war on drugs.

That became clear again on Friday when the Opposition United Bermuda Party tore into the Government over its supposed inaction in this "war'' and called for a stepped up effort to stop drug importation.

It is very easy to declare a tough new stance on drugs which wins headlines and too often produces little or nothing in the way of results.

The hard part of ending drug abuse -- and it is a scourge which must be ended -- is in reducing demand for illegal drugs. If that can be done, then supply will dry up. Yet this is the undramatic, tedious struggle which fails to hit the headlines or the public consciousness. It is also frustrating. Some recovering addicts will fall off the wagon and have to start all over again; some young people will choose to ignore advice and will experiment with drugs -- and some of them will in turn become addicts.

But declaring war and turning the victims of drug addiction into the "enemy'' is certain to lead to defeat, or at best stalemate.

This is not to say that there are not plenty of enemies out there: The people who finance and distribute drugs need to be tracked down and locked away for a very long time before their wealth and power overwhelms the efforts of any democracy to stop them.

But the UBP's arguments in Saturday's newspaper will do no more to stop drugs from coming in than the Government's alleged inaction.

Shadow Ministers Michael Dunkley and Kim Young would have done well to have acknowledged that the alternative sentencing scheme launched earlier this month was a real demonstration of how Government is tackling all aspects of the problem.

And plans to withdraw Police from interdicting drugs shipments, thus enabling them to increase their presence on the streets, could well cut the distribution of drugs across the Island.

Similarly, Health Minister Nelson Bascome has been working hard to fund and establish more detox and rehabilitation services for drug abusers -- key elements in reducing demand.

Having said that, the UBP does have legitimate grounds for criticism of the Government, not for having done nothing but for not having moved quickly enough.

Years after the drugs court idea -- which this newspaper supports -- was first aired, it is still not in place, in part because it has been superseded by the alternative sentencing project.

But as with the delays in Police recruitment from overseas, there is no reason why aspects of that programme, such as the drugs court and mandatory rehabilitation could not begin immediately.

It is this that the UBP should be criticising -- this Government has a tendency to study a subject to death before moving on it. There is no denying that good decisions stem from good information, but some ideas make so much sense on their own that they should -- must -- be started immediately.