Resources Plea To Protect Children

THE head of the Glasgow children's panel called last night for more resources to protect children from the threat of abuse by parents who are drug addicts.

The call by Marian Pagani follows the case of Mark Connelly, a drug addict who starved and beat his lover's 33-month-old son before leaving him to die in a freezing room.

The High Court in Glasgow heard that Scott Saunders was a beautiful, well-nourished child who was turned into a living skeleton in just five weeks by his mother, Cheryl Hanson, 24, and Connelly, 29. The child died at his home at Galloway Drive, Rutherglen in March 2000.

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MINISTERS announced a major U-turn on drugs policy yesterday, rejecting the traditional Just Say No approach in favour of an information campaign explaining what drugs are and what they do.

Jim Wallace, the justice minister, conceded that telling young people not to take drugs had not worked.

Indeed, Mr Wallace claimed the inflexible approach might even have had the effect of persuading some young people to take drugs as a form of rebellion .

The new policy, Know the Score, is designed to tell parents and young people exactly what drugs do and what dangers they pose.

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THE Scottish Executive yesterday drew on a major research programme to justify a new anti-drugs strategy putting the emphasis on positive advice and support rather than simple condemnation.

While the hard-line "just say no" message began to be diluted some time ago, the launch yesterday of the UKP6.3m, three-year "Know the Score" campaign marked a move into much more pragmatic territory.

Jim Wallace, the justice minister, said it would be the biggest-ever drugs communication drive, using advertising, a website and telephone help line.

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REGULAR updates on illegal drugs circulating in communities will be part of a new UKP6 million anti-drugs strategy unveiled today.

The Know The Score campaign, launched by the Scottish Executive, marks the end of the Just Say No message on drugs - with ministers admitting that a "finger-wagging" approach does not deter young people from trying drugs.

Instead, education and community information will form the core of the new strategy.

The largest anti-drugs advertising campaign in Scottish history, aimed at telling young people the risks involved with taking drugs, will form another key part of the campaign.

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A new anti-drugs strategy has been launched in Scotland which is being seen as acceptance that the "just say no" tactic has failed.

The government now plans to produce high-quality information themed "Know the Score" about the effect of drugs so that people can make informed choices.

Despite the policy shift, the Scottish Executive insisted it was not going soft on drugs and that there was no intention of decriminalising cannabis.

Ministers admit that the "paternalistic" messages about the danger of drugs are not getting through.

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A SCOTTISH drug baron rubbed shoulders with senior politicians at a Labour Party-backed fundraising function, days before he was gunned down in a gangland-style execution.

Convicted drug dealer, Justin McAlroy, sat just feet away from Northern Ireland Secretary John Reid, as Special Branch officers looked on.

Jack McConnell, the First Minister, and a Lanarkshire MP, Frank Roy, also attended the Red Rose Dinner in Motherwell on 1 March.

Six days later, unemployed McAlroy was shot five times outside his home in Cambuslang, Lanarkshire. He was the victim of what is believed to be an ongoing drugs feud in the area that has seen four other men fatally shot in recent months.

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There Are As Many Opinions And Solutions To The Drugs Problem As There Are Drugs. But Which Is The Real Answer?

DEPUTY justice minister Dr Richard Simpson's emphasis on rehabilitation and harm reduction will no doubt facilitate cost-effective drug treatment. The zero tolerance approach compels problem drug users to suffer in silence. Would alcoholics seek help for their illness if doing so were tantamount to confessing to criminal activity?

While Scotland adopts a sensible public health approach, the culture wars are heating up in America. President Bush is now pushing "compassionate coercion" for users of non-traditional drugs, with America's millions of cannabis smokers the likely target of Bush's "compassion." Coerced treatment does not distinguish between occasional use and chronic abuse.

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I WAS glad to see that your drugs report was not distorted by the blinkered views of the usual drugs experts who are now so desperately trying to encourage more GPs to get involved in methadone treatments. These services remain in short supply despite inducements of more education, more staff and even the extra payments that each consultation now generates under localised methadone payment schemes.

In a recent UK survey the majority of General Practitioners stated that they did not feel that the treatment of such addiction should be part of a GP's responsibility. Ian McCartney is right when he states that addicts are chaotic and always looking to steal for their next fix. Unfortunately, the vast majority of treated methadone addicts continue to behave in exactly the same way. When a practice shows an interest in trying to provide addiction services then they are beseiged by desperate and chaotic sufferers. If that practice is vulnerable by virtue of its staffing levels or by its design, then anarchy soon takes over with thievery and violence.

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INTERNATIONAL drug smugglers will soon find their movements being more closely monitored by police thanks to a pioneering process being developed at Edinburgh University.

The work of the scientists, which is being supported by the United Nations and Lothian and Borders Police, will allow authorities to discover where drugs are coming from and whether anti-drugs measures are working.

The process involves using cannabis as a "tracker" drug under the assumption that heroin and cocaine traffickers peddle the category C drug as well.

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ONE of Holland's top drug squad officers today told Scottish police they should back plans to open Dutch-style cannabis cafes in Edinburgh.

Ton Snip, a Politie officer with more than ten years' experience of the problem, claimed the cafes had resulted in a massive reduction in hard-drug use and drug-related crime in Holland.

Edinburgh-based publisher Kevin Williamson has said he will open a cannabis cafe at an undisclosed location in the city after Home Secretary David Blunkett's plans to reclassify the drug as class C come into effect later this year.

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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.

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The Scottish executive admitted yesterday that the high-profile war on drugs is over.

Instead of advocating the "just say no" message, resources will be pumped into a new front providing information on the risks involved in drug-taking and introducing measures to combat their harmful consequences.

The zero-tolerance strategy in Scotland is estimated to have cost around UKP5 million.

Dr Richard Simpson, the deputy justice minister, revealed the step-change in drug policy, conceding that the "just say no" campaign and shock tactics had failed to have an impact.

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"Just say no" style anti-drug campaigns are to become a thing of the past in Scotland, following a change of heart by the Scottish Executive. More resources will instead be devoted to telling people about the risks of drug taking and the help available for addicts and their families.

The move follows research which suggests the just say no strategy, which has been used for many years, has failed.

Full details of the new strategy are still to be revealed, but an executive spokesman said it should not be seen as a sign that the authorities are "going soft on drugs".

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No More 'Just Say No' Campaigns ... Instead, Harm Reduction, Rehabilitation And Information Will Be The Policy

THIS weekend Scotland's drugs minister has officially declared that the 30-year war on drugs is over. In an exclusive interview with the Sunday Herald, Dr Richard Simpson, also the deputy justice minister, said: 'The only time you will hear me use terms such as 'War On Drugs' and 'Just Say No' is to denigrate them.'

Instead Simpson has pledged to ensure that Scotland's harm-reduction, methadone, and rehabilitation services are fixed.

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Addicts are to be consulted as part of a drugs information initiative commissioned by the Scottish Executive.

The new strategy represents a significant shift from the 'just say no' approach to drug abuse.

Edinburgh-based Barkers Advertising has spoken to thousands of people living in estates that are known to have serious drug problems.

The results of their survey will be announced by Deputy Justice Minister Richard Simpson at the end of the month.

Details are being kept under wraps, but it is anticipated that a television, newspaper and billboard campaign will be launched. Drugs campaigners say the initiative will provide life-saving information for drug-users.

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Inmates at an open prison should be subjected to tougher drug tests, according to Scotland's chief inspector of prisons.

Clive Fairweather said the use of illegal substances had reached "unacceptable levels" at Castle Huntly in Perthshire.

He believes prisoners should sign a contract promising not to take drugs at the prison - and should then be subject to regular tests.

And Mr Fairweather told BBC Scotland that those caught breaking their contract should be sent back to a closed jail.

He was publishing a report on Wednesday following an inspection at the prison, which holds 151 category D offenders who are not considered to be a danger to the public.

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DRUG abuse among inmates at one of Scotland's open prisons is running at "unacceptable" levels, according to a government report published today.

Random tests on prisoners at Castle Huntly in Perthshire are positive in 17 per cent of cases, with heroin the most commonly abused substance. The results are regarded as particularly disturbing because the relaxed regime at the prison allows inmates to leave their cells and work in the local community.

A report published today by Clive Fairweather, HM Inspector of Prisons for Scotland, will call on prison staff at Castle Huntly to re-examine their drugs strategy "as a matter of urgency".

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POLICE have threatened to raid the homes of parents whose privately educated children are caught with drugs at school.

Officers issued the stark warning to parents and children as young as 12 during meetings at Mary Erskine and Stewart's Melville College in Edinburgh.

Lothian and Borders police told them they would make full use of their powers to search the homes of pupils found with drugs or suspected of drug dealing.

Other Scottish forces and anti-drugs campaigners yesterday distanced themselves from the threats, saying there were more important messages to get across to young people.

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A SUSPECTED drug dealer drove his camper-van into the front entrance of the Lothian and Borders Police headquarters after discovering a police bugging device in his vehicle.

The man was believed to have been under surveillance by a team of detectives when he discovered the electronic tracker hidden in his van. The 35-year-old then drove his Volkswagen Caravelle to the police headquarters at Fettes where he rammed it through the main entrance.

The incident, which happened around 10pm on Thursday night, caused thousands of pounds worth of damage and destroyed the glass doors at the headquarters.

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A PUPIL at the Prime Minister's former school has been expelled after talking to the press about drug-taking among fellow students.

The 17-year-old girl was asked to leave Fettes College yesterday after she had spoken out about drug use in dormitories and outside the grounds.

The expulsion came in the same week a 17-year-old boy was expelled for taking cannabis and two other boys, aged 18 and 17 were thrown out after being caught with the drug. Michael Spens, the headmaster, said the girl had been asked to leave for breaching rules of confidentiality.

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