The Hartnoll case shows how sensation can replace fact in the drugs issue David Mitchell reports

It would be hard to imagine a more unlikely candidate to be embroiled in a row about the apparent condoning of drug misuse than Mary Hartnoll, Glasgow Council's highly respected social work director.

But this is exactly what happened when an internal memo on the city licensing board's drug prevention initiative was leaked to the press.

The offending paragraph reads: 'The irony is that Ecstasy, for example, is a relatively safe drug - risk of death has been calculated at one in 6.8 million (the risk of dying from an ordinary dose of aspirin is much greater) and young people tend to know this.'

Hartnoll was making the point that the use of fear as a deterrent in poster and video campaigns was a poor health promotion technique and could even attract some young people because it heightened the sense of risk.

'It does not accord with young people's own definition of their drug-using behaviour, which in the great majority of cases is a reasonably pleasurable experience. The fear message has little effect in their circumstances,' she said.

But more importantly, she was voicing concerns about the licensing board's hard-line stance, including an outright rejection of so-called 'chill-out' areas, which she claimed could cut across other initiatives in the field.

'It runs the risk of running counter to inter-agency programmes involving the health board and relevant voluntary organisations, putting us at odds with work partners in the drugs field,' she said.

The row has only served to illustrate a much wider debate over the differences between hard-line enforcement initiatives and a more pragmatic harm-reduction approach which recognises that young people will take recreational drugs.

Both the Scottish Office and the Health Education Board for Scotland are continuing to maintain that to 'just say no' is the safest course. The new all-party Scotland Against Drugs campaign, to be launched next month, is likely to give the same message.

'Drug misuse carries risks, whatever the drug. In the case of Ecstasy the risks include death, and there is increasing evidence of long-term damage to the body.

'We must continue to help young people to make drug-free choices,' said HEBS general manager Andrew Tannahill.

But in Edinburgh, with its high levels of intravenous drug use and HIV infection, there has been a successful two-pronged approach with a number of radical initiatives, including methadone programmes, needle exchanges and the supply of free contraceptives.

'Because we had to consider those issues in relation to HIV, we created a climate which was more receptive to the sorts of action others might view as unusual, unorthodox or extreme. But there were differences in emphasis, as opposed to differences in substance,' said social work director Les McEwan.

'We have to tread a fine line between informing people and allowing them responsibility to take their own decisions, and shocking them into making the right ones. The challenge lies in how we put across the message without appearing to be making value judgements which young people would spot and simply walk away from.'

Since the furore, Hartnoll has made it clear Ecstasy is unsafe and she does not condone its use or that of any other illegal drug.

However, she also stressed there is room for both types of approach.

'From a social work point of view, it is important we support work which seeks to reduce the harmful effects of continued drug use alongside work which has drug-free objectives.

'It is important we take note of the reality of the behaviour and respond accordingly,' she said.