The continuing war on drugs and the effort to rehabilitate those affected was the renewed mission statement issued at a gathering of Council Partners Charitable Trust (CPCT) supporters yesterday.

And speaking during a luncheon at the Fairmont Hamilton Princess Hotel, Henry Smith, chairman of the charity, said more involvement from the community is key to promoting zero tolerance.

Last year's fundraising efforts of just under $1.5 million did not go unnoticed during Mr. Smith's address to the 120 people in attendance and he took the time to thank them, all of whom he said contributed to enhancing the charity in one way or another.

"If anyone thinks that what we do is easy, it's not," he said. "There is a tremendous amount of work that goes into what we do. We have a drug and alcohol abuse challenge in Bermuda that's very constant - but I think there has been significant change. I think that more people understand that alcohol and drugs are easily abused and not only represent problems for the individuals who do so, but also for the community in which they live."

And Mr. Smith said that entering the year 2002, CPCT will step up fundraising efforts and donate to services fighting to rehabilitate those transfixed by drugs and alcohol.

Among the speakers who echoed Mr. Smith's comments were the National Drug Commission's (NDC) chairman Malcolm Butterfield and newly appointed executive director of the teen women's facility FairHavens, Anne Vance - who has extensive experience in chemical dependency healthcare.

Mr. Butterfield said the NDC will continue to work alongside CPCT to ensure that the public is educated about the ravages of drug and alcohol abuse in the community.

"The NDC are on the way to developing a national plan," he said. "We want to be quite clear about the vision we have - have we done well, what have we not done well, what is our strategy. We at the NDC must be accountable to all of you. Our objective is to gain your confidence."

Ms Vance said she has seen the ravages of substance abuse over a 21 year period, having worked in various counselling aspects of the field.

And as head of FairHavens, she hoped to find new avenues to successfully rehabilitate women who are addicted to drugs.

"Drugs can be legal or illegal," she said. "There is no cure for it, one is dependant on it for life. In the US substance abuse and addiction account for over $140 billion of their soon to be one trillion dollar health care bill - and more than half the deaths in the US are drug or alcohol connected.

"At Fair Havens our programme is evolving. We will soon become members of the North American Association for Alcoholism and Drug Treatment and the European Association for the Treatment of Addicts for the next few months."

And in a plea to keep those in attendance focused on combating the strangle hold that substance abuse has on the community Mr. Smith added: "It's not about our differences, it's not about black and white, not about Bermudians and non- Bermudians - it's about ourselves, our loved ones and our children. It's about our present and our future. I hope that we can succeed in ridding this terrible scourge of drugs."