Drug awareness line received 60,000 texts in three months

A NEW drug awareness textline has received more than 60,000 messages from young people looking for more information about drugs.

Crosscare’s Drug Awareness Programme (DAP) launched the confidential SMS text service on April 1 with the aim of providing young people with basic facts on drugs which they hope will help them make informed choices regarding their own individual use.

The service, the first of its kind, is totally free and DAP guarantees confidentiality. The person texts the name of the drug to 50100 and the service will then send back specific information on that type of drug as well as the ways it affects people.