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.

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GRAMPIAN Health Board yesterday unveiled its plan to begin the fightback against the scourge of heroin addiction and hard drug abuse which is sweeping the northeast of Scotland.

The board's campaign will be spearheaded by a drive to combat the mounting toll of drugrelated deaths in the area by trying to stop legallyprescribed doses of the heroin substitute, methadone, getting on to the black market.

Overdoses of methadone were last year responsible for twothirds of the 32 drug related deaths in the northeast. Three of the five drugrelated deaths in Grampian last month were also due to methadone poisoning.

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THE mother of Scotland's youngest ecstasy victim yesterday called for convicted drug pushers to be charged with murder or attempted murder.

Phyllis Woodlock, who took the decision to switch off her 13 yearold son's life support machine last Thursday, was expanding on her call at the weekend for courts to crack down on drug dealers.

Trembling with emotion, she said at the launch of National Drugs Awareness week: "Our next step is to try and change the law so that anyone who supplies or sells drugs to someone else should be charged with intent to kill or of causing someone's death."

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GRAMPIAN'S Chief Constable, Dr Ian Oliver, has called for offending drug addicts to be forced to accept treatment. It is the only way to break the cycle between their habit and crime, he says.

Dr Oliver, the man widely tipped to become Tony Blair's "drugs tsar" in charge of the national fight against the problem, was commenting on his force's annual statistical report, which reveals it seized almost five kilos of heroin last year more than double the total for the previous year.

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THE man tipped to be Tony Blair's drugs supremo, Grampian Police chief Ian Oliver, launched a scathing attack on the Scotland Against Drugs campaign last night. Mr Oliver said new posters, based on a survey which found that 56% of 16yearold Scots have tried illegal drugs, gave youngsters the wrong impression. The chief constable was speaking at a meeting of the Grampian Joint Police Board at Elgin, where he revealed the latest figures in his annual statistical report. One of the posters shows a blackboard with the question chalked on it: "What do you call a teenager who uses drugs?" The answer reads: "The majority." Mr Oliver said the posters gave teenagers the message that drugtaking is the norm. He said: "I don't believe this is an accurate statement of fact and sends out a mixed message. "The more prominent message that could be taken from that poster is that if you are a youngster who is not using drugs, you are in the minority." But last night David Whitton, a spokesman for Scotland Against Drugs, vigorously defended the posters and said earlier advertisements produced by the group had won a string of awards. He said: "Who is he speaking on behalf of? The previous adverts that we did won seven awards nationally for their creativity and for getting the message across. "The latest advertising is specifically targeted at raising the awareness of what is going on at parents who don't think drugs affect them. "The posters draw strong reactions, but that is what they are for." The offending poster is based on figures from a survey of 10,000 children in schools throughout Scotland, believed to be one of the largest samples ever taken. Mr Whitton added: "The information is that 56% of 16yearolds have tried illegal drugs. "This was aimed at the more mature members of the population who need to be shaken out of their lethargy. "Hopefully, it will get parents speaking to their children about drugs." Another TV campaign advertisement from Scotland Against Drugs shows an elderly woman sitting at home alone while a young man breaks into her house to steal money to finance his drug addiction. "This is just sending out the message that elderly people are the most vulnerable," said Mr Oliver. "I must express my grave concern at some of the advertising being used to get the message over." Mr Oliver talked of the growing scourge of heroin peddled on Northeast streets and revealed that addicts were running up huge crime bills to feed their habit. Figures show that, on average, each Northeast junkie is using an astounding UKP30,000worth of heroin every year and as stolen property is sold on for a third of its retail value, that means an addict has to steal UKP90,000worth of goods to pay for it. The report shows 1,746 people were caught with drugs. More than 500 involved in supplying were also apprehended. Seizures of heroin more than doubled, from just over 2kg in the same period last year to nearly 5kg, worth at least UKP500,000. Hauls of the rave drug ecstasy were up by more than 1,000 to 3,608, while cannabis resin seizures amounted to 15kg. Mr Oliver said drugs were perhaps the greatest threat to the fabric of society and feared a future where drugtaking is part of everyday life. His comments came after five people died of drug overdoses in the Northeast within a fortnight and a further 12 were saved only by the skill of the emergency services in Aberdeen. The statistical report for 19961997 revealed that drug abuse claimed 30 lives in the Grampian area last year. Mr Oliver said: "That is higher than many other areas of Scotland. "We have been very successful in catching major dealers but you no sooner take one out than another two or three jump into their place. "I cannot give an answer as to why Aberdeen and the Northeast has such a serious problem regarding availability of hard drugs. "Perhaps the area, because of its economy, is being targeted because dealers know there are going to be rich returns. The rewards can be huge." Mr Oliver called for a coordinated campaign, from the schoolroom to the boardroom, against the drugs menace. Meanwhile, the Scotland Against Drugs weeklong Shop A Dealer campaign is being repeated after its first run last year led to 200 arrests and drugs worth UKP365,000 being seized across Scotland. The Crimestoppers phone line received 62 calls in the opening weekend of Shop A Dealer week. A Shop A Smuggler hotline has also been set up by Grampian Police. The hardline approach is part of National Drugs Awareness Week, highlighting the growing social problems caused by drug misuse.

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The dangers of smoking are well known. It is the single largest cause of serious illness and preventable death in this country. Yet trying to give up is not always easy. Those sudden urges for one last drag can be the downfall of even the most determined and motivated of people. But help can soon be at hand or, more accurately, at your fingertips, judging by the recently published results of a Scottish health initiative.

In an antismoking campaign carried out by the Health Education Board for Scotland smokers were invited to call a telephone helpline known as Smokeline, available free of charge to callers and staffed by trained counsellors seven days a week. These councillors not only offered advice and tips on giving up but also provided general support and encouragement when needed by smokers and their families.

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SCOTLAND'S united front in the war on drugs descended into a shambles last night on the eve of National Drugs Awareness Week.

The row blew up as the campaigns director of the Governmentbacked group Scotland Against Drugs turned on drug agencies advocating "harm reduction" and accused them of peddling death.

David Macauley's comments were branded irresponsible, divisive and hypocritical at a time when the nation is in mourning for the death of Scotland's youngest ecstasy victim.

One drugs project leader even called for SAD, which is organising the awareness week, to be disbanded.

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Scots Campaign Sparks Call for Hard Facts Rather Than Scaremongering

THE latest major poster campaign by Government backed Scotland Against Drugs has been accused of sending children a mixed message about drug taking.

Dave Liddell, director of the Scottish Drugs Forum said that the billboard advertisement which will appear at 218 sites across the country lends credence to the view that habitual drug taking is acceptable.

The concern surrounds the wording of one of the posters which poses the question: "What do you call kids who have taken drugs?" The answer given is: "The majority."

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A FALL of two thirds in drug deaths in Glasgow this year has been hailed by police and drugs workers as a major breakthrough in the drugs war.

The death toll has dropped from 36 in the equivalent period of 1995, to just 11 in 1997 in the year to the end of May, the first significant fall since records began eight years ago.

Delighted drug workers say that Glasgow's unique, controlled programme of prescribing methadone to heroin addicts is probably the major factor in producing the fall.

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Sir, In your editorial (20 May) criticising the call from the Church of Scotland for the decriminalisation of cannabis, you say the "Kirk finds itself at odds with the new Government, which believes that pot smoking can lead to harder and more harmful drugs and should therefore be banned". This is not the case, as the Government does not claim that using cannabis leads to harder drugs: the "progression theory" has long been discredited.

You go on to state that "there is no evidence that decriminalisation alleviates the drug problem". Again, that is simply not true. The experience in the Netherlands is precisely that; indeed, decriminalisation there has reduced hard drug abuse substantially.

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CHURCH of Scotland ministers who backed the decriminalisation of cannabis explained their reasons yesterday for the controversial break with Kirk tradition.

This week's agreement by the General Assembly that the drug should be decriminalised, and that an independent group should look at the case for legalising it, was backed mainly on the grounds of inconsistencies in sentencing, according to a straw poll of ministers.

But the Rev Shirley Blair, a minister from St Thomas's Church, Leith, also spoke of medical benefits experienced by at least three of her parishioners taking the drug.

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>Steel says drug ban is a failure > >Sir David Steel, the elder statesman of the Liberal Democrats, said >yesterday that prohibition of soft drugs had been a failure and that >politicians were not qualified to deal with the subject. > >On ITN's lunchtime news, Sir David, whose son Graeme was jailed for >nine months in 1995 for growing cannabis plants worth 30,000 UKP at his >Borders cottage, said: > >"Politicians are not in the best position to pontificate on this >subject. It is largely a generation problem and that's why we are >realistic in the Liberal Democrats by saying let's have a Royal >Commission as we had on the issue of embryo research." > >

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