Health Minister Patrice Minors is right to be launching a probe into the finances of anti-drug agencies that receive Government funding.

There is a risk with any charitable organisation that they will become top-heavy and bureaucratic, meaning that public and private donations go not to the people they are intended for but to well-paid executives and officials.

That's not to say that charities should have no management, nor that they should be poorly qualified and under-paid.

But any organisation will tend over time to add staff and facilities that drain funds from the organisation's intended goal. They should be accountable, and that goes more for charities than for private companies which are held accountable by their shareholders.

So Mrs. Minors is right to launch this review. Agencies dealing with fighting drugs should be held to particularly high standards because of the high stakes that are involved and because their credibility is so fragile.