LEGALISING illicit substances would not end the drugs problem, the Minister of State to the Government, Mr Pat Rabbitte, said.

Opening debate on the first report of the ministerial task force on reducing demand for drugs, he said that while legalising drugs would reduce petty drug related crime it would not eliminate serious, organised crime.

The priority was to put organised crime out of business permanently. Any solution which moved the problem sideways would not work. The case for legalising "soft" drugs was not convincing.

Liberalising the drug laws had been tried in some countries, including the Netherlands and Switzerland. The approaches adopted in both countries are different and the jury is still out on whether legalisation and/or decriminalisation has a role to play in achieving an effective solution.

Mr Rabbitte referred to steps already taken by the Government, including doubling to £9 million the Eastern Health Board's budget to improve its drugs services and increased policing and community support.

Many communities still felt compelled to take direct action to deal with the drugs problem in their areas. It is understandable that, given what has been perceived to be an absence of a clear and convincing response from the public authorities to date, communities may tend to find heart in resorting to such action. But by leaving the root causes of drug addiction untouched, they are ultimately futile."

He called for the full support and involvement of communities in implementing the findings of the report and he welcomed the recent initiative of the Garda Commissioner in re deploying extra gardai into the worst affected areas.

The Fianna Fail spokesman on justice, Mr John O'Donoghue, said the task force report was "long on aspirations and short on specifics".

Methadone maintenance and harm minimisation were secondary and residual. An inter agency approach to drug abuse must stress to each individual the absolute necessity for them to accept responsibility for their actions and that must be reinforced throughout treatment.

The present methadone maintenance treatment programme was voluntary and unreliable. There should be a central compulsory notification system to which every doctor treating an addict would have to subscribe.

The debate was adjourned.