DRUGS POLICY IN CHAOS

THE premature retirement of the policeman leading Scotland's war on
drugs was not a surprise. Graeme Pearson announced his intention to
go, more than two years ahead of schedule, in August. His decision
brought tributes for his considerable work as head of the Scottish
Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency (SCDEA) - and many regrets that he
had opted to leave the job early. Today we reveal exactly why Pearson
has quit. It makes very worrying reading and raises serious questions
about our ability to combat one of society's worst scourges. To recap
our exclusive interview with Pearson, the outgoing SCDEA leader feels
that he has been hamstrung by overbearing bureaucracy, a lack of
co-operation from the politicians and fellow senior policemen who were
supposed to back his work, and a fundamental lack of resources to get
the job done. It is rare indeed for even a retiring officer to lay
bare the flaws inherent in such an important part of our criminal
justice system. His devastating critique must be taken seriously by
his former political masters, and his comments must be acted upon.

Let's be clear about just how important it is that we have a clear,
coherent and well-resourced anti-drugs effort: Scotland has an
estimated 60,000 problem drug users - that's as many as we have Gaelic
speakers; there were 421 drug-related deaths in 2006 - 25% more than
in 2005 and 73% up on 1996; up to 20,000 Scots children live with a
drug-dependant adult, raising the risks of a self-perpetuating cycle
of misery for many communities.

Yet the problem affects us all, wherever we live and even if we
ourselves would never touch drugs: about half of all crimes are
committed by drug users to feed habits that cost them as much as
UKP20,000 a year; one recent survey in Glasgow suggested 70% of people
arrested in connection with crimes were drug users.

This is why drug-taking is arguably the most serious problem Scottish
society faces today, and all the indications are that it is getting
worse every year. Unfortunately, Pearson's comments suggest it is not
being given enough of a priority in the corridors of power or even in
those police regional headquarters where chief constables, themselves
under pressure to cut crime rates, have been unwilling to encourage
their officers to join the SCDEA.

The SNP Government has already come under fire over its prevarication
on the delivery of the 1,000 additional police it pledged last May.
Pearson makes it clear today that a lack of officers is at least
partly to blame for his frustrations, and this will add to the
pressure on Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill on that front. But it is
worth looking further at the SNP election manifesto, which stated,
with hopefully no pun intended, that "there are no short-term fixes to
the problems of drug misuse in Scotland". It went on to promise a
national Drugs Commission "to develop and agree a long-term national
strategy backed up by a more robust evidence base". It added: "SNP
justice policy will deliver tough action against the drug dealers."

But at the SNP's conference last month, MacAskill spent longer
reminiscing about singing 'Flower Of Scotland' at a Murrayfield
international than he did talking about drugs, which he mentioned
barely in passing. The promised Drugs Commission has been delayed, if
not ruled out, because "we do not want to delay making progress on
this important issue by setting up new structures". However it is
dressed up, it sounds as though another manifesto pledge is now in
doubt.

MacAskill needs to come to the country soon with the new drugs
strategy on which officials are said to be working. When it does
emerge it must recognise how worried Scots are about drugs, and
especially their impact on our children. As such, and despite the
tight budget set to be unveiled by Finance Secretary John Swinney this
week, it must have funding adequate to the Herculean task.

In the meantime, we can only hope that good candidates do come forward
to replace Pearson, despite his own admission that he would not apply
for the job. And we can only demand that the new SCDEA head is given
the support of everyone around him, or her, as they take forward
perhaps the most important work being done by any public servants in
Scotland today.