BARONS NOW DEAL DIRECTLY WITH DRUG SUPPLIERS

SCOTTISH drug barons are now dealing directly in Europe and South
America to get heroin and cocaine, the head of the National Criminal
Intelligence Service in Scotland said yesterday.

Detective Superintendent Andy Archibald said improved intelligence in
the last two years showed the usual supply routes to Glasgow from
London and Liverpool were being bypassed.

"We should be in no doubt that we have the criminals in Scotland who
have the credibility, the networks, and the ability to go to Europe
and South America to source class A drugs in other countries.

"This is controlled from Scotland and it is financed from Scotland
and the ultimate direction of these drugs will be Scotland," he said.

An estimated five tonnes of heroin and up to four tonnes of cocaine
arrive in Scotland each year. Mr Archibald said there was also a
secondary supply route reaching Edinburgh, Dundee, and Aberdeen via
the north east of England.

He was speaking at the Association of Chief Police Officers in
Scotland (Acpos) conference in Dunblane where Richard Simpson, the
deputy justice minister, signalled an end to the authoritarian
approach to young people using illegal drugs.

A similar change was also announced yesterday for England by the Home
Office in new guidelines for the drugs scene in nightclubs.

Dropping its previous hardline stance, it told club owners how to
minimise the effects of inevitable abuse of drugs like ecstasy and
manage it better.

Bob Ainsworth, the drugs minister, said: "If we cannot stop them from
taking drugs, then we must be prepared to take steps to reduce the
harm that they may cause themselves.

"Although drug use has stabilised nationally, unfortunately for many
young club-goers illegal drug use has become an integral part of
their night out."

He added: "Club owners and dance promoters have a duty to make sure
that they have done everything possible to reduce the risks faced by
the young people who are their paying customers. We have to recognise
that some clubbers will continue to ignore the risks and carry on
taking dangerous drugs."

The new guidelines include supplying drinking water for users of
ecstasy and training for club staff.

Eddie Tobin, chairman of the Glasgow Nightclub Forum, which has 52
members said it was a case of the government catching up on reality
and on good practice already in operation.

"For many years nightclubs have been an easy, soft target for any
politician. The reality is that drugs are present throughout
society," he said.

The new guidelines were welcomed by Alan and Liz Spinks, whose
19-year-old daughter Lorna died after taking ecstasy before visiting
a nightclub in Cambridge.

"They will help to reduce the likelihood of a crisis occurring, help
with its early detection and improve reaction in the critical period
immediately afterwards," Mr Spinks said.

However, Janet Betts, whose daughter Leah was killed by drugs, said
she had severe reservations about the Home Office's new approach.

Detective Chief Inspector Ralph Noble of the Scottish Drugs
Enforcement Agency, told the Acpos conference that crack cocaine was
the up and coming drug in Scotland and dealers were running very
sophisticated operations.

"Scottish criminals are demonstrating business acumen, business
organisation and ex-panding into other areas. They are not bound by
the shores of the United Kingdom," he said.

Such wide networks also laid them open to attack. Last year there
were 150 arrests and 18m UKP in drug seizures.

Dr Simpson said agreement had been reached with the Treasury for the
executive to use half of the proceeds of assets seized from dealers.
The first allocation of 250,000 UKP is to go to help homeless drug
users in Glasgow.

He said the executive would be investigating novel approaches to
drugs policy from abroad - as it already head in introducing drugs
courts in Glasgow.

"We must keep an open mind about what works. Dismissing something
because it does not happen here is simply not good enough," Dr
Simpson added.