Pubdate: Thu, 30 Dec 1999 Source: Scotsman (UK) Copyright: The Scotsman Publications Ltd 1999 Contact: http://www.scotsman.com/ Forum: http://www.scotsman.com/ Author: Frank Urquhart And Tom Little CALL TO STEP UP RESEARCH INTO CAUSES OF DRUG USE A LEADING health manager has called for detailed research into the cause of the spiralling drug problem, following a spate of deaths among young people. The demand was made after the number of drug-related deaths in a single year hit new peaks in both the Strathclyde and Grampian police force areas. The toll of victims across Scotland in 1999 is also expected to create a grim record. A post-mortem examination is expected to be carried out today on one of the most recent victims, Kerry-Ann Kirk, 15. It is expected to confirm the Coatbridge schoolgirl died after experimenting with methadone, the heroin substitute. If the cause is confirmed as methadone, Kerry-Ann's death will bring the drug-related death toll in Strathclyde this year to 146, while yesterday it was reported that Grampian police were handling their 31st case of the year. Inquiries have included claims that Craig Rennie, 23, of Ellon had taken ecstasy before he died on Christmas Day. Frank Harnett, the general manager of Grampian Health Board, said in his annual review that drug-taking in Grampian was different from other parts of Scotland . A number of reports, published earlier this year, have already uncovered disturbing evidence of the scale of heroin abuse among young people in Aberdeen and in towns along the Buchan coast. Ninety per cent of all heroin abusers attending a drugs counselling service in the city are now injecting the drug instead of smoking it - compared with a Scottish average of 60 per cent. They are also injecting heroin at an earlier age than anywhere else in Scotland. A drugs conference in Aberdeenshire also heard earlier this year that one in five 21-year-old men registered with Fraserburgh's main medical practice are heroin addicts. Mr Hartnett emphasised that drugs are an increasing problem for the north-east. "One important message is to recognise that drug taking in Grampian is different to other parts of Scotland. We are not sure why this is the case, which points to the need for more research. "Another important message is to recognise that a solution to the whole problem must lie not only without colleagues in the local authorities, the police, the NHS trusts and other members of the three drug action teams in Grampian, but also with whole communities. "To succeed in dealing with all of the many facets of this truly awful problem, we will need a collaborative, agreed approach based on evidence and supported by appropriate resources." Kerry-Ann's death, after a Christmas party, provoked Donald Dewar, the First Minister, to warn parents two days ago that it would be a "long haul" to defeat the scourge of drugs. Kerry-Ann was said to have had no experience with drugs before her ill-fated experiment. Mark Stack, 23, the elder brother of Kerry-Ann's boyfriend Sean, 16, is a recovering heroin addict who admitted it may have been his methadone that she took. Kerry-Ann's mother, Marie, 39, said yesterday: "The funeral is going to be in the new year now. That will be the worst time because then it will be final. Until then I know that she is still with us. That gives me some comfort, but when she gets buried that will be the end. I'm really just biding my time just now though I'm grieving inside." Kevin Stack, Mark's father, of School Street, Coatbridge, denied that Kerry-Ann had access to methadone at the party in his home. "These stories are all lies. There was definitely no methadone being passed about at the party. I have spoken to some of the girls who were there and they assured me they never took any methadone in my house." A drug courier caught with UKP99,000 worth of heroin was jailed yesterday for five years. The High Court in Edinburgh heard that William Smith, 30, was being chased by money lenders over debts run up as a result of his own drug habit. Smith agreed to pick up the heroin and make two deliveries for UKP200. Detectives were watching as Smith returned to his home at Culrain Street, Glasgow, last September with the drugs and they followed him when he left later. He was detained as he was making his first delivery. At an earlier hearing Smith, unemployed, had pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of heroin. Sentence had been deferred until yesterday for background reports. - --- MAP posted-by: Doc-Hawk