] Date: Sun, July 6, 1997
Source: Scotland On Sunday, Edinburgh, UK
Contact: Pressure on Dewar to sort out Scotland Against Drugs

Scotland Against Drugs, the troubled allparty camapign that is spending 
UKP4m of public money, is to be revamped.

The move will follow sharp criticism of its contraversial tactics by 
chief constables and medical experts. Scottish Secretary Donald Dewar is 
planning to overhaul the initiative launched just 18 months ago as a 
Scotlandwide antidrugs 'crusade'.

David Macauley, SAD's outspoken campaign director, is likely to be 
ousted during the shakeup. The group will be warned to tone down its 
"alarmist" advertsising campaigns and avoid "moralistic" attacks on 
people with less strict views on drugs.

Members of the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland have 
raised various criticisms of SAD during a private meeting with Dewar.

ACPOS secretary Roy Cameron, the Lothian and Borders chief constable, 
told Scotland on Sunday that SAD had outlived its usefulness and should 
be replaced as part of an urgent review of Scottish drugs policy. 
Cameron, a member of SAD's advisory council, said some SAD 
advertisements fuel the public's fear of crime. He singled out a current 
SAD commercial, showing an addict breaking into an elderly woman's home 
and stealing her television.

"It's striking. But does it raise awareness [of drugs]? Does it promote 
a proactive view on drugs? Or does it in fact create a fear of house
breaking rather than a fear of drugs?" he said.

"I doubt that the balance is right. In a world where recorded crime is 
coming down, care needs to be taken about how you communicate these 
messages or they might be counterproductive."

Cameron also upbraoded Macauley for his repeated knocking of 'harm 
reduction', the governemntbacked policy of treating addicts widely used 
in Scotland. ACPOS supported 'harm reduction' as a helpful way of 
dealing with the drugs problem.

Members of SAD's advisory board council have also voiced alarm at 
current tactics to Dewar.