BOY'S DEATH PROMPTS CALL FOR TIGHTER DRUG CONTROL

Campaigners say methadone needs better monitoring after teen overdoses

CALLS for stricter controls of the heroin substitute methadone were made
last night after it claimed the life of a boy aged 15, its youngest victim
in Scotland.

Fraser McKernan, of Edinburgh, died at home after taking the controlled
drug, which is routinely prescribed to addicts.

The teenager's body was found in his bedroom at Redhall Avenue, on the
Longstone housing estate, on Easter Sunday.

Last night, angry campaigners called for curbs on the distribution of
methadone, which is killing more people in Scotland than heroin. Last year,
three times as many Scots died from taking methadone as from drug it
replaces - 91 as opposed to 31 from heroin. In Lothian 44 people died from
methadone overdoses in the period.

Teenagers in the streets outside Fraser's home yesterday said they had been
shocked to hear of the death of their school friend, nicknamed Fly.

One girl said: "We've all heard about the death. It has left everyone in a
state of shock."

Fraser's mother Fiona and his brother Ross, 17, were being comforted by
relatives away from the home where he died.

Police have not disclosed how the boy was able to get hold of the Class A drug.

An Edinburgh campaigner Linda Horan, who lost her son Ian, 25, to methadone
last year, said: " We really have to look at how we can tighten up the
distribution of methadone prescriptions. It should be monitored.

"In one way I was shocked at the age of this boy, in another I wasn't.
Having worked in the community, I have seen child-ren much younger than
this zonked out."

David Macauley, the executive director of Scotland Against Drugs, said:
"There is no need for this drug to get onto the streets. Addicts should
only be allowed to have one day's supply at a time."

He said that, although Fraser's death was horrific for the family, the
teenager was unlikely to have suffered in his final moments. He said: "It
is likely the young lad would just have felt drowsy and fallen asleep after
the overdose."

It is understood this was the first time Fraser had taken methadone.

Its supporters believe methadone, if used properly, can establish a regular
controlled regime of medication from which addicts can withdraw from
heroin, a reduction in criminality and an end to drug injecting.

But its safety has been disputed for years. Concerns about addicts saving
up doses and taking them all at once has led some pharmacists to administer
just one supervised dose over the counter which is consumed on the premises.

Greater Glasgow Health Board has pioneered a scheme in which pharmacists
supervise addicts as they take their dose at the counter. The scheme makes
it mandatory for all registered addicts to be given their daily doses under
stringent supervision.

Dr Robert Lefever, a GP who runs the Promis clinic for addicts in London,
said: "Doctors give it because it is easily taken in a syrup form, you
don't use injections and so there is no risk of AIDS. Some people prefer it
to heroin and some youngsters are buying it on the black market and then
being introduced to other opiates via methadone."

He added: "You might not catch AIDS but you die from overdosing on it or
inhaling your vomit. It's like giving heroin for toothache: although it
will treat the pain, it does not solve the root of the problem, the bad
tooth.

"We need to recognise methadone for being the dangerous drug it is."

Methadone accounts for most of the UKP10 million the Scottish Office
provides to support maintenance prescriptions. Estimates suggest that up to
half of those receiving methadone are peddling it.

The first methadone and needles programme was set up in 1982 in Muirhouse
and Pilton to tackle the heroin epidemic in Edinburgh.

Fraser was a fourth-year pupil at Currie High School where the drug
education programme Saying No to Drugs is taught to pupils.

Ian Bentley, Currie's depute headteacher, said: "We will be talking today
with Fraser's friends and fellow pupils from S4, and extra support and
counselling services have been arranged for all staff and pupils."

Fraser's death follows that of Scotland's youngest heroin victim, who was
13. Allan Harper, from Cranhill in Glasgow, was found dead after an
overdose in January.

Figures released yesterday showed an influx of heroin into Britain, much of
it being used by young people.

*A man aged 23 appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Monday in connection
with supplying methadone.