Well-publicised failures in the Island's drug treatment system came under the microscope in the House of Assembly yesterday.

Opening the Budget debate on the Ministry of Health and Family Services, Minister Nelson Bascome said the National Drug Commission (NDC) will be focusing on Bermuda's youth.

Along with launching a public awareness campaign aimed at them, Mr. Bascome said the agency will also implement a pilot project aimed at the youth in the St. Monica's Mission (42nd Street) community.

He also said although the Fairhavens treatment facility for women is a private organisation, the NDC will work with the board to ensure the needs of the three women currently in treatment are met.

However, Shadow Minister Michael Dunkley still had harsh words for the Island's treatment system.

"What we have witnessed over the past few months is the collapse of our treatment system.

"It is our opinion that the Ministry has the ultimate responsibility."

But Mr. Bascome pointed out that his Ministry had limited control of whether private organisations remained open.

"If I had the power to keep Fairhavens and Camp Spirit open, I would," he said.

"There's the difference between power and responsibility," Mr. Dunkley replied. "It's not about the power. Those days are gone."

And when the Shadow Minister made a reference to Saddam Hussein and his love of power, committee chairman Wayne Perinchief warned him: "You're swinging pretty wide with that one."

Mr. Dunkley also claimed there were 30 women in need of treatment, to which Mr. Bascome said: "I want the list. I've never seen 30 women in treatment in Bermuda ever."

But the Opposition MP said he had spoken to professionals who said this.

He also questioned how the NDC could function effectively without an appointed board and why the Island's national plan on drugs still had not been approved by the Government.

"If it was important, they would have been burning the midnight oil to do so," Mr. Dunkley said.

When Mr. Dunkley criticised the staff shortage which has plagued the NDC for several months, Mr. Bascome clarified that the organisation was not filling the posts until a new CEO was appointed. That person, he said, would then have a say in the hiring decisions.

Citing the $16.7 million allocated to the NDC since 1998 compared to just over $4 million by the United Bermuda Party (UBP) during its last three years in power, Mr. Dunkley asked: "Show us how this money has been spent. If you look at $17 million, what would it cost to send an addict away (for treatment) and ensure their recovery ... $10,000.

"We should have 1,700 addicts back on the road to recovery. I don't think we can show the results or the money."

Meanwhile, Opposition Whip Maxwell Burgess questioned the relevance of the NDC.

"The day has come when we must ask ourselves if the NDC is as relevant today as it was when it was born.

"We can't keep looking to the old NDC with new drug challenges. Is that approach the 21st century approach? We must ask ourselves whether it is money well spent. At every corner, our children re far more pressured than we could ever bend our minds around."

Mr. Burgess said the youth needed to be encouraged to achieve by legal means.

"We must say that illegal behaviour is not acceptable. We have to say we are not going to tolerate it. There's a marriage between the user and seller. The extent we cut down on the number of users is how we will eradicate the sellers," he said.

Government Whip Ottiwell Simmons expressed shock and disbelief that the drug trade in Bermuda was booming.

"It's critical that we come to grips with the drug trade in Bermuda," he said. "At last report, Police said they had intercepted $40 million worth of drugs. If that kind of bulk is coming through, then everybody must be on drugs.

"I cannot see how so much drugs can be consumed by such a small population," he said.

And he defended the funds allocated to the NDC.

"If you have that kind of money in the drug business, then we need a lot of money poured into the defence of the drug trade.

"If it's going to save our children...it's worth it."