WALLACE DENIES BEING SOFT ON DRUGS

SCOTLAND'S drugs policy must be "user-friendly", the Scottish Liberal
Democrats said yesterday. The emphasis had to be taken away from punishment
and switched to rehabilitation.

Jim Wallace, the Scottish Lib Dem leader, fired a broadside at the
Government's approach, saying it was based on soundbites, not solutions. A
nationwide string of rehabilitation centres should be created to keep drug
offenders out of prisons, he said.

However, Mr Wallace was accused of being soft on drugs by rival party
leaders, who have identified the issue as a key election battleground.

Mr Wallace said: "What is needed is a strategy to wean people off drugs and
thus rehabilitate them. The strategy we propose is not a soft one, but an
effective one. In short, it is a strategy that will deliver solutions, not
soundbites."

The Tories accused the Lib Dems of being "wishy-washy" on drugs. David
McLetchie, the Scottish Tory leader, said the proposals were "typical of the
soft soap approach which is confusing the issue".

The Conservatives have put forward the most draconian policies of all the
parties to deal with drugs. They appear so stringent that some commentators
believe they may fall foul of human rights law.

Henry McLeish, the Scottish home affairs minister, said the Government was
committed to getting tough on drugs. In its manifesto, Labour said it would
take drugs out of society by seizing the assets of suspected dealers before
any conviction.

The Scottish National Party has suggested a similar policy to the Lib Dems'.
It wants drugs courts to fast-track addicted offenders from prison to
better-funded drug treatment centres.

Mr Wallace said: "We strongly support tough action against convicted
dealers, but only new Labour could believe that you can tackle crime by
weakening justice. Banging a drug offender up in prison is like locking an
alcoholic up in a brewery. Our prisons are so riddled with drugs that prison
is the one place where you can be sure drug offenders will be unable to kick
their habit."

Mr Wallace said it costs UKP26,000 to send someone to prison, but UKP6,000
to treat an addict at a rehabilitation centre.

He met reformed drug addicts in Possilpark, Glasgow, yesterday who told him
that rehabilitation was the only realistic way to stamp out drug abuse.

Mr Wallace said: "We propose more drug treatment centres and increased
resources for counselling. Three out of four drug users at the moment say
they can't get the treatment they want.

"How can Henry McLeish say that he is tackling this problem effectively
when, in his own region of Fife, there are an estimated 4,000 drug users but
no effective treatment facilities?"

Mr Wallace repeatedly brushed off allegations that his party was being soft
on drugs. The Lib Dems are haunted by party conference debates where members
have called for the legalisation of cannabis.

He said: "Society is letting these people down and for the Tories to say we
are being softis almost not worth commenting on.

"The Tories have got theneedle stuck on the groove of their drugs record. In
18 years of power they singularly failed to do anything to tackle drug abuse
in Scotland. In fact, during that time the problem got increasingly worse.

"We need to look at far more effective means of combating drugs because we
are failing people who want to help themselves. Drugs is one of the first
issues the Scottish parliament should debate. All the parties have
subscribed to a parliament that has a strong cross-party committee
structure; here is an issue that is crying out for new solutions."

Mr Wallace met a drugs campaigner, Maxie Richards, who independently helps
drug users in Glasgow to kick the habit. Although she is standing for
election on an independent anti-drugs ticket, Ms Richards said she supported
Mr Wallace's approach to tackling the problem. She said: "For 15 years I
have been trying to get the Government to change the way it deals with drug
addiction. We need a change and we need to help people who want to kick
their addiction. Locking them in jail won't do that."