Police chief calls for mandatory
addict treatment
FRANK URQUHART and ANNETTE McCANN

GRAMPIAN'S Chief Constable, Dr Ian Oliver, has called for offending
drug addicts to be forced to accept treatment. It is the only way to
break the cycle between their habit and crime, he says.

Dr Oliver, the man widely tipped to become Tony Blair's "drugs tsar" in
charge of the national fight against the problem, was commenting on his
force's annual statistical report, which reveals it seized almost five
kilos of heroin last year more than double the total for the previous
year.

He added: "We aim to break the cycle between drugs and crime. This means
concentrating our resources and efforts into treating drug addiction.

"There should be sufficient places in drug rehabilitation centres with
treatment there being mandatory.

"If the addicts' drug problem is treated it could remove the need to turn
to crime."

His approach immediately ran into opposition with the co ordinator of
the Aberdeen based Drugs Action saying:

"Wherever possible, we would prefer that drug users make an informed
choice about dealing with their drug problem.

"The more services that are available to help them in that process the
better," he added.

Dr Oliver also told the Grampian Joint Police Board it was only a matter
of time before the drug ecstasy claimed another young victim.

He was speaking a week after 13year old Andrew Woodlock, from
Lanarkshire, died in hospital after taking the drug.

Dr Oliver, one of Scotland's most strident antidrugs campaigners, said:
"There is a certain mystique surrounding raves which attracts young
people. We know children younger than 13 are taking drugs and it is
inevitable someone younger than that will die soon."

Around 70 per cent of the main police in the Grampian force area was
directed at drug abuse, according to Dr Oliver.

He said the current spate of deaths was caused by a batch of extrapure
heroin. Five people have died in the last fortnight and a further 12 have
taken nearfatal overdoses. The most recent victim was Kevin McSorley,
16, who was found dead by his pregnant girlfriend. He was the fourth to
die in eight days.

Last year, there were 30 drug deaths in the Grampian area but Dr Oliver
points out in his report: "Towards the end of last year, there was
an average of one death every two days over a fortnight. This contrasts
starkly with several other forces in Scotland which have actually seen a
reduction in the number of drugs deaths.

"There is a growing urgency to treat the drug problem at its very root
and not just to focus our attention on cleaning up the aftermath of
addiction."

The tide of drug abuse is also blamed for an increase in housebreaking.
The outspoken chief constable had previously issued a warning in February
that the crime toll, directly attributable to the northeast's heroin
problem, could only escalate in the coming year.

The problem extended to other drugs with seizures of ecstasy and
diazepam also increasing. A total of 4.77 kilos of heroin was seized in
the force area, compared with 2.08 kilos the previous year. Ecstasy
tablets seized went from 2,361 to 3,608, and the number of diazepam
tablets seized increased from 2,088 to 4,878.

The report, however, revealed a significant fall in the number of road
deaths in the force area.