LAST THING YOUNG PEOPLE NEED IS DRUG DEBATE

I READ with interest Professor McKeganey's article, Random testing of
teenagers would inform drugs debate (September 20). More "debate on
drugs" is the last thing Scotland's young people need. Whenever the
spectre of drugs rears its head in Scotland there seems to be an
abundance of experts ready to wax lyrical on rising addiction rates,
the increased number of schoolchildren taking "drugs" or some other
worrying trend relating to "drug" use.

As yet I have seen no rational discussion on the reasons why people
choose to experiment with drugs in the first place. Perhaps they have
nothing else to do with their time, since young people have become
increasingly marginalised in today's society -- note the recent
curfew proposal in Dennistoun.

Note the lack of impetus shown by government in providing funding for
outdoor activity centres, subsidised (ie, free) entry to sports
facilities and the like. Such schemes (for the most part) rely on
lottery funding, charitable donations, etc, while our taxes go to
housing the ne'er-do-wells on the Royal Mile.

Give the kids something to do rather than leaving them searching for
something to kill the boredom, then reacting with shock, horror and
drug testing in schools when they fill the gap with drugs. Other
people seek escape from their otherwise intolerable living conditions
and overwhelming sense of hopelessness -- it's no accident that the
highest numbers of opiate addicts live in areas with the highest
levels of unemployment and poverty.

If Neil McKeganey wants to stop young people taking drugs, may I
suggest that he dispenses with "debate", "meaningful debate" or what
may also be described as "general wasting of time and money"?

Why can't Scotland stop looking the other way at the mention of drugs
and tackle the social problems and lack of investment in our young
people that are the root cause?

Alex McKechan, Saltcoats