They are the scourge of Bermuda...the bait which lures youngsters into an endless spiral of addiction, depression and crime.

They are the raw materials of hardened dealers who slink up and down Court Street, Ord Road and Broome Street, flogging their wares in darkened alleys and on dimly-lit street corners.

They are the rich commodities of the drug barons, the overlords who ship or fly huge catchments to our shores, desperate for more dollars from teenagers trapped in the hopeless loop.

Now they are the prime target of a dedicated team of professionals, desperate to rescue Bermuda from the grip of drug smugglers.

But the National Drugs Commission, under the guidance of a new chairman, will not target the traffickers.

Instead, their focus is on the customers -- the addicts who want to be freed from the clutches of dealers.

Malcolm Butterfield, who took the reins of the NDC from Mansfield (Jimmy) Brock last month, will steer toward those who want to be helped.

And he is blunt about it. If users do not want to be clean, they will not be helped.

If young addicts are the most likely to reform, they will reap most of the rewards from the NDC's $1.9 million budget.

The new chairman is a businessman, an accounting executive who was once Bermuda's Registrar of Companies.

He knows that to start winning the drugs war, he needs to put his resources to optimum use.

And he goes to battle planning a three-pronged attack on the enemies of a drug-free Bermuda.

First, he will launch a media blitz -- issuing pamphlets, staging forums and TV debates and running advertising campaigns using role models as spokesmen -- to raise awareness about the drugs menace.

Then will come the NDC's commitment to setting up world-class treatment centres on the Island, building on the five main rehabilitation units already operating.

And the final thrust will be to put addicts in those clinics, not behind bars.

Bermuda's drug court, less than a year away, will "sentence'' users to get help, not jail terms.

But, as Mr. Butterfield says, it will be no easy ride...and offenders appearing before the new court will have to prove their willingness to change in a strict screening process.

"Bermuda must move with the times,'' he says. "We must look more at a rehabilitative process, rather than an incarceration process.

"Addicts in Bermuda's prisons are just going through a revolving door. We also have to accept the fact that they are predominantly black, whether we like it or not.

"But if we don't start to turn the problem around, the quality of life on this Island is going to decrease. That means increased crime, an impact on physical abuse and family abuse affecting children, wives and spouses. There is also a very serious effect on employment.'' He promised the NDC was dedicated to funding improvements and expansion plans in the Island's main treatment centres -- Salvation Army Harbour Light, Fair Haven, Turning Point, Bermuda Youth Counselling Services and Addiction Services, now being reorganised.

Dr. Derrick Binns, the Commission's chief executive officer, adds: "We do recognise that we do not have sufficient beds and scope to deal with the scale of the problem we anticipate. We are talking about building upon what already exists.'' Mr. Butterfield describes the 365-day countdown to the drug court as "aggressive but realistic''.

And he underscores one of the Commission's six main objectives -- to educate young people -- by promising to help them make "life choices''.

He says: "Without sounding like we are going to separate the two, our focus is going to be the young people because we have got to preserve the treasures of the Island.

"We are more likely to be able to help a young person to recover than an older person who's been on drugs for 20 or 30 years.'' Older users, who want to be helped off drugs, will not be forgotten.

"We are going to continue to energise the drug rehabilitation movement in Bermuda,'' he adds.

"One of the things that the NDC is doing is developing a very effective public relations exercise.

"...Getting people to realise that it's not just going to be the NDC and drug agencies that help addicts, it's going to have to be the entire community of this Island realising that they have to be honest about the problem.

"The thing then is to actively have on-Island rehabilitative centres that are credible, that will be acknowledged not just locally but internationally so that people will know they are getting the very best of treatment.'' Mr. Butterfield, the self-styled "lay person'' and Dr. Binns, the drugs professional, are full of congratulations for awareness group PRIDE and the Commission's own support staff.

And they also thank Mr. Brock, a man whom Mr. Butterfield describes as having "very different leadership skills''.

"Mr. Brock was the right man at the right time,'' he says. "But now the NDC needs to step up the ante. It now needs to take the programmes and initiatives started under Mr. Brock and bring them forward.'' The age-old fight against drugs remains the same. But the Commission, just six years old, heads into the 21st Century in new hands and with a new mission to start winning the war.