DRUG TESTS IN 'PRIVACY' OF HOME

A former West Yorkshire policeman is selling kits to parents to test
their children for drugs.

The product contains a mouth swab and container to extract a
serum-like substance from the gums.

Laboratory services can then test for a range of drugs, including
heroin, cocaine or crack, methadone, cannabis, amphetamines or
ecstacy.

=46ormer Chief Superintendent Les Vasey plans to make the kits
available on the website of his independent drug consultancy company,
based in Shipley, near Bradford.

The product - said to "empower people to get involved in drug
rehabilitation in the privacy of their homes" - costs =A310.

Mr Vassey said: "It's as easy as cleaning your teeth.

"We see it as a way of parents getting involved to make informed decisions.

"It's a way of determining what sort of risks someone is taking.

"It's also a way of demonstrating that people are clean.

"One of the complaints parents have is that they can't get involved
effectively."

=46amily rows

But some believe the device could cause too much conflict between
parents and their offspring.

One Bradford man said: "Kids try to hide that they're taking drugs at
the weekend.

"If you force them to take the test they might leave home and get
themselves into worse trouble."

But Mr Vasey said that parents could use the the kit while keeping
the trust of their children.

"We're saying it has to be a partnership in every sense of the word.

"There are, as we know, a sizeable number of youngsters currently
experimental with all sorts of drugs in a very dangerous way.

"Recently, and most disturbingly, this has been with Class A heroin.

"There are scenarios where parents want to get involved."