No simple solution to drugs problem

Sir, In the United States, Southern Baptist bigots are boycotting Disney
because of its "soft" attitude to the gay community. Those who dare to
speak in opposition are dismissed as "communists" and "faggots". Here in
Scotland, those who question the line taken by Scotland Against Drugs are
ridiculed as "the chattering classes", the "mueslieating classes" and,
most recently, as people who "peddle death".

In a recent TV debate on drug issues, instigated by SAD, I was dismissed
as the voice of legalisation, despite the fact that I had not proposed
such a measure and have consistently argued against it for the past 25
years. At least four senior figures declined to take part in the
programme because they feared their views would be distorted and their
funding affected.

The hallmarks of bigotry are its failure to hear opposing arguments, its
bullying and hectoring, and use of inflammatory language. In a short
period, SAD has transformed a war against drugs into a war between drug
workers; and it has done so at enormous cost while a number of frontline
services have been curtailed or closed down altogether.

Since its inception, SAD has failed to engage in constructive debate; has
derided the opinions of experienced practitioners; has failed to learn
from previous massmedia campaigns; has ignored existing research and
commissioned its own; and now has brought about a shameful and
counterproductive war of words in a field which should have more urgent
issues on its mind.

There IS a war against drug use, but those who question the terms of
engagement should not be seen as traitors. There is an area of middle
ground between the trenches and the white feather where we can develop
what has been found to be successful and learn from our mistakes.

Harm reduction and abstinence are not mutually exclusive and one should be
the stepping stone to the other. There is no single simple solution to
the increasing use of drugs. Those who argue that longterm substitute
prescribing (with drugs such as methadone) is the solution, are wrong.
Those who argue for the wholesale legalisation of drugs are also wrong.
But SAD is wrong, too, and it should be mature enough to admit it now and
begin to explore ways of using its substantial resources more effectively
if it is not to estrange itself even further from the majority of those
working in the field.

Rowdy Yates,
Director, Scottish Drugs Training Project,
University of Stirling, Stirling, ry1@stir.ac.uk