DRUGS CHIEF RESIGNS WITH ATTACK ON BLAIR

DAVID Macauley, the director of Scotland Against Drugs, has blamed his
decision to resign on a "lack of political will" on the part of senior
Government figures, including Tony Blair and Sam Galbraith, the Scottish
health minister.

Mr Macauley will tender his resignation from the UKP40,000-a-year post
today, claiming that he has had to fight a "confused message, if there is
one at all" on the drugs problem.

In a devastating broadside as he prepared to step down, Mr Macauley warned
of a funding crisis in drugs education as businesses begin to resent having
to finance essential Government projects.

Mr Macauley, 37, said that the visit of Noel Gallagher, the Oasis
guitarist, to Downing Street had given young people the impression that the
Prime Minister was prepared to tolerate drug abuse. "It's not just me
criticising Tony Blair; the young people I talk to say they felt he was
supporting drug taking, The Gallaghers are in their magazines and on the
television and that message is getting across."

Mr Macauley feels the decision not to prosecute the son of the Home
Secretary, Jack Straw, for selling cannabis was a symptom of Government-led
confusion. "If you are caught drunk-driving in Ayr or Sauchie you know it's
unacceptable and you'll get banned. If you're caught with a couple of
joints, prosecution depends on where you are. It confuses the police and
the public.

"In January, SAD's budget was slashed from UKP2 million to UKP500,000 as
ministers decided to give it a new role as purely a fundraising body."

Mr Macauley said that that role could be in jeopardy as the revamped
organisation lacked the "public face" to attract companies such as Marks &
Spencer and Scottish Power, which have contributed to the more than UKP2
million raised in two years.

He said that the chairman of an unnamed utility company had warned him that
business was becoming reluctant to support schemes that should be publicly
funded. He added: "It was left to us to finance drugs awareness training
for staff in 2,500 primary schools across Scotland. What does that say
about the Government's priorities?"

Mr Macauley said that Mr Galbraith had "accepted a policy that encourages
harm reduction without acting on the difficult social problems that have to
be addressed" and said that, with 64 deaths in Strathclyde this year, "harm
reduction alone is not enough".

He praised Henry McLeish, the Scottish home affairs minister, for his visit
to Easterhouse, where he met parents and children after the death of Alan
Harper, 13, who died of a heroin overdose. But he said that Mr McLeish must
take action to improve the quality of life in housing schemes to offer an
alternative to drug use.

Mr Galbraith said: "Mr Macauley helped to get SAD off to a strong start,
but given the need to have the director fully on board, he is right to
stand down and let someone else drive it forward."

Councillor Gaille McCann, who works with the Mothers Against Drugs group in
Easterhouse, said: "I'm absolutely devastated to hear this, David was the
only one who knew what the situation is and what the answers are."

Mr Macauley defended last year's press advertising campaign. accused of
perpetuating the "Just say no" message that has failed in the past. He
insisted the campaign addressed the real concerns of young people. "Our
research showed that some teenage girls felt that they had been taken
advantage of while on drugs, while teenage boys are more worried about
getting spots on their gums than overdoses," he said.

He said the need for a coherent social and criminal policy is obvious, and
that British culture must do with drugs what it did with racism and
drink-driving. "Noel Gallagher's PR people would never let him go on
television and say things that were racist. We need to apply the same rules
to drug abuse," he said

Shug