By Claire Warrender

ILLEGAL DRUGS blight many communities throughout the UK.

The tragic toll of wasted lives and early deaths is regularly reported by the media and discussions on how to cut the number of people addicted to drugs have been going on for years.

Earlier this month the Scottish Government announced a new drugs strategy focusing more on abstinence and recovery rather than harm reduction and long-term methadone dependency.

This, plus the recent shocking revelation that four young Fife men died in one week after taking a lethal combination of heroin, alcohol and benzodiazepines, has prompted The Courier to focus on the effect drugs are having on Fife and what is being done to combat the problem.

Agencies working with the region’s drug users pledged to improve services after a ground- breaking study was published earlier this year which revealed 54 people in Fife died of drugs overdoses between 2005 and 2007, almost all of them men.

The report commissioned by the Fife Drug and Alcohol Action Team (DAAT)—and using data from the police, NHS, social work and voluntary groups—was the first of its kind in Scotland and highlighted recommendations for preventing future drugs deaths.

These included sharing information to identify those most at risk and allow services to intervene earlier.

In addition, Fife GPs have been urged to ask patients whether they use drugs or alcohol before prescribing certain tranquillisers in a bid to cut deaths caused by people taking drugs cocktails.

Of course, it is not just drug users who are affected by their habits, as drugs can cause catastrophic damage to families and whole communities.

Drug or alcohol-using mothers-to-be are giving birth to babies with withdrawal symptoms, although that is decreasing in Fife thanks to an innovative project at Forth Park maternity hospital in Kirkcaldy.

In addition, more than 40% of children on Fife’s child protection register are on it because of their parents’ drug or alcohol misuse and around a third of children in care in Fife are affected by their parents’ substance misuse—and executive director of social work Stephen Moore believes these figures may underestimate the true extent of the problem.

However, it is not all bad news as there is evidence that more than half of all heroin addicts want to be drug-free and in Fife the number of people accessing treatment for drug and alcohol addictions has trebled following a redesign of services.

Recent figures show that 190 people sought help from NHS Fife’s addictions service last June, against just 63 the previous year and that pattern continued over the next three months.

The increase in clients came after the opening of five drop-in centres across the region, one of which is open until 7pm, which allow addicts to turn up without having to be referred by a GP.

In addition, Fife Constabulary are committed to ridding the region’s streets of illegal drugs and on Friday announced a further two seizures as part of their ongoing crackdown.

Over the next few days, we will be looking at Fife’s drug problem from the point of view of those determined to eradicate or curb the effects of illicit substances.

We will be speaking to the police who have drug dealers under surveillance every single day, Fife DAAT, the NHS and other agencies committed to helping people kick the habit and rebuild their lives.

We will also be speaking to local and national politicians to hear their ideas on what the answers are to improve things in the future.