Ecstasy death fuels drugs row
JENNY BOOTH Home Affairs Correspondent

SCOTLAND'S united front in the war on drugs descended into a shambles
last night on the eve of National Drugs Awareness Week.

The row blew up as the campaigns director of the Governmentbacked
group Scotland Against Drugs turned on drug agencies advocating "harm
reduction" and accused them of peddling death.

David Macauley's comments were branded irresponsible, divisive and
hypocritical at a time when the nation is in mourning for the death of
Scotland's youngest ecstasy victim.

One drugs project leader even called for SAD, which is organising the
awareness week, to be disbanded.

And David Bryce, the influential founder of the Calton Athletic
rehabilitation group which is backed by Irvine Welsh, the author of
Trainspotting, said he was considering stepping down from the advisory
committee which runs SAD after Mr Macauley's comments.

Mr Bryce described the remarks as hypocritical because in the past SAD
has funded harm reduction groups.

"I have had serious misgivings about SAD's work for some time," said Mr
Bryce.

"I don't think it has achieved as much as it could have. The whole public
relations side of SAD has been handled terribly."

The row was triggered by the death of Andrew Woodlock, 13, who died on
his first experiment with drugs after taking three ecstasy tablets.

As news of Andrew's death filtered out, Mr Macauley went on the attack
to condemn the policy of "harm reduction", which seeks to educate young
people about the dangers of drugs and controversially how to
minimise the risks of drugtaking.

Mr Macauley has written to the Prime Minister Tony Blair and the
Scottish Secretary Donald Dewar to complain "of those groups who
receive public money and then try to peddle the myth that drugs can be
taken safely".

"I'm sure Mrs Woodlock would like to know if her son could have used
this drug in a safe way you can't," he said last night.

"I don't think these groups have the right to tell people that you can.
They are peddling death. Something needs to be done about these groups
that say that drugs can be safe. There is no safe way."

The alternative method, which Mr Macauley advocates, is the Zero
Tolerance approach of explaining to children why they must say no to
drugs.

Last night the mother of the dead boy, Phyllis Woodlock, said she planned
to go to SAD's conference on Monday to endorse the Zero Tolerance
message.

But the waters have been muddied by the fact that SAD itself has been
funding harm reduction programmes, out of the 3 million of Scottish
Office cash it has received since being set up last year.

Mr Bryce pointed out that SAD helped to fund Glasgow's recreational
drug use project, Enhance, giving it 30,000 from the Challenge Fund.
Noone from Enhance was available to comment last night.

"The fact is that the Challenge Fund has distributed as much money to
harm reduction projects as to groups which advocate abstinence," said Mr
Bryce, who vehemently opposes harm reduction.

"It has taken this kid's death for David Macauley to announce something
that should have been announced years ago that harm reduction merely
teaches children to use drugs.

"Now SAD is going to have to make up its mind if it is against drugs or
for drugs, and if they are against they should stop funding harm
reduction work.

"All the members of the advisory committee connected with harm
reduction should step down."

Mr Bryce named advice groups like Lifeline and Crew 2000, the rave
magazine M8, and needle exchange projects, as helping to promote or
glamourise drugs.

But Liz Skelton, the project coordinator of Crew 2000, said Mr
Macauley and Mr Bryce were being "irresponsible and divisive".

"It is very unfortunate that this young boy's death is being used as an
occasion to attack harm reduction," said Ms Skelton.

"This is not the time for hysterical kneejerk reactions.

"Crew 2000 does not tell people how to take drugs safely. We tell them
all the risks and how to reduce the risks.

"This approach is only available to the over 16s, but this boy's death
shows that harm reduction education is necessary for the under 16s as well.

"The younger age group is rejecting the Zero Tolerance message and using
drugs, and using them blindly, with only the advice "just say no" to
guide them.

"This death is totally unnecessary. But to start apportioning blame is
just irresponsible. All it will serve to do is to divide the whole drugs
debate even further, at a time when we should be coming together to ask
how we can ensure that this doesn't happen again."

One drug project leader, who did not wish to be named, accused SAD of
failing to show positive benefits for the cash it had received
equivalent to one third of the 10 million spent each year on treating and
fighting drug misuse by all Scotland's 15 health boards.

The project leader said that SAD had failed and should now be disbanded.

David Liddell, the director of Scottish Drugs Forum, said: "David
Macauley's comments are unhelpful and divisive, and can only lead to a
greater fragmentation of Scotland's response to drug use.

"To raise these points now can only add to public confusion and lack of
confidence about drug misuse in Scotland."

He challenged Mr Macauley to name the agencies who "peddled death"
and to explain why SAD had apparently turned its back on harm reduction
after originally supporting it.

"This is an unfortunate slur on the work of many drugs groups. The fact
is that more than 50 per cent of 16 year olds have experimented with drugs,
and we have to respond to the world as it is, rather than as we would
wish it to be."