FIRST-year high-school classrooms have become a battleground in Burnley's war on drugs.

Today's streetwise kids are being taught about ecstasy, cannabis and amphetamines as police try to prepare them for the harsh realities of growing up in 90s Britain.

In the first operation of its kind, specially trained officers have begun series of visits to every year-seven class in Burnley and Padiham.

Experts say that 11-year-olds probably know more about drugs than their parents. Many youngsters know someone who takes drugs, and their conversations often turn to the subject of mind-bending substances.

But children's knowledge is limited, which can be dangerous, so police have teamed up with health workers and schools to make pupils better informed.

"I have been surprised at just how much pupils know," said WPC Pat Brown, schools liaison officer for Burnley. "But they only have some of the facts.

"If we can start informing all children when they start secondary school, then we can make sure they have the knowledge to make the right decisions in future."

PC Ken Inckle, also helping with the scheme, said: "In five years, every high-school pupil will have had a course on drug education.

"The drug problem is growing. A few years ago, if a policeman gave a drugs talk at a school, then people would think the school had a problem. That is not the case now. Schools invite us to go in."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.