The apparent fall in crime in the Bradford area reported by the Crime and Disorder Audit should be a source of some reassurance to the embattled population. The problem is, though, that public perception is at odds with the statistics. There is bound to remain a suspicion that one of the reasons why recorded crime has fallen by 16.6 per cent in the past three years is that in many cases petty offences are now going unreported.

Whatever the reality, though, there is no doubt that drug addiction remains a major cause of crime as users steal to finance their habit, and that heroin use has increased alarmingly.

The estimated rise of 300 per cent in heroin addiction in Bradford over the past four years makes it all too clear that the drugs dealers are winning the battle. Unless they can be stopped, the future for the next generation of young adults is bleak.

All sorts of initiatives have taken place across the district in the past few years in an effort to turn back the tide. That must have had some impact in slowing down the inroads that drugs have made among Bradford's young people. Without the likes of Drugwatch and various police campaigns, the situation would certainly have been worse than it is.

But even so, it is far from good. This report should be seen as a signal for all the various bodies involved in the battle against drugs to take stock of past successes and failures and renew their determination to defeat this evil which is causing so much crime, distress and despair.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.