It is sobering to hear the number of students who have been arrested for drug offences in the past three years (New anti-drug strategy to meet rising challenges; April 5).

It is frightening to think that if 350 students were caught, there could be many more out there who evaded detection.

It is time to acknowledge that the drug menace has reached our schools and that measures to combat it have to be stepped up.

Instead of leaving the problem solely to the authorities to tackle, schools should be more proactive and be allowed to carry out their own random urine tests on students.

This will allow schools to catch drug abusers in the early stage, and work with parents and the authorities to nip the problem in the bud.

Seah Yam Meng