Merciless parents are using their children to peddle drugs on the streets of Bermuda, The Royal Gazette can reveal.

Police Commissioner Jean-Jacques Lemay exposed the shocking truth behind some of the Island's ruthless drug pushers who would go so low as to use their own offspring to make money.

He made the statement at a public meeting at the Pembroke Community Centre on Tuesday night where Pembroke West residents had a chance to discuss the area's drugs problem with the authorities and politicians.

Mr. Lemay was responding to points raised by one woman in the audience, who said: "We need to start from the bottom up in tackling this issue because I'm afraid there's not much hope for the older ones.'' Mr. Lemay asked: "Did you know that youngsters in Bermuda are now being asked by their parents to go out and sell drugs so they can take the money from them at the end of the day? Isn't that sad? "While the technology for us to tackle drugs on our part is available, education is so important as well.

"We can't do it alone. We need the community's help on this one,'' he said.

National Drug Commission chief executive officer Derrick Binns said, while he had not dealt with any cases of parents using their children as drug vendors, "it wouldn't surprise me very much if it is true''.

"It's quite a disturbing idea,'' he said. "Normally you would expect adults and parents to have the best interests of their children at heart.

"This would clearly be a major abuse of the children.'' In regards to tackling the matter, Dr. Binns said, while drug awareness programmes are "essential'', they only have serious impact on a certain part of the population.

"Unfortunately, the parents who are doing this would probably not be affected by such programmes,'' he said. "Everyone knows the impact that parents have on their kids as role models, and asking a child to defy them would be, in most cases, very difficult.'' Dr. Binns continued: "The way to fight it would be to ask any responsible adults who know of any families in which this is happening to come forward and notify the proper authorities.'' Editorial: Page 4 Some parents use their children to peddle drugs, says Lemay He said there was evidence from surveys to suggest that drugs were being used in schools.

"Because of this,'' he explained, "it's not hard to imagine that drugs are being sold in schools too.'' Asked if she knew if Bermuda's children were being made to sell drugs by their parents, Parent Resource Institute for Drug Education (PRIDE) Bermuda executive director Judith Burgess said: "We don't have any firm evidence that it does happen but, quite frankly, we wouldn't be surprised if it does.'' She added: "We feel, if it does go on, this problem would certainly not be something new and has probably been going on for quite some time.

In regards to what age groups she felt this issue would affect, Mrs. Burgess said: "Probably the older ones but we cannot definitely say that it's just them.'' She added: "Based on my experience, it seems the low moral standards of these parents will allow them to do anything. There's a lot of money involved and it's a way of attaining quicker riches.

"Young people need someone to look up to and emulate and I can't see that kids growing up in this environment would be able to live by any other moral values than those of their parents.

"You can't generalise, but research has shown that there are cycles in families which, when begun, are very difficult to break.'' Asked if this news would cause her to work even harder in educating the community about the dangers of drugs, Mrs. Burgess said: "I think we'll just continue to do what we've always been doing. We'll talk to parents and carry on working with young people in schools.

"We think it's important now to make kids aware of drugs at an early age.

This is our community and we'll continue fighting to make it a drug free one.'' Mrs. Burgess stressed that she agreed with Mr. Lemay in saying: "Solving the drug problem is a community problem.

"The Police can't do it all on their own, they need everyone to help. If people aren't working towards solutions then the problem will never really go away. We all have to help.''