'ENDING BINGE DRINKING HOLDS KEY TO SOLVING DRUG PROBLEM'

Delegates at the Acpos annual drugs conference this week will be
shown a DVD of boys in Polmont young offenders institute, describing
the natural transition for them from binge drinking to taking
cannabis and other drugs, including heroin and cocaine.

For many of them, this was the reason they ended up behind bars.

The progression of young people trying cannabis and then moving on to
harder drugs is a well-known argument against legalising cannabis but
Graeme Pearson, the head of the Scottish Crime and Drugs Enforcement
Agency (SCDEA), says it is time to tackle the problem much earlier,
from before the stage of underage binge drinking.

"Reducing binge drinking among 11 to 15-year-olds will decrease the
numbers who go on to be involved in drugs," he says, after speaking
to scores of offenders about their experiences.

To the people, including the advocate Donald Findlay, who have
recently called for cannabis to be decriminalised and regulated in
the same way as alcohol, he suggests looking at Scotland's worsening
public health record on drinking.

National statistics revealed last week that, despite having only 8.5%
of the UK population, Scotland has three-quarters of the worst 20
areas for drink-related fatalities.

Between 2004 and 2005, there were 3500 psychiatric discharges where
the main diagnosis was linked to alcohol. In the same period there
were 931 drug-related discharges.

"Why would we want drugs to be managed or licensed in the same way as
drink and see the problems more than triple?" he asks.

"I see the Scottish habit of abusing alcohol as being inextricably
tied into our experience of drug abuse at the user level. Evidence
from prisoners reinforces this view. The link to an alcohol strategy
will be critical. One without the other will not work."

There is growing concern not only about the increas-ing use and
cultivation of cannabis since it was reclassified, but about its strength.

According to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug
Addiction THC, the active ingredient in herbal cannabis, has doubled
in strength between 1995 and 2002.

Mr Pearson says educating young people about the dangers of
substances such as cannabis and using treatment to help people come
off drugs, is vital.

Sweden takes a hard line on alcohol and drugs misuse. It also has one
of the lowest prevalence of cannabis use in Europe.

Its policy of a "drug-free society" has brought the introduction of
new laws since the 1980s, calling for the prosecution of all drugs
cases, even the very minor. Those caught for possession can be
imprisoned for up to six months.

Mr Pearson said: "Sweden has taken a very hard line on drugs. But it
is still about a package of education, protection and enforcement.

"Scotland surprisingly accepted the challenge of public smoking and
proved it could accept the impossible. If we can change behaviour in
respect of smoking after 200 years of a love affair, we should surely
be capable of facing the challenge of alcohol and drugs."