action in closing down its clubhouse in the wake of two drug arrests on its premises.

It goes without saying that the one man still awaiting an appearance in court is innocent until proven guilty and has not had his day in court. There has been one other conviction.

But PHC's quick action in this case should go a long way in telling people in the Warwick community that the club will not tolerate the drugs trade and that the facilities will be lost to the whole community if there is even a hint of suspicion that they are being abused.

Bermuda churches and workmen's clubs are often the most important glues holding individual neighbourhoods together and are often led by those who are leaders in their different local communities. Often the workmen's clubs and sports clubs were build with "sweat equity'', by members coming together in their spare time to build their clubs block by block while thousands of volunteer hours have gone into keeping the clubs running and thriving.

It is a shame that their legacy should be tarnished by allegations of drug dealing and it is right that the clubs should say that enough is enough.

If Bermuda is going to get a grip on the drugs trade, then the message needs to come from these community leaders and institutions that illegal acts of any kind will not be tolerated.

Clearly, solving the drugs problem requires a multi-faceted approach which addresses supply and demand. But the trade itself must be driven out of popular gathering places and the dealers need to be to be made to feel like pariahs in their neighbourhoods.

DRUGS IN SCHOOL EDT Drugs in school There is good news and bad news in the latest schools drug survey, published in today's paper.

The good news? Students are less likely to try or be regular users of alcohol or tobacco than they were ten years ago. That suggests that the message that alcohol and tobacco are unhealthy and dangerous is getting through and should mean fewer young people will ever get into the habits of drinking or smoking cigarettes, both of them powerful, albeit legal, drugs. The bad news is that more students are likely to either be trying or be regular users of marijuana than they were a decade ago, according to the survey.

Although the proportion is lower than it is for alcohol, the fact that 13.6 percent of students are regularly using marijuana (more than regular cigarette users) is troubling.

The myths that marijuana is not addictive and is not bad for you clearly still carry some weight among young people and need to be dispelled.

Education is the key to solving this problem, although it needs to come in two parts. One part should emphasise the risk of using the drug, both in health terms and in terms of the criminal justice system. The second part needs to show how people who do not use drugs are much more successful in life.

Then the trend which has seen fewer students use alcohol and tobacco will carry over to illegal drugs as well.