IT doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that the island has a huge drug and alcohol problem. You only have to look at the newspapers to get some idea of the extent of it.

Seemingly more than 95 per cent of the cases that end up before the courts have some connection to drug or alcohol use; youth violence, physical abuse, traffic offences, drug selling and importation, theft, forgery and embezzlement. From all reports, it's pretty clear that current attempts to cure the country of this disease have been pretty futile.

What, one asks, is going on?

Why has there been such a failure at making greater inroads in tackling such a huge problem - probably one of the most serious issues Bermuda currently faces, bigger perhaps than the failing tourist industry?

Those who head up current anti-drug efforts need to be challenged; those in positions of influence need to begin to move in a more coherent and successful direction. The problem is that there have been too many well-meaning individuals in positions of power who have no real training in the drug and alcohol field.

These people have been making decisions that radically affect the administration of drug and alcohol rehabilitation across the island. However, without a solid understanding of the problem such administration can only further compound the problem.

Sadly, addiction in Bermuda can only get worse before people, the general public, realise that such attempts are simply not working. How bad does it have to get before we come to this conclusion? The dealers are marketing their product now to young children. How many lives will be destroyed before we come to grips with this very serious issue?

The fact our current strategy is failing has been underscored recently by the collapse of several of Bermuda's better-known drug treatment and prevention agencies. One of the problems in Bermuda, one that seems to exist at many of our public and private institutions, is that "personalities" rather than ethics tend to dominate. People with enormous egos (and correspondingly diminished critical faculties) take control of these agencies and reasoning and rationality go out the window.

It should be recognised that we are not unique with this problem. Other countries have been struggling too for even longer. But since 1935, with the rapid growth of Alcoholics Anonymous, effective treatment of the disease of addiction has been increasingly refined. Strategies have been developed by a significant number of institutions that do work.

These strategies are based on a profound understanding of the nature of the disease - not by someone's well-meaning good intentions. Examples of such success stories can be found at treatment centres as diverse as Rutgers University, the Hazelden Clinic and the Betty Ford Clinic.

Then why, one wonders aren't we in Bermuda hitching our wagon to one of these institutions, one with a proven track record?

Millions of dollars have been wasted on half-hearted attempts to solve our drug situation. Why has it failed? We know we have the financial resources to engage the services of top professionals from these institutions. Is it because the people who have taken control in Bermuda simply don't have the knowledge necessary to be wielding that control?

How much more serious does the situation need to get before we put the people in control who have the necessary understanding of the problem in order to implement a solution? After all, you wouldn't hand the responsibility of conducting surgery on a patient with a broken back to a general practitioner or, worse, a banker.

Currently, there are a significant number of people working in the addiction field. Most of them work using a 12-step model for recovery. Few of them have in-depth training in the addiction field. Recently, a professional was brought into the island with a completely incompatible philosophy to those already in the field. The results were catastrophic; the professional was sent packing and the damage created has yet to be resolved.

A strategy that's going to work on the island needs to embrace the whole drug and alcohol field from prevention services, prisons and the courts to rehabilitation facilities. We need a coherent and transparent system founded on proven methods. Education has to be a key element. The Bermuda Government needs to employ people who know what they are doing and give them the power to implement an effective islandwide programme that incorporates all the diverse agencies.

One would think this would be obvious. But, sadly, many people currently working in addictions are functioning without effective training. Frequently, people have been hired without any prior experience. The result has been a revolving-door policy in which it has become acceptable practice for addicts to go in and out of treatment countless times, never finding sobriety. This is a major reason that the problem in Bermuda is getting worse and has probably led to a belief that it's not possible to break free from addiction.

The problem, though enormous, can be licked - but only if Government takes it seriously enough to engage appropriate expertise, people seconded from successful institutions who are given the authority to implement an island-wide programme.

Bermuda has an amazing economy; we can afford top professionals affiliated with the leading drug and alcohol centres.

The problem is serious. Let's use our money wisely.