treatment programmes are.

The interim steering committee of the fledgling National Drug Strategy has hired a Canadian expert to conduct a "clinical audit'' of existing programmes.

Mr. Alastair Macdonald, chairman of the committee, said Dr. Garth Martin of the Addiction Research Foundation in Toronto will visit the Island for one week in February and submit a report.

"Everyone would admit that our current treatment programmes are sorely lacking in resources, and are going to need substantially more support in the future,'' Mr. Macdonald said.

The audit will give "a clear feel and idea of what is needed immediately in terms of additional resources and additional help,'' he said.

"People are slowly realising the size of the problem,'' Mr. Macdonald said of addiction on the Island. "It's a huge problem.'' Dr. Martin will not charge a per diem, so his airfare and hotel bill will make up the lion's share of the cost of the audit, which Mr. Macdonald said will not exceed $6,000.

Programmes at Addiction Services, the Montrose Substance Abuse Centre, and Reachout Services will be audited, he said.

The committee wanted Dr. Martin because he is independent and has extensive experience in the field, he added.

Mr. Bryant Richards, coordinator of Addiction Services, said he expected the audit will show a need for more staff and facilities. Marijuana use is prevalent in Bermuda, heroin is making a comeback, and cocaine use is waning, but conservatively estimated at 30 percent in the 18 to 26 age group, he said.

Mr. Edward Richardson, coordinator of Montrose, said more than five percent of the population could have a problem with alcohol, "perhaps the number one problem drug.'' ON HAND -- Ms Elicia Smith is put under pressure by Mr. Reginald Cann as he practices an old oriental healing art. Shiatsu, or Acupressure, was developed in Japan as a means of increasing the body's resistance to stress and tiredness. Mr. Cann demonstrated the art, which involves pressing various parts of the body, during an International Race weekend exhibition at Number One shed in Front Street.