Pubdate: Sun, 12 May 2002 Source: Sunday Telegraph (UK) Copyright: Telegraph Group Limited 2002 Contact: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/437 Author: David Bamber Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/hr.htm (Harm Reduction) MPS DEMAND CUT IN FUNDS FOR AGENCIES ACCUSED OF PROMOTING DRUG USE DRUGS advice agencies are encouraging young people to experiment with illegal substances and should be stripped of public funding, an influential report by senior MPs will say next week. The final report of the House of Commons home affairs select committee inquiry into drugs will say that some agencies are overstepping the line between giving health advice and are now actually promoting drug use. MPs from all parties on the Labour-dominated committee were shocked by some of the literature produced by publicly funded agencies. Pamphlets and leaflets seen by the MPs showed "how to roll a perfect spliff", stated that cannabis was not particularly harmful and advised on how to inject heroin properly. In their report, the MPs conclude that the Government should review funding of drugs agencies and withdraw public money from those that overstep the mark. The draft of the report, due out a week on Tuesday, says: "Members were very concerned about some of the graphic literature produced by agencies which goes much further than simply health advice and preventing drug use. A full review should be held of whether this is a good use of public funds." One senior MP said: "I was truly appalled at some of the leaflets we saw. They are practically guides to becoming a drug addict and make little or no effort to persuade people not to take drugs. "Obviously, these agencies are dealing with young people and need to communicate with them in their language, but there's a difference between sensible advice, such as telling people to drink water if they are determined to use Ecstasy, and actually telling people cannabis is not that harmful or guiding them on how to take hard drugs. I wouldn't allow my children to look at something like this. We shouldn't fund any organisation which produces them." MPs were particularly concerned about leaflets produced by Lifeline, a long-established Manchester drugs advice charity that receives about UKP5 million a year from the taxpayer. One comic book produced by Lifeline, "The lads go mad in Amsterdam", features two British men being educated to take Ecstasy once a month on special occasions by a "cool" Dutch woman. In another, "Claire and Jose get off their cake", a young woman is advised by a friend to use drugs in moderation - taking only half an Ecstasy tablet. A third of the charity's publications, "Everything a parent needs to know about cannabis but was afraid to ask", shows how to roll a joint. Publications by other agencies seen by the MPs included advice to youngsters not to tell their parents if they were experimenting with drugs. A leaflet from Lifeline gives a step-by-step guide to buying cannabis in Amsterdam's "coffee shops" for the first-time drugs tourist. While the charity insists that the pamphlets are aimed at stopping people killing or harming themselves with drugs, MPs believe that the advice could give the message that it is legitimate to take drugs in certain circumstances. Mike Linnell, Lifeline's communications director, admitted that his publicity material was open to criticism but added: "Telling people not to take drugs as they can be dangerous doesn't work, so we aim to provide information on how to keep alive if they do use the drugs. "If you overdramatise and say, 'One bit of cannabis will kill you,' people will know that isn't true. If you say, 'Cannabis won't kill you, but heroin might,' then people will listen." He added: "We produce leaflets for a whole variety of markets. Leaflets about safe ways of injecting heroin are aimed at people who already use it and are intended to stop them making some mistake that will kill them." Lifeline is a private charity with 200 staff and is funded through donations, health-service contracts and grants from local and central government. Its publications branch, with a turnover of UKP300,000, is self-financing and sells publications to other drugs agencies, many of which are publicly funded. The Telegraph has also learned that the MPs have concluded that cannabis should not be decriminalised and that heroin should not be downgraded from a Class A drug. They will, however, back proposals by David Blunkett, the Home Secretary, to downgrade cannabis to a Class C drug - making possession of it for personal use a non-arrestable offence. - --- MAP posted-by: Ariel