Whether male drug addicts get a residential rehabilitation centre on the Island depends on a major research project to be launched by the National Drug Commission's new chairman Mr. Mansfield Brock.

Mr. Brock has asked former prisons physician Dr. Valerie James to head up a Treatment Committee to look into the issue.

The committee, whose other members are currently being appointed, is also tasked with finding out how many residents are in the throes of drug addiction.

"That sort of research has never been done in Bermuda before.'' Mr. Brock said people were assuming residential rehabs were more successful than out-patient drug addiction treatment centres.

The charitable organisations that form the NDC's fundraising arm include only one addiction treatment centre, Fair Havens, and it is for women only. Mr.

Brock said one of his first tasks as chairman was to conduct research into drug addiction treatment methods.

He also wanted to determine the number of substance abusers on the Island to give the Council Partners a better idea of the size of the drugs scourge.

There was currently no data on how many Bermudians had drug and alcohol problems, he noted. The information would be vital in determining the size of a residential rehab should the NDC opt for that approach.

"A decision has not been made in that area yet,'' Mr. Brock said of a men's rehab.

"We will find out what the best possible treatment methods are and make recommendations on what Bermuda can do. We will also have to evaluate the existing facilities. And until we get that type of information, I can't tell you what we'll do. We may well develop more residential care in Bermuda.'' He noted that in some cases in the United States, residential facilities had had no greater success than out-patient centres.

It was announced at the briefing that the five drug and alcohol fighting charities that make up the Council Partners had already raised $2.5 million privately.

Their public campaign is due to be launched on October 12.

Human Affairs Minister the Hon. Jerome Dill said the fact the Council Partners had raised that amount of money in a matter of months "spoke volumes about their organisational capacity and commitment.'' Apart from Fair Havens, the Council Partners include PRIDE (Parent Resource Institute for Drug Education), Lions Quest life skills school programme, Focus help programme for the homeless and street people who have drug and alcohol problems, and CADA (Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse).

Mr. Brock said that the committee would get a handle on the number of addicts in Bermuda by looking at the numbers of people applying to treatment centres such as Addiction Services and Montrose, the number of people going into the prisons and courts with drug problems.

He was speaking as the Council Partners, a coalition of five anti-drugs charities, prepares to launch a $5 million five-year cash drive.