AGENCY CALLS FOR UKP45M TO FIGHT DRUGS

A LEADING Scottish drugs agency will deliver a damning report to parliament
today, condemning the executive for failing to invest in the treatment and
care of the country's 30,000 addicts.

Dave Liddell, the director of the Scottish Drugs Forum, is calling for a
tripling of resources and claims only a tiny proportion of the drugs budget
is being directed to the right areas.

The forum, which conducted a wide-ranging inquiry into drug misuse and
deprived communities, is urging the executive to increase its expenditure on
drug treatment from UKP15 million to UKP45 million by 2005.

"The target is to double expenditure within the lifetime of this
parliament," the report states. "We recommend that a target is set to
increase expenditure on treatment, care and rehabilitation to three times
the existing expenditure on specialist drug services.

"Only with such a radical investment programme will we start to see an
impact on the 30,000 people in Scotland currently with a drug problem."

The report, to be delivered to the social inclusion committee, says the vast
majority of resources are spent on law enforcement and the targeting of
dealers, rather than treatment centres and rehabilitation.

Mr Liddell said: "We want to see a shift in resources away from drug
enforcement measures to treating these vulnerable people and giving them the
rehabilitation they need."

Controversially, the report calls for drugs issues to be dealt with by the
social inclusion division of the executive, rather than the justice
department. It also questions the efficiency of drug enforcement measures.

"Problematic drug use first and foremost is a social problem with legal and
medical consequences," states the report.

"With this in mind, the lead role within the Scottish executive should be
placed squarely in the social inclusion division, rather than in the justice
department as at present."

The executive continues to face fierce criticism over its drugs policy, and
the report presents an embarrassing snub to the recently formed Scottish
Drug Enforcement Agency.

Jim Orr, an assistant chief constable of Strathclyde Police, became the
first director of the SDEA in February.

One well-placed source suggested senior politicians such as Wendy Alexander,
the communities minister, and her deputy, Jackie Baillie, are keen to remove
the drugs brief from the justice department into the sphere of social
inclusion.

He said: "Jackie Baillie would be keen to take on that role, but it's a very
sensitive issue because so much money has been put into the Drug Enforcement
Agency."

Fiona Hyslop, the SNP's deputy convener of the social inclusion committee,
said: "The SDEA has presented itself as a cure-all when in fact it is only
one part in the bigger jigsaw.

"MSPs want to emphasise treatment and rehabilitation, but whether the
executive will take heed is questionable."

The forum is also calling for a minimum level of service across Scotland
because the availability of drug treatment centres varies from region to
region.

"There are parts of Scotland, particularly Fife, the Forth Valley and
Grampian, where services are extremely thin on the ground," said Mr Liddell.