DRUGS TSAR PRAISED

Sir: I was astonished by the criticisms of Keith
Hellawell in "This man is paid pounds 106,000 a year
to stop Britain's youth taking drugs. Is he worth
it?" (report, 26 May).

Keith Hellawell is the calm, determined voice of reality and common
sense in an over-hyped and hysterical area of public policy. He is
saying that prison does not work but treatment does; that if you go to
hospital with a broken leg you get immediate treatment but if you go
with heroin addiction you have to wait six months or longer for help,
and that cannot be right; that the police should concentrate on the
low-key disruption of visible drug markets. These are tough messages
for the agencies concerned to swallow.

Keith Hellawell has fashioned an anti-drug policy which might just
work. No national super-hero can solve the drugs problem
single-handed. To do so requires support and commitment of the
statutory agencies at local level.

P J Coppard,
Chair,
Barnsley Drug Action Team,
South Yorkshire