IN A WEEK when Lancashire's coroners graphically spelled out the toll of death and misery caused by the country's biggest social evil, drug abuse, Home Secretary Jack Straw's pledge in response is encouraging.

For he detailed his determination - and that of the police - to deal with the drugs menace.

It is a mighty task that has frustrated governments here and abroad for years as the tentacles of the narcotics trade now reach into virtually very household in the form of an explosion of addiction-feeding burglaries, theft and robberies.

And high hopes will be put on Mr Straw's plan to break the vicious circle of addiction and crime with a new special order giving courts, police and the probation service the right to test suspected drug users on community service sentences.

This measure aims to make drug-addicted offenders prove they are off drugs - and face extended sentences if they are not.

But it is but one step in a broad-fronted war on drugs that the public expects from this new government.

And, as Ribble Valley Tory MP Nigel Evans quite rightly makes plain today, people want proof too that the government will deliver on its pledge to be tough on drugs and drug crimes.

That will require a zero tolerance response from the police and the courts against the traffickers, dealers, pushers and users who are unwilling to reform.

And it will demand a strengthened and focused rehabilitation system - of the kind demanded this week by the coroners in the glare of their exposure of the faults and failings of the GP-prescribed heroin substitute "Methadone" system.

In addition, a concentrated education drive among young people on the danger of drugs is vital. Too many, in this newspaper's experience, believe that drug-use is both acceptable and low-risk.

Thus, when Mr Straw expresses his determination to deal with this evil, we welcome his words - but expect real results.

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