A bright ray is shining this weekend from the beacon of hope for the future of this area.

For throughout next week parents in Lawkholme will be leading a fightback aginst drug dealers in Keighley.

The importance of this inititaive should not be underestimated. Many agencies and groups have spent a lot of time, effort and money driving home a varity of anti-Drugs messages.

One of these determined efforts lead to setting up the Lawkholme Community Drugs Initiative. The driving force behind this is the parents themselves, who have grown increasingly concerned about the involvement of some local people in the drugs trade.

The community has taken ownership of the issues, and next week will be able to find out the precise and up-to-date information about drugs and the people who take, deal and profit from them.

The sad fact is that a catalyst for this initiative was the deaths of four young men from Keighley - including teenagers from the Lawkholme area - believed to have links with gang conflicts.

Out of those tragedies has grown this great opportunity for people to be better informed about the impact of drugs.

As Councillor David Emmott says, the event, which is open to all sections of the community, could - and should - make a difference.

The complex issues are not going to be solved overnight and there's an awful lot of work to do. But with the community galvanised and ready for positive action next week could - and will - be seen as a major breakthrough in the war on drugs.

As the old campaign slogan said, the way forward is by 'tackling drugs together'.