DRUG TSAR POLICY

The news that Oldham is to have its very own drug tsar from April is
an interesting development in drug policy. Even more interesting is
that this will be a political appointment, an existing councillor no
less.

So who will the drug tsar be? More importantly, who is to decide who
gets the job? I suggest that the tsar be directly elected by the
public of Oldham, possibly through the local area committees. This
would make the tsar more acountable to the people of Oldham and,
hopefully, more accurately reflecting the public's views on drug policy.

Certainly the last thing Oldham needs is an Anne Widdecombe style
zero-tolerance zealot in the post. We shall see.

GO DUTCH