become a "political football'' in the imminent election.

Mr. Alastair Macdonald is anxious that the formation of the board of the Commission does not become an election battleground.

Chairman of the interim steering committee which is working to prepare the way for the National Drug Commission, Mr. Macdonald was speaking to Hamilton Lions.

Comparing the work of the committee to a pregnancy, he said: "We have not completely delivered the baby yet. The next step is the appointment of a board.

"It is rather unfortunate that this is occurring on what everyone thinks is the eve of an election. The political atmosphere is bound to be highly charged.

"I am quite worried that the board appointments may become an unnecessary political football played between the three political parties.

"When the board is chosen there will be full consultation with all the political parties. This should be handled carefully so the `baby' is not still-born.'' He stressed that the board should be made up of high calibre people who have the confidence of the community. He added: "They should reflect the community of Bermuda and be non partisan.'' Mr. Macdonald's fears arose after the stormy passage of the bill creating the Commission through Parliament. He said: "The legislation had its fair share of combativeness and difficulty but in the end we have a very good and very workable legislation for this organisation.'' The chairman said the committee has been working on four initiatives -- treatment, research, community development and young people.

It has a committee looking into how treatment will be funded and another on setting up effective treatment programmes.

Mr. Macdonald stressed it was vital that accurate figures were in Bermuda so that research was not based on anecdotal, or unpublished facts.

He particularly mentioned the need for figures about the use of drugs and alcohol by school children and young people.

Mr. Macdonald said: "Hardly an individual in this community is not concerned about the state of affairs with young people in our community.

"We need to focus on the high risk young people. The ones who fall through the cracks.'' Mr. Macdonald said the National Drug Commission board should be in place some time in September and there will be smooth changeover as the committee hands over the reins.