FAILED DRUG SERVICE 'RISKS LIVES OF YOUNG'

'Young people are going to experiment with drugs. All we can do is inform
them of the dangers - There has never been a successful Just Say No
campaign.' Mike Cadger

YOUNG people are risking their lives because Scotland's drug services are
failing to provide adequate information, a drugs conference was told
yesterday.

The service is outdated and is failing to address the problem of the rising
number of youths taking recreational drugs such as ecstasy andamphetamines,
delegates at the one-day seminar at Stirling Royal Infirmary heard.

Mike Cadger, the co-ordinator of Edinburgh's Crew 2000, said that drug
taking was an integral part of youth culture and drug services should
provide information rather than simply condemn them.

He told the conference, organised by the Scottish Drugs Forum, an umbrella
organisation for the country's drugs organisations, that this type of
objective information service should be more readily available all across
Scotland.

He was supported by Natalle Morel, of the Blast Recreation Drug Project, in
Inverness. She said more education was needed and claimed that young people
ignored the Scottish Office's anti-drugs campaigns because they were too
dull.

Mr Cadger said the Scottish Office strategy was more concerned with harm
reduction programmes, such as giving methadone to heroin addicts, than with
providing information to prevent young people from developing drug problems.

He told the seminar, Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Youth?: "Specialist
services like ours should be adopted more generally across Scotland. We
neither commend drugs nor condone drugs. We offer young people information
on drugsso they can make informed choices.

"For example, if someone wants to take ecstasy, we tell them they are more
at risk if they have a heart problem or kidney condition.

"Young people are going to experiment with drugs anyway. All we can do is
inform them of the dangers so they will do less harm to themselves.

"There has never been a successful Just Say No campaign. It is time the
Government grasped the nettle."

He said a recent survey conducted by his group found eight out of ten people
had used drugs and seven out of ten had taken them in the past year.

He claimed that anti-drug programmes in schools were not working because
teachers were seen as authority figures connected to law enforcement.

Ms Morel said: "Young folk are not taking any notice [of the anti-drug
campaigns] because they are so dull. Teenagers are sophisticated customers -
just look at the way computer games are advertised.

"There are rehabilitation programmes which give out methadone but nothing to
educate young people before it gets to that stage.

"Young people are potentially damaging their health both mentally and
physically because they don't know enough about drugs."

Donna Main, the Scottish Drug Forum's national development officer, said the
conference, which was attended by 100 delegates ranging from youth groups to
drug agencies and the police, was aimed at finding a common strategy to
tackle drug misuse.

"Today's services were set up in the Eighties when the main problem was
heroin injecting amongst white male addicts," she said. "Although there is a
need for these services, there is now a new group of young recreational drug
users who are not being catered for."

The Scottish Office denied its approach was out of date. A spokeswoman
pointed out that the latest strategy, which was launched in March, was based
on widespread consultation and was supported by the Scottish Drugs Forum.

"The strategy establishes a new framework of co-operation across agencies
and communities in the implementation of a programme of comprehensive action
across Scotland.

"Young people are very much seen as part of the national partnership."

Alistair Ramsay, the director of the Government-backed Scotland Against
Drugs campaign, said Mr Cadger was wrong to assume that drug-taking was the
norm among young people. Agencies had to give a clear message that
drug-taking was wrong.

Mr Ramsay, who was not at the conference, said: "Our message is absolutely
clear that young people should stop starting to take drugs. The message
built around the notion that they are all going to do it is quite profoundly
wrong.

"We have got to say taking drugs is not the norm and need to recognise that
if young people's subculture takes it on board that it is cool to take
drugs, we have to establish that it is not cool. I believe we have to have a
differential approach with drug prevention, drug education programmes
catered for a range of young people's needs."