Pubdate: Tue, 07 Sep 1999 Source: Reuters Copyright: 1999 Reuters Limited. SCHOOL DRUG POLICIES COULD HARM ASTHMATICS- REPORT CHICAGO - Anti-drug policies at many U.S. schools could prevent students who suffer asthmatic attacks from reaching their inhalers quickly, researchers said Tuesday. "Too often in California we're seeing situations in which an asthmatic child's inhaler is locked up in a drawer in the school office -- and the key to that drawer is with the vice principal, who isn't even in the building that day," said Michael Welch, a San Diego physician on the allergy and immunology panel of the American Academy of Pediatrics. He was quoted in an article on the subject published in the September issue of the AAP News, the group's news magazine. "As pediatricians, we need to advocate for schoolchildren on this issue," he added. "Almost no one dies of inhaler abuse; they die because they're having a severe asthma attack and they're not being treated." The article said there are an estimated four million students in the United States with asthma. It said many schools have a zero-tolerance policy that bans the carrying of any drugs. The article suggested that doctors should write letters on behalf of their patients to schools with strict anti-drug policies seeking permission for them to carry medicine. The inhalers contain bronchdilators such as albuterol which relax the lungs. - --- MAP posted-by: Derek Rea