Special Report - Preamble

LOSING THE WAR ON DRUGS

Last week the parents of Rachel Whitear released pictures of their
daughter's body after she had given herself a fatal injection of heroin.

They want the stark images to serve as a warning to other youngsters
thinking of dabbling with hard drugs and warned: "If this could happen to
our daughter it could happen to anyone."

It could ... and it does. No one can be ignorant of the dangers of drugs
yet still the death toll mounts, still the demand for heroin rises, still
drugs flood into the country and still addicts are left with inadequate
help and support.

For the past month the Sunday Herald has been looking at every link in the
drugs chain, from the swamped customs officers and the police and social
services struggling to cope to the addicts themselves and their parents.

Our four-page report focuses on each one of those links and shows the
problems each faces.

Virtually nobody we talked to believes we are winning the war against
drugs. Indeed, most believed the war -- at least as it is presently waged
- -- can never be won.

That doesn't mean giving up. The ultimate aim remains to stop the needless
death and social desolation caused by addiction.

But we have a choice. Either we listen to those involved on the front line
and radically change our strategy or we continue to waste millions of
pounds and watch helplessly as more die.