CHAMPIONS OF THE JUNKIES

TV FATHER BELIEVES ECSTASY SHOULD BE MADE LEGAL

THE PRIEST

AN outspoken Catholic priest is to call on national TV for the
decriminalisation of Ecstasy.

Father Bob Gardner claims that it is worse for young people to get a
criminal record for drug taking than the effects of the drug itself.

But last night even his own church blasted his views which are sure to
anger and astonish many Catholics.

Father Gardner, who insists he is anti-drugs himself, is a member of
the Children's Panel in Scotland and runs a youth centre in Glasgow's
giant Easterhouse housing estate, where he witnessed the ravaging
effects of drugs on young people for himself.

He said: "We are criminalising so many young people, kids who have
done nothing more than smoke a couple of joints, and I can't stomach
that.

"If they get caught by the wrong group of police, they can end up with
a criminal record and no employer will look at them then."

Father Gardner, who has lived in Easterhouse since 1990, said: "My
position is decriminalise cannabis and Ecstasy, but say to young
people: 'Don't take drugs, be they legal or not.'

"You have to give people the facts and let them make up their own
minds." Father Gardner admitted parents of children who had died
after taking Ecstasy would find it difficult to understand his views.

But he insisted: "Working in Easterhouse, I am aware of what drugs do
to people. I'm against drug taking.

"I'm not saying cannabis is safe, but it may not be any more dangerous
than over-indulgence in alcohol."

Father Gardner, a priest at St Benedict's Church in Easterhouse, was
speaking before the launch of Channel 4's controversial Citizens'
Commission on Drugs. The priest was one of eight people chosen from
all walks of life to investigate drug use and addiction in the UK.

Channel 4 says it's the commission the Government did not
want.

After a four-month study, the commission, which included a magistrate
and a leading businessman, backed the decriminalisation of the
possession of Ecstasy and cannabis. They want to see our cities become
like Amsterdam, where soft drugs can be bought over the counter.

Father Gardner, 38, runs the Bosco Juniors youth club he set up six
years ago to help keep children out of trouble. The club whose members
range from eight to 18 years old, has a no smoking, drinking and drugs
policy.

He is no stranger to controversy. The Englishman is a Rangers fan
whose strong anti-sectarian stance has helped break down religious
barriers at the Bosco club.

Father Tom Connelly, spokesman for the Catholic Church in Scotland,
was stunned by the TV commission's recommendations, saying they could
backfire badly.

He said: "Decriminalisation is the soft option. What parent would
allow their child to find out for themselves that sticking their hand
in a fire is dangerous? No one would, so why the heck do it with
dangerous things like drugs?

"We should have the guts to be unpopular with children by telling them
drugs are not good for them."

The commission suggested licensed vendors should be able to sell
cannabis in small quantities to adults only, with a health warning
similar to that given on cigarette packets.

It described cannabis as relatively safe and non-addictive.

Other controversial suggestions included a fast track treatment system
for addicts convicted of drug-related crime, more drug prevention
projects and policies to stop drug addicts resorting to crime to feed
their habit.

PROFESSOR SAYS THAT HEROIN USE SHOULDN'T BE OFFENCE

THE PM ADVISER

A psychology professor who advises the Government on drugs sparked
outrage yesterday by calling for legalised heroin to be sold over the
counter.

Professor John Davies also said junkies should be allowed to kill
themselves with drugs.

Last night the Scottish Office, police, fellow academics, student
leaders, the church and anti-drugs campaigners furiously condemned his
remarks.

Speaking at a Stirling conference on drug substitutes organised by the
Scottish Drugs Forum, Prof Davies said:

"If somebody has a desire to kill themselves through drug use,
provided it doesn't interfere with anybody else's liberty I don't see
why they shouldn't be allowed to do so."

The Strathclyde University professor called for ALL drugs to be
legalised. He wants heroin to be sold in shops to avoid addicts
overdosing on pure batches of the drug.

He said: "People appear in court and say they can't help the crime
because they are drug addicts.

"The law should be changed. I think a lot of these things are a direct
consequence of the fact that drugs are illegal."

Later he added: "If heroin was available over the counter, the
argument goes that you would reduce harm because the heroin would be
marketed over the counter in a standardised form. People would know
what they are getting.

"At the moment, when a batch of good-quality heroin hits the streets
of Glasgow, people start overdosing.

"The hope would be that in exchange for a probable increase in overall
prevalence there would be a decrease in problematic addictive use, so
as with alcohol you'd get a lot of people using it and a relatively
small percentage getting in a knot with it.

"At the moment, that's not the case and a lot of people who start to
use heroin end up getting in a mess with it.

"A first step towards it would be the law going in the direction of
decriminalisation, not just for cannabis but for other drugs including
heroin and cocaine.

"Regardless of how radical it sounds, it's common knowledge among
people who work in drug agencies that a drug problem has three
components - the pharmacology of the drug, the aims and goals of the
user and the setting in which they use it. If you've got a lousy
lifestyle and you're living in a deprived inner-city area, heroin use
is likely to be as good as it gets for you, so it is going to be
harder to control.

"On the other hand, if you come from a more privileged part of the
world and there's other goals you can achieve, you're less likely to
get in a jam with it."

Strathclyde University said Prof Davies was entitled to express his
opinion - but student association president Paul Thomson said: "Drugs
are illegal and any call to legalise them should not be made by people
who are in a position to influence the young."

The Scottish Office said: "Legalisation of heroin or indeed any other
drug forms no part of the Government's policies.

"We would strongly reject what Professor Davies is saying. Calls like
this send entirely the wrong message to young people and can cause
harm."

George Hall, director of Scotland Against Drugs, said: "Professor
Davies should come down from his academic ivory tower and live in the
real world.

"Entire communities are being destroyed by today's drugs culture. He
is clearly at odds with every reasonable and responsible person
battling to stop this menace from engulfing society."

Professor Neil McKegahey from the Centre for Drug Misuse at Glasgow
University said: "I respect the views although I disagree with them.
Legalis-ation or decriminalisation will not help although, having said
that, heavy-handed policing has not worked either."

Dr Charles Lind, medical director of the Ayrshire and Arran Community
Health Care Trust, admited that the debate between legality and
illegality was not "black and white", but he asked: "How would it
work? Would you get it in newsagents, in special shops, or would you
limit it only to certain hours as they regulate alcohol?"

Father Tom Connelly of the Catholic Church said: "This is a
dangerous path to go down and even suggesting it appears to be
condoning drug misuse."

David Bryce of Calton Athletic, which helps addicts to kick the heroin
habit, said: "How can a person coming up with rubbish like this be a
profesor in an academic institution? We have to stop appeasing the
addict - we don't have to assist in the genocide of young people."

The Scottish Police Federation said: "Initiatives by Scottish forces
and other groups have mobilised public opinion against drug misuse.
Something can be done about it within the present law."

THE ECSTASY VICTIM - I COULDN'T HAVE HAD NIGHT OUT WITHOUT DRUGS

KERRY Condron started off using cannabis. She quickly moved on to
Ecstasy - but that's where her problems really started.

Now, having kicked her addiction, the 20-year-old tours Scottish
schools with Glasgow-based group Calton Athletic to educate children
about the dangers of drugs.

Kerry, of Glasgow, began smoking cannabis aged just 11. By the time
she was 13 she was using amphetamines and Ecstasy.

But her tolerance for Ecstasy grew and the drug wasn't enough to give
her a buzz any more.

Kerry found she needed something more to satisfy her cravings so she
started taking sleeping tablets and temazepam as well.

She said: "When you've used drugs a while it becomes easy to justify
using more.

"We all start off thinking of ourselves as recreational users, but
habitual use quickly became a problem with me. I wouldn't go out to a
nightclub or out with my friends without using drugs."

By the time Kerry was 14 she was on heroin.

But she added: "Any time I tried to stop using heroin, I went back to
Ecstasy, which caused me so much psychological damage.

"I was getting paranoid and the come-down was lasting days. I sank
lower than I thought I could go.

"I was stealing and I was lying to my family."

Finally her mother threw her out of her home. Kerry said: "It was
only when she gave me one last chance that I discovered Calton
Athletic. It saved my life.

"The only way to free myself of drugs was to go through cold
turkey."

She added: "You and I could each take a half of the same Ecstasy
tablet.

"While you might have a good trip, I could die. Every-one reacts
differently to Ecstasy.

"People should be taking a hard attitude to drug use rather than
giving it a sense of respectability."

THE HEROIN VICTIM - THEY WOULD BE AS WELL HANDING ADDICTS A WOODEN BOX

THE Milne family have just one thing to say to Professor John Davies: "You
don't
know what you are talking about."

Ernest and Catherine Milne watched their son Ernest jnr become a
hopeless heroin addict who terrorised his neighbours in the pleasant
Mannofield suburb of Aberdeen.

Eventually his $3500-a-day habit led to him becoming the first addict
in Scotland to be electronically tagged by court order.

Ernest, 20, had already decided to break the habit that was killing
him, and with strong support from his parents, social worker and new
girlfriend he is rebuilding his life.

Teacher dad Ernest cannot understand why a leading academic would make
such a call as John Davies did yesterday.

The 48 year old said: "Unless you know a heroin addict or have one in
the family you don't really understand the stress it causes - it is
unbelievable.

"Legalising smack would be disastrous as the more an addict gets, the
more they want.

"They have got nothing in their head but heroin and have no other
outlook on life except where their next fix is coming from.

"If it was legalised all the Government would be saying is here is
your heroin, here is your needle and while we're at it we'll fix you
up for a wooden box .

"Our bairns are killing themselves with every jag they take - I can't
believe a professor has been saying that should be made legal."

Catherine had to watch her son turn from a healthy, strapping
17-year-old lad into a hopeless junkie weighing just nine stones.

She also watched him do "cold turkey' in jail. That experience gives
credibility
to her opinion of Professor Davies: "Is he daft?"

Catherine said: "Heroin is devastating. It wrecks families.

"It's not your son that you have to face, it it is somebody else that
you don't really know.

"They are not interested in anything other than heroin.

"What we have gone through with heroin is horrendous. It's not just us
- - I know many families who are suffering.

"I know families who have left Aberdeen to escape the
problem.

"It is extraordinary a professor could say this. He obviously has no
idea what heroin does to people."

Checked-by: Patrick Henry