Blair's 'drugs czar' hopes to silence the siren voices

Hardliner feels that cannabis campaigns and pop icons are a danger, reports
Valerie Elliott

BRITAIN'S first "drugs czar" pledged yesterday to target pop icons who
highlighted the supposed benefits of drugs, and said that campaigners for
the legalisation of cannabis sometimes helped pushers to lure the young to
their side.

The warnings by Keith Hellawell, Chief Constable of West Yorkshire, came as
he was formally appointed as the £103,000ayear AntiDrugs Coordinator to
spearhead national campaigns.

He will take up the post in the new year. His deputy, who will be paid
£45,000, is to be Michael Trace, director of the Rehabilitation for
Addicted Prisoners Trust. He has worked on treatment programmes in Britain
and the United States.

The Prime Minister was keen to combine the expertise of both men, in law
enforcement and treatment, to put forward a coordinated strategy.

Mr Blair said: "We need real progress in reducing drug misuse, especially
among the young. The AntiDrugs Coordinator is a key post which will help
to drive our efforts and galvanise the work which is already under way."

It is clear that ministers were attracted to both men's hardline stance
against drugs. Mr Hellawell, who will have direct access to the Prime
Minister, yesterday robustly opposed legalisation of cannabis. He said that
he welcomed informed debate, but objected to misleading headlines.

Asked about a recent campaign in the Independent on Sunday for the
legalisation of cannabis, he said: "The people who are peddling these
things love these campaigns, so they can go into the playground and exert
their pressure on young people to get involved."

He would also target pop icons to use "better judgment" in their comments
on drugs. All available evidence showed that cannabis was dangerous and
that people should not drive, work on machinery or take examinations while
under its influence. People called for legalisation when they thought there
was nothing left to tackle the problem, but there was plenty for the
Government to do, Mr Hellawell said.

A key part of the strategy will be to ensure that young people have a clear
message. Mr Hellawell, 56, who has three children and five grandchildren,
said he had discussed drugs with his older grandchildren, aged 7 and 5.

With his own children he had always been "straightforward and honest". He
advised all parents to "listen to your children and be prepared to talk
about things that make them uncomfortable and frightened." Mr Trace has
children aged 18 and 8.

Mr Hellawell, who has been Chief Constable for West Yorkshire for seven
years, also criticised people who thought there was a competition between
treatment and enforcement. Treatment was not a soft option for drug
abusers, he said. He accepted a link between alcohol, tobacco and drugs,
and said the important factor was for people to have a clear message.

He hopes to develop a new strategy in the next three months, and said it
needed to reduce the demand for drugs and to protect and influence young
people, sending out a clear message for teachers, parents and youth
leaders. The two men will work as expert advisers inside the Central Drugs
Coordinating Unit in the Cabinet Office.

They have no new cash and must insure that present resources are spent
properly. A first task will be to find out how much is being spent on the
drugs effort in that public sector and by voluntary groups, and whether it
is being spent wisely.

Ann Taylor, Leader of the House of Commons, who chairs the Cabinet
subcommittee on drugs, said that the task facing Mr Hellawell and Mr Trace
was not easy. Echoing Mr Blair's comment about how to tackle crime, she
said: "We need to ensure that we are tough on drug misuse but also tough on
the causes of drug misuse.