DRUGS are the curse of our society - an evil which wrecks the lives of its victims and the root of a crime plague that afflicts us all.

But one of its most wretched aspects is the widespread resignation that little or nothing can be done to defeat it.

Yet is not that outlook a canker that helps this scourge to thrive?

For this is everybody's problem.

It is not just about the life-sapping misery of the drug addicts.

It is also about the anguish of families whose children are snared.

It is also about the dread of parents that their sons and daughters might be.

It is also about the bushfire of burglary, auto-crime, robbery, fraud, deception and shoplifting that is done to get money for drugs.

It is also about the extra price we all pay as a consequence for goods bought to replace those stolen, for insurance cover and for security.

If this, then, is the extent of the drugs evil, should we just lament it?

Or should we fight back?

We can - and we must.

And, tonight, the Lancashire Evening Telegraph offers you that chance.

For, teamed up with the police and health chiefs, we are launching two special hot-lines that you can use to drive drugs out of your community.

The first is open 24 hours a day to let you give police - in confidence or even anonymously - information on drug-dealing or other crime in your neighbourhood.

The second is a special helpline for addicts who want to quit their habit.

It will put them and their families and friends in direct touch with experts in drug abuse and rehabilitation.

As a newspaper that is part of the community, we know how great the drugs menace is.

And we realise we have a duty and a part to play in defeating it.

Join us in this vital task.

For you, too, are the community and it is your community that is cursed by drugs.

Now there is something YOU can do to overcome it.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.