A RECENT article headed "Fear about drugs outweighs reality" told Evening News readers that a survey showed that the fear of illegal drugs was unwarranted.

The reasoning of the Worcestershire Substance Misuse Action Team was that 75 per cent of respondents believed that drugs had no impact on their lives. I fear this conclusion is wrong.

I'm a pretty average bloke. Yet I know three decent, and far from deprived families that have been devastated through their younger members' addiction to heroin.

Through Evening News reports I also know that when I walk along High Street, Worcester I am likely to recognise someone who has served a prison sentence for heroin related crimes.

What's more, I've personally had to safely dispose of a blood-covered syringe left on a pavement, and I am sure that a proportion of the cost of every High Street purchase is to offset thefts by drug addicts.

I draw a different conclusion from the survey. I think it points to people's failure to recognise heroin's devastating effect. We need to face the problem, reinstating government funding for drug education in schools and stop accepting being "high on drugs" as mitigation in the courts.

Some of the day-to-day risks that we face may be "manufactured" but the reality is that heroin addiction is a real threat to society.

ANDY ROBERTS,

County Councillor,

Claines.