War on drugs "long lost"

Increasingly experts are lending legitimacy to the idea that the war on drugs is highly questionable. Here a former deputy chief constable declares the Scottish war on drugs is "long lost." Tom Wood now holds the "influential post of chairman of the Scottish Association of Alcohol and Drug Action Teams, a body which advises the Executive on future policy".

"In order to make a difference in the long term, education and deterrence have to go to the top of the pile. We have to have the courage and commitment to admit that we have not tackled the problem successfully in the past. We have to win the arguments and persuade young people that drugs are best avoided."