A local mother is thanking her lucky stars that her nine year old son did not consume any of the estimated five grams of ice that he found in the St Joseph's Tamworth playground.
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The previous night a man was arrested outside the school and charged with drug offences, but has not been charged in relation to this incident.
The mother believes that having "a few open and honest conversations" around the issue of drugs might have saved his life.
"We watch shows on Netflix that have drugs in them, and whenever he asks a question I just answer it honestly," the mother said.
"I don't know a lot about drugs, but I do know that they ruin lives and kill people so I just tell him how it is.
"We were very lucky he knew it looked different."
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Since finding the container the student has been asking his parents "a lot of odd little questions about drugs", which has other parents wondering what age drug education should begin.
Tamworth Headspace manager and senior psychologist James Reilly said there is no golden answer to that question.
"Generally drug education should only start when the child has the ability to understand the concepts, impacts and consequences of drug use," he said.
"I think the incident at St Joseph's was such a random event that it does not warrant a campaign."
While Headspace start their drug education program at the age of 12, that is only for youth who have been referred to the service, however Dr Reilly would like to see a uniform statewide workshop taught in schools.
"The Life Education Program has been very successful in primary schools, but maybe we need to look at more versatile approaches as well," he said.
"Drugs are becoming more prevalent in regional areas, particularly harder drugs like ice and prescription drugs so perhaps a wider program or workshop could have an impact - education is the key."
