Keith Hellawell carries the weight of the world's troubles on his shoulders.

Drugs, or the need to fund a drug habit, are the motivating force behind a large proportion of crimes committed in this country and Mr Hellawell, the drugs Czar, has been charged with drawing up a successful strategy to stamp out the problem.

It is a tough challenge. If he succeeds, he will change the face of society. If he doesn't, he will find himself out of a job. The former West Yorkshire Chief Constable took up the post of drugs Czar amidst a blaze of publicity two years ago. It was the first time a Government had ever acknowledged that a coherent and long-term strategy for tackling the issue of drugs was needed.

But what exactly has he done since his fanfare arrival?

Immediately after being appointed he drew up his ten-year strategy, called Tackling Drugs to Build a Better Britain. The key force in the strategy is the string of Drug Action Teams (Dats) which have been set up across the country.

Their aim is to tackle the problem at ground level and key organisations such as schools, the police and health authorities have all joined forces to draw up a relevant strategy for the area.

The Oxfordshire Dat has three-pronged attack looking at the problem with regards to education, criminal justice and health and housing.

Mr Hellawell has come in for tough criticism in recent months. Critics say he's not up to the job because there's no tangible sign of the drugs problem improving - if anything, in recent years the situation appears to have got even worse.

Indeed, statistics show that more than half of Oxfordshire youngsters aged between 15 and 16 have tried an illicit drug.

But, with the confidence that only a former Chief Constable could have, Mr Hellawell has dismissed the criticism as 'rubbish'.

He says: "The negative publicity I have had recently has come from leaks and speculation from people who have chosen not to declare who they are. "I just ignore it. I know what has to be done and I'm getting on with the job."

Mr Hellawell says his strategy is laying the foundations for the next phase of the fight against drugs.

He can hide behind the fact that it will take years for any meaningful conclusions to be drawn because the policy takes a long-term view.

In fact, he is surprisingly pleased with his achievements so far.

He says: "What I have achieved is setting up a strategy that was not in place before. You have to do the groundwork and lay the foundations before anything else can be done." Mr Hellawell says, if anything, his greatest crime is that he is not a showman and he spends his time getting on with the job rather than fighting for headlines.

He says: "I'm not into soundbites - they're not my sort of thing.

"I could set up having my picture taken by the 100th person who has been on a rehabilitation programme, say, but I am not going to do that."

Critics have put Mo Mowlam, the Minister in charge of tackling the drugs problem, forward as a possible candidate for Mr Hellawell's job, especially in the wake of her admission that she smoked dope as a young woman and her sustained pressure to see cannabis legalised for medical use. They say that her more liberal approach is far more realistic than Mr Hellawell's Zero Tolerance attitude.

And the fact that he is a former police officer is seen by many as being a hindrance rather than a help.

But Mr Hellawell asserts that he has been a supporter of research into the medical effects of cannabis for several years - he just hasn't shouted it from the rooftops.

And he maintains that his experience leads him to believe that decriminalising cannabis for recreational use would open the flood-gates for wide-scale drug abuse. He says: "It's the thin end of the wedge argument. Legalisation would worsen the situation.

"Even in Holland they are trying to tighten things up now."

It all means that he vehemently refutes the idea that Dr Mowlam would be a better choice for the job.

He says: "Mo Mowlam is not better suited to the job. All of this is tripe. It's rubbish."

Mr Hellawell is a Government advisor, not a member of the Government. He has been appointed, not elected. He says: "I am not a minister. I cannot spend money. I am not elected, my exact status is Special Advisor to the Prime Minister."

He may not have to worry about winning votes but he's hardly in a position to rest on any laurels.

Tangible successes are needed in the fight against drugs for a man whose contract is up for review next year.

Story date: Thursday 03 February

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