WESTMINSTER DIARY - COMMENT FROM TAM DALYELL

PHILIP COHEN'S article on "antibody therapies" to treat drug
addiction, or "vice vaccines" as they are sometimes called (10 June, p
22), interested me greatly. In a nutshell, the idea is that it should
be possible to vaccinate people against addictive chemicals. I asked
Mo Mowlam what the government's attitude is to such a strategy. As
minister for the Cabinet Office she has special responsibility for
Britain's anti-drugs policy.

Mowlam replied that at the moment antibody therapies are only a
fascinating area of pure research and much needs to be done before we
know their effectiveness. In particular, there are clinical questions
to consider. For example, what effect would opiate antibody therapy
have on legitimate painkiller drugs? All this is work for the National
Institute for Clinical Excellence to consider, she said.

The minister agreed that prevention is often better than cure.
Accordingly, one of the key aims of the government's anti-drugs policy
is to help young people to resist drug misuse in the first place. The
education service has a responsibility to ensure that youngsters
understand the risks of taking drugs, and that they have the knowledge
and skills to resist them. Drug education is a statutory part of
Britain's National Curriculum, and must also cover alcohol and tobacco
use. In addition, said the minister, the government supports a
programme to encourage doctors and other healthcare professionals to
help teachers communicate the dangers of substance abuse to young people.

Public opinion demands that every possible avenue be explored in
tackling this very worrying problem.

WITH many of my fellow MPs admitting their student-day experiences
with narcotic drugs, 1 feel 1 must relate my own recent brush with
one. Betty Boothroyd, as Speaker of the House of Commons, had chosen
me to lead a five-day parliamentary delegation to Bolivia.
Unfortunately, 1 suffered grievously from altitude sickness the night
after we touched down at La Paz airport, some 4000 metres up in the
Andes.

At 2 am 1 began to feel like death warmed up, so much so that 1
scribbled a note to my MP colleagues telling them what to say to my
wife and what to do with my body-give it to a Bolivian university
medical school, 1 wrote, rather than the British university for which
it is currently earmarked.

Then, hardly able to breathe, and desperately wanting to be sick but
not able to, 1 staggered down to the hotel lobby. 1 thrust the
International PhoneMedical Assistance Card that the
Inter-Parliamentary Union had given me as group leader into the hands
of the elderly receptionist. He inspected it, smiled and then
pretended to phone the International Medical Advice Centre. In fact,
he sensibly phoned a local doctor, who asked to speak to me. The
doctor reassured me that I was not about to expire. "if you still need
me in an hour's time, I will be round," he added. "But first drink a
teapotful of coca-leaf tea that the hotel will give you, and take two
aspirins." Obediently, I agreed. The receptionist quickly produced the
tea, and said solemnly, "If it was good enough for the Great Inca when
he came to the High Andes, it is good enough for you.'

It was. I was able to cope with the heavy programme that faced us,
including the drug museum in the Chapare, the main drug-producing
area. Whatever awful extracts are made from the coca plant, I have to
say, "Thank you medicinal coca leaf.'