HUNDREDS OF CHILDREN ARE BEING ROBBED OF THEIR CHILDHOODS

THE harrowing story of the four-year-old girl sent by her mother for
the messages unaware that she was collecting her heroin fix, told in
the Evening News today, is a perfect illustration of why the drugs
debate has to move to a different level. Sadly she is not alone and
the evidence is growing that hundreds of children in the Lothians are
being robbed of their childhoods through being forced to become
surrogate parents to their own drug-addicted mums and dads.

It is reassuring to see attempts are being made to reshape support
services for addicts in the Capital, with a scheme being launched to
share information among agencies that offer help. At present there is
too much duplication with some addicts receiving help from different
outlets without the knowledge of others. Not only is that a clear
waste of resources but in many areas of the city it extends waiting
times for those seeking assessment and treatment. Measures such as
this will help, but they will still fall a long way short of
correcting the deficiencies of the current regime.

The methadone programme was launched in Scotland in an effort to wean
addicts off heroin and in the process deprive criminal elements
behind the drug trade of their customers and profits. But it has not
worked. Drugs are as cheap as ever and freely available on our streets.

At the same time the number of addicts receiving the heroin
substitute on the NHS has soared beyond all expectation, fuelling an
addiction problem of its own which is rapidly approaching a level
close to the crisis it was meant to alleviate.

Certainly there is evidence that the programme has helped some
addicts live more normal lives. But contrary to popular opinion, the
green coloured opiate is no less harmful in health terms and is every
bit as addictive as the real thing. It is good that many addicts at
least switch permanently to methadone but most struggle to break free
from the vicious circle of addiction permanently. Apart from cold
turkey, at the moment it seems the only official solution on offer.

Drug tsar Tom Wood has been castigated for suggesting that the fight
against the drug gangs has been lost, and the calls for the
decriminalisation of hard drugs has been condemned. But despite
record seizures, which only emphasise the availability of drugs in
large quantities, the "cops and robbers" approach is clearly failing
and a new strategy is needed urgently.

Children who have lost their childhood to addiction cannot be allowed
to lose their adulthood to it as well.