CALL FOR DRUGS TESTS FOR EVERYONE ARRESTED

EVERYONE who is arrested should be tested for drugs so the nation can
tackle the problem of addiction, it was claimed last night.

Neil McKeganey, who leads the Centre for Drug Misuse at Glasgow
University, is lobbying police forces and the Government to resume
such tests, which are standard practice in the United States.

McKeganey and colleagues last carried out the work nearly a decade
ago, revealing that 70% of people who are detained by the police have
drugs in their system.

Now he wants to see regular updates on the work, which he believes
gives the best possible picture of what kind of drugs are being taken,
not just by criminals but by society as a whole. McKeganey and his
team tested and interviewed more than 400 people for their report in
2000.

Those arrested, he said, willingly undertook the tests and answered
questions about their drug habits because they knew the researchers
were academics, rather than working for the police.

He said: "We learnt a great deal about the prevalence of certain drugs
and would really like to see this work done again. This is one of the
best ways of finding out what kind of drugs people are taking in the
wider population. It has been done in America for 15 years and is done
in England too."

Some police officers are also eager for clues from the kind of
research McKeganey has in mind. They have become increasingly
concerned about the number of people found to be mixing cocaine with
alcohol, making them extremely difficult to deal with.

Only 3% of arrested people who took part in the last round of checks
tested positive for cocaine. The figures were 52% for cannabis; 33%
for benzodiazepines; 31% for opiates; and 12% for methadone, the
heroin substitute.

The Scottish Government said it had no immediate plans to resume the
tests. A spokesman, however, said: "We are currently engaged in a
major review of research in the drugs area.

That will help inform decisions about the commissioning of future
research work."