drug-related offences, Premier Pamela Gordon revealed yesterday.

Speaking at The Council Partners Charitable Trust Advisory Board's annual luncheon at The Princess Hotel, Ms Gordon said the court would be used to refer addicts who commit drug offences to treatment programmes and ultimately "reduce recidivism''.

Ms Gordon declined to elaborate on how the court would work. She said all the details had not yet been worked out.

However, she also outlined other steps Government were taking to rid Bermuda of drugs.

She recalled that when she was Minister of Youth, Sport & Recreation, she asked the sports community to work to make all sports drug free. During the past two years this has been working, she claimed.

Ms Gordon said Government took the lead by requiring that Government employees be drug tested.

And she also said Government's commitment to Bermuda was shown through its commitment to The Council Partners Charitable Trust.

"A country as small as Bermuda has to have social stability,'' Ms Gordon stressed. "A sense of calm, peace and wellbeing must be felt.'' Ms Gordon ended by saying: "all of us have a part to play in saving Bermuda''.

Five different agencies fall under the "umbrella'' of The Council Partners, including The Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse (CADA), Bermuda Life Skills Group, Fair Havens, Focus and Pride.

Those who attended yesterday's meeting also received an update on the work of those agencies.

And The Trust invited a second guest speaker to give a grassroots perspective of Bermuda's drug problem.

Austin Warner, the 1997 winner of the Council Partners Award, offered his personal experience.

Mr. Warner, now with Addiction Services, said the organisation was working on polices that "will work for Bermuda''.

Mr. Warner spoke about being a teenage drug addict and the steps he took to change his life.

He said his life turned around after meeting Judianne Densen Gerber (Dr. Judy) who worked at the US rehabilitation centre he was placed in 28 years ago.

"She believed in me when I didn't believe in myself,'' Mr. Warner said. And he said that was the beginning of his new path in life.

Now the clinical director at Addiction Services and a clergyman, Mr. Warner said his aim was to help Bermuda become the place it was when he first arrived here from Harlem, New York.

"In 1974 this place was a paradise, people didn't have to lock their doors at night and that place is not too far off,'' Mr. Warner said.

He also said the drug problem in Bermuda could be solved if everyone worked together.

"I wouldn't be here in front of you, if I didn't believe we could beat this drug problem,'' he stressed.

Mr. Warner said Addiction Services was in the process of setting up a 24-hour support hotline and expanding their individual and group counselling sessions and life skills programme.