A TOP policeman has backed Preston coroner Howard McCann's call for action against drugs.

Lancashire's Assistant Chief Constable David Smith said more could be done to stop people turning to drugs.

And he warned dealers and users the police would never give up in the war against drugs.

He said: "Our fight against drugs is given a very high priority. We are committed to tackling drug-related crime and to make drug abuse unacceptable to the public."

Mr Smith's warning came in the same week as Preston's coroner slammed the "casual" and "naive" approach to drugs and called for the public to be aware of the dangers.

Mr McCann was speaking after he and three other Lancashire coroners called an unprecedented press conference to spell out the drug menace that was turning communities into 'war zones'.

Every week two or three people were dying in Lancashire because of drugs, Mr McCann claimed.

He said: "We're in a situation that could be likened to being in the of a -war in this country.

"We see the misery drugs cause bereaved relatives, many who have not even been aware of the problem."

But he said warnings about the growing menace often fell on deaf ears at inquests. "We spell out the dangers but sometimes we're speaking with no effect whatsoever. We don't have a solution, we leave it to others who are better qualified. But we do see it from a different perspective."

He said in one case he warned of the dangers of drugs after a young Preston man died after taking an overdose - and between opening and closing the inquest another member of the man's family had taken an overdose and was in intensive care.

He was shocked when the dead man's mother told him his warnings were a waste of time.

Mr McCann was joined at the press conference on Monday (July 14) by Blackpool's deputy coroner Anne Hind, and coroners George Howson from Lancaster and Andre Rebello from Blackburn.

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