'PAY ADDICTS NOT TO HAVE CHILDREN'

Women drug addicts should be paid to take contraception to stop them
having children, according to a drugs expert.

Professor Neil McKeganey, from the Centre for Drug Misuse Research,
said there was a crisis in meeting the needs of children born to drug
using mothers.

The professor has called for a system where women are paid to take
long-term contraception to prevent pregnancies.

Campaign group Scotland Against Drugs called for more support services
and warned against infringing human rights.

Prof McKeganey surveyed 1,000 drug users and found that more than 60%
of addicted mothers and 85% of addicted fathers no longer looked after
their children.

He said the situation must change and blamed the "chaotic lifestyles"
of addicts for the problem and its effects on children.

His research suggests that more than 50,000 children in Scotland have
been exposed to drug addiction at home.

It found a number had even woken up to find their parents had died
from an overdose while others had had their Christmas presents sold to
pay for drugs.

"It does look as if, in many instances, female drug users are becoming
pregnant not because they want to but because of the sheer chaos of
their lifestyle," he said.

He said that in parts of the United States, female drug users were
given government cash to take long-term contraception, such as injections.

And he warned: "We now have such a crisis in Scotland that we ought to
give active consideration to paying female drug users to take
long-term contraception."

'Draconian measure'

Professor McKeganey also suggested that drug addicts who were already
parents could be given a year to kick the habit or face the prospect
of having their children put up for adoption.

Scotland Against Drugs said it recognised there was a problem but said
children in these situations must be supported.

It has called on more education and help for mothers and improved
services for looking after their children.

Director Alistair Ramsey said: "I think it's a bit Draconian to
suggest that contraception injections should be an option when it's
not known in advance whether the recipient woman would be a good or a
bad parent."

Catholic Church spokesman Peter Kearney said: "If you are going to
sterilise drug-addicted women, why stop there? Why not sterilise alcoholics?

"This is social engineering on a massive scale and it's completely
unacceptable."

A spokesman for the Scottish Executive said it was well aware of the
risks to the children of drug using parents.

He said: "We believe that the needs of the child should be paramount
and have published guidelines for service providers entitled Getting
our Priorities Right.

"Along with other UK departments, we are currently considering our
response to the Hidden Harm report on the children of drug using parents."