NO COHERENCE ON DRUGS

THE tragic death of another young girl from an ecstasy overdose last week
brings into sharp focus, once more, the fact that Scotland has a drugs
problem which is defying all attempts to defeat it. However, the death of
18-year-old Julia Dawes must surely prompt us to look yet again at what,
precisely, we are doing to tackle this menace in our society.

Today, the leaders of the organisation which is supposed to be in the
vanguard of this operation - Scotland Against Drugs - complain that they are
being frustrated by a lack of a coherent national policy on combating drug
misuse and call for tougher police action against dealers and for the
appointment of a drugs tsar operating exclusively in Scotland.

While SAD and its 'Just Say No' approach are not without their critics,
there should be little doubt that the words of David Macauley, its executive
director, and Sir Tom Farmer, its chairman, deserve to spark a renewed
national debate on drugs and the dangers they pose to our young people.

There has been little serious and coordinated thinking on the issue since
the then secretary of state, Michael Forsyth, launched SAD - amid a fanfare
of publicity and goodwill - two years ago. The present situation is, to say
the least, confused. SAD says one thing while others involved in the fight
against drugs preach a different message. This is a hopeless situation and
one which, by sending out conflicting messages, negates the whole idea of a
national policy.

On Friday, the Secretary of State announced that he was to spend an extra
1.5m over three years on community-based anti-drugs projects sponsored by
SAD. It must be said that while this may well be a welcome addition, there
is little point in simply throwing money at schemes if there is no overall,
agreed national policy.

It is time for the government to stop prevaricating; the arguments over drug
strategy in Scotland have been simmering for too long now and a properly
thought-out, coherent approach - where everyone in the country is pulling in
the same direction - is long overdue.

Checked-by: Melodi Cornett