THE subject of drugs is often swept under the carpet but it is a constantly growing problem amongst adults and young people alike. Teenagers may be attracted to illegal drugs for similar reasons as they are to alcohol, which leads to a problem in later life.

This may be because they are curious about the effects, the drugs are easily available, they want the same kind of experience that they get from drinking a lot of alcohol, they enjoy the short term effects, their friends use them, dance drugs are part of the music scene, use seems part of the youth culture, as part of growing up or there is not much attractive recreation provision locally.

The borough of Richmond is no exception to drug misuse and there is now a community safety partnership who deal with the challenges in an approachable way. Drugs and crime are inevitably linked and the partnership is constantly finding way to prevent or make drug use safer.

The partnership is made up of many agencies in the borough and this includes Richmond council and Richmond and Twickenham Primary Care Trust.

The council's arm is the Young Person's Substance Misuse Team which has been operating since 2003, offering services for young people with substance misuse related needs.

It operates various schemes, one being the Detached Drug Project which is an organisation in the voluntary sector that works with young people round drug awareness, education and prevention in Richmond. The project aims to raise awareness about the effects, and how to be more safe around drugs, by working in a relaxed and safe environment.

It also provides tailor made quality drug education in secondary and other settings such as youth clubs, scouts etc. Dan Barnett, drug development worker for young people, says: "If a young person is referred then someone will be able to help them.

"Whether a child is in care, a young offender or they get drugs at school peer pressure is a huge influence.

"This is something we really need to target.

"Drugs are a form of escapism if they get involved they could have been through a hardship or have mental health problems or problems at home. If they are in a peer group where drugs are readily available...

"We are looking at what we are going to do for services for the future. There are lots of ideas for community action.

"We want to look into the health side and not punish but help. I would tell people not to give in to peer pressure and be independent, informed and listen to what the health professionals and teachers are saying.

"If they want information it is available. It is not just about having this much help in schools but having it outside schools too.

"There is a drop in centre at Heatham House and it is groundbreaking for the borough. Kids can just drop in as they like.

"The last time research was conducted the biggest problems in the borough for young people were alcohol and cannabis. It is much quieter here than other boroughs."

Another side to the drug help scheme is the primary care trust. Ivan Calder, is joint commissioning manager for substance misuse , leading a team which is responsible for managing treatment and the wider drug and alcohol agenda within the borough. Treatment starts when a drug user goes to their GP to ask for help in some way and if the team can't encourage the person to give up drugs they will help them find a way to make their lives less chaotic.

Ivan says: "Someone will go to the GP and say something like 'my life is falling apart, I can't hold my job down and I've started using ecstasy and cocaine and dabble a bit in heroin'.

"The GP will tell them to stop or be more helpful and say they can't manage it in the clinic so will refer them on to us. They are then screened to find out if they have a drug problem, alcohol problem or mental health problem.

"They will then be offered an appointment, but they have to work this out as early morning appointments often don't cut it with this crowd.

"An assessment is carried out to see if they require a prescription to cope with the dependency. We build up a relationship and counselling is carried out in most cases. We check their motivation, and find out what they want to get out of this - if they are looking to avoid prison of stop social services taking the children away.

"They may need residential rehab. Research shows that you are four times more likely to achieve giving up drink in rehab than in the community."

There are many partnerships working together to improve and give quality treatment such as the PCT, council, police, probation, youth offending team, drug team and schools.

The relationship between the criminal justice and health services is said to have improved substantially.

"Some people may come and say they want to get off drugs." Ivan explains, "others will say they want to carry on with the drugs, they like the drugs but they don't want the chaos anymore. So we will then have to look at an alternative like methadone treatment.

"Abstention is ideal but we have to be realistic. The positive sides of using methadone far outweigh the negative sides of using heroin.

"There is no set amount of time that someone can be on a programme. It is possible that somebody could be on methadone for the rest of their lives but, as I say, abstention is obviously preferable.

"If somebody is alcohol dependant and they are a mum and holding down a job this will be completely different to someone who is using anything and everything and has lost a leg through using and is trying to avoid going to prison.

"Everybody is looked at differently."