taking a risk that could ruin lives.

Police are on to these idiots, setting up around schools to breathalyse and drug test them, catching them in the act and punishing them to the fullest extent of the law. It is sad that this is even an issue. The book should be thrown at these deadbeat parents and guardians who think their drug high is more important than the lives of kids trying to get an education.