injection of cash in a bid to improve the service.

And Health Minister Nelson Bascome is also considering setting up a training centre in a bid to boost the number of qualified drugs counsellors practising in Bermuda.

Mr. Bascome revealed that various drugs programmes are currently under review after a top defence attorney described the current situation as "in crisis''.

Last week lawyer Victoria Pearman told Senior Magistrate Will Francis how defendant Dwayne Gilbert was unable to secure a bed at the Salvation Army Harbour Light centre because it was full and also had an extensive waiting list.

The Island's only other residential centre for men, His House, is currently looking for new premises, while other units, such as Turning Point, do not provide 24 hour supervision.

Gilbert, who has had a drug problem for the last ten years, was eventually given a nine month prison sentence after admitting to breaking and entering.

"All I know is that we're in crisis and there are a significant number of people screaming out for help,'' Ms Pearman said.

"They're declaring a war on drugs but there's nowhere to put the prisoners of war.

"The ideal situation for my client would be for him to go to a facility where he could stay in full time. His risk of re-offending would then be minimised and at the same time he'd be getting treatment.

"It would be a shame to think that you have to go to jail in order to get rehabilitated. We have to have more programmes rather than just chuck people in jail.

"We need something done quickly. I know funding is always going to be an issue but it's not cheap to have these people sitting up in jail.'' When contacted by The Royal Gazette Health Minister Nelson Bascome admitted that more needed to be done to get addicts to kick their habit.

And although he refused to speculate over whether another centre will be built to take pressure off the already over-subscribed Harbour Light facility, he is hopeful that more money can be spent on the problem.

"We are reviewing all our programmes at the moment that come under the Ministry,'' he said.

"We are hoping to revamp the budgets and upgrade those right away so within the year we should see some changes.

"I agree that we need to get up to speed in the way we treat addicts but hopefully there will be things happening.

"But the critical issue is training. The other thing I want to focus on is having individuals, particularly males, who are trained in the field and are available for employment. We don't have enough Bermudians who are trained.

"What we're looking at is putting in place some training facility, especially for males. We have a number of females working in drug counselling but there is a shortage of men.''