ULSTER DRUGS CRISIS LOOMS

Former Top Cop in Grim Warning

NORTHERN Ireland could be heading for a drugs crisis on the scale of cities
like Glasgow or Manchester, the former UK 'drugs tsar' warned today.

Keith Hellawell also said that the relaxation of cannabis laws in Northern
Ireland could lead to an increase in young people experimenting with harder
drugs in the province.

Mr Hellawell, a former police chief constable, was appointed as Tony
Blair's chief drugs fighter in 1998 but later resigned his post following a
row over the reclassification of cannabis.

Mr Hellawell will be in Northern Ireland next month when he will be a
speaker at a major international seminar and open day on drugs organised by
Belfast City Council.

During an interview with the Belfast Telegraph he described how the drugs
situation in Northern Ireland has deteriorated since he first visited the
province as drugs tsar in 1998.

He said: "The drugs situation in Northern Ireland was late in starting
because of the Troubles; the security situation and the operations of
paramilitary groups made it extremely difficult to carry out sophisticated
drugs operations.

"When I first came here as tsar in 1998 what I saw was the beginnings of
what was commonplace in other cities in the UK. There was cannabis and
ecstasy use and a feeling in some communities that drugs were beginning to
take hold.

"During the period that I was tsar we saw the lessening of the security
situation and a change in the role of paramilitaries and I began to see
drugs increasing on a social scale.

"At present I don't believe it has reached the levels of other major cities
like Glasgow or Manchester but it is going in that direction."

Mr Hellawell said: "If you look at it on a scale of one to 10, six years
ago Glasgow was a nine while Belfast would have been a two or three; now
Glasgow is still at nine while Belfast has gone up to five or six.

"I have still many contacts working in drugs treatment in Northern Ireland
and I have formed this opinion from talking and listening to people here.
The situation will not become as serious as other cities overnight but
there is a gradual erosion."

He said the downgrading of cannabis from a class B to class C substance,
which means people caught in possession of the drug are unlikely to face
court proceedings, was likely to "make the situation worse".

"The change in the legal status of cannabis is sending out the wrong
message, cannabis is the most widely used drug in Northern Ireland but it
is illegal and it can do harm.

"There is a correlation between cannabis and hard drugs. Not everyone who
uses cannabis will use harder drugs but a number will and you are also
opening up opportunities for dealers.

"Drugs is one of the biggest worries for parents today and they should all
be made aware of the damage that cannabis can cause to a young child's
potential."

The Belfast City Council seminar, 'Drugs: Is the Government sending out the
wrong message?' will take place at the City Hall on March 4.