FRANK TALK IS LATEST STRATEGY TO FIGHT DRUGS

The Government has dropped the shock tactics of its previous appeals in a
new UKP3m cyber-campaign.

The Government abandoned its "just say no" strategy against drug misuse
yesterday in favour of encouraging an open discussion about the highs and
lows of taking different substances.

Ministers said the new approach was more credible and had a greater chance
of success because it acknowledged that young people would not be preached
to in a "judgmental" way. However, one campaigner likened it to a Which?
consumer guide and the Conservatives called it a "questionable use of
public money".

An internet website set up by the Government includes advice on how much
water to drink when taking ecstasy and which drugs combinations should be
avoided.

One message says: "Experts are forever warning us about taking drug
cocktails. But what are the real highs and lows of taking drugs . . . Is it
OK to take a downer if an upper has all but worn out?"

The website (www.talktofrank.com) is intended to offer an alternative to
the National Drugs Helpline, which has not proved as successful as
ministers had hoped. Parents and their children are invited to discuss
drugs and find out more about them, though they are told that they remain
illegal and risky.

Each drug has its own section explaining what it does and the pitfalls of
taking it. The UKP3 million campaign is backed by a series of television
adverts, the first of which were screened last night and which are far more
light-hearted than before.

The Government has struggled for years to find the right tone for its
anti-drugs strategy. Until recently, the official line was that drugs were
bad and should not be touched.

Last year, the Government issued a video to schools that contained
disturbing pictures of the corpse of Rachel Whitear, 21, a heroin addict.
Ministers said they wanted pupils to be shocked.

Their new "frank" strategy won a mixed reception last night, with some
campaigners welcoming its "refreshingly open" approach while others
criticised the ambivalence of the message.

Alistair Lang, the chief executive of Drug Abuse Resistance Education
(Dare) said: "There is no harm in having information about drugs in the
right places but this sounds a bit like a Which? guide to mobile phones.
From the Government you want to hear a categorical health warning of the
sort that you get on a cigarette packets that drugs can harm, or even kill
you."

Oliver Letwin, the shadow home secretary, said it was "highly questionable"
for taxpayers' money to be spent on telling young people that taking
ecstasy gave them a buzz.

"Gimmicky campaigns cannot disguise the fact that the Government has no
coherent strategy for dealing with drugs," he added.

But Bob Ainsworth, a Home Office minister, said: "This is the first time
the Government has tried to reach out to parents and carers as well as
children to give them honest, credible, accessible information about drugs."

Hazel Blears, a health minister, said: "The days when we could simply tell
people how to live their lives are long gone. That kind of material, that
kind of campaign simply doesn't work."

She said it had to be accepted that "in many cases people do take drugs
because it's a pleasurable thing to do". She said the campaign points out
that there are other consequences.