The death of heiress Eva Rausing has inevitably ignited controversial debates over the way forward for drug treatment and policy in the country, especially government drug policy...

With widespread acknowledgement that current drug policies are failing, with such wide availability of illegal drugs and an expensive drain on health and medical resources, as well as the human and social cost involved, what can be done?

With much of the debate following the death of Eva Rausing, who was found at her family home in Chelsea on Monday, following a pro-criminalisation 'hang em and flog em' variety vs a liberal decriminalisation and TLC approach, shouldn't instead a priority outcome be about warning children and adults of the dangers of drugs: i.e. prevention, and especially in schools...

While many seem obsessed about decriminalisation as the way forward much evidence points to the danger of this policy and also the message it unwittingly sends out to society that drugs, including hard drugs are actually Ok...

Many people who have witnessed the severe mental and physical disintegration of people using heroin and other highly addictive drugs such as crack and cocaine, resulting in suicide or other harrowing forms of demise are against the legitimisation of drug use.

Similarly, those who have been touched by the tragedy of crimes associated with activities fuelled by the need for quick cash from drug addicts find it hopelessly naive.

However, the urge by some to demonise addicts who are clearly often vulnerable and lacking in sufficient awareness of the dangers of drugs; or have been exploited in some way, is a rather inhumane reaction and misses the point that serious drug addiction, whilst a social and psychological problem, is an illness that deserves a human compassionate response...

For parents and their families who have lost their loved ones, better rehabilitation programmes and also increasingly a call for better education about drugs is often the theme.

It's a complex debate and one that has a number of possible solutions in terms of policy as identified in the UK charity Transform Drug Policy Foundation’s recent report: The Alternative World Drug Report, Counting the costs of the war on drugs, which identifies health-based approaches including treatment and addiction reduction services as potential solutions...

However, the polarisation of opposing sides in terms of camps in favour of more punitive approaches and those in favour of decriminalised approaches only seem to help continue the stagnation of existing drug policies which are widely regarded as failing.

Shouldn't the loss of anybody to a drugs lifestyle be a call to save others and prevent the same heartbreak from affecting another family?

The charity Action on Addiction, the patron charity of the Duchess of Cambridge, has warned of the danger of presenting addicts as hopeless cases incapable of rehabilitation...

While there are clearly dangers associated with abstinence and each individual case will require a different treatment surely recovery from drug use and avoidance of it is the ideal that should be the ultimate goal of drugs policy?

Eva Rausing, who reportedly was against legalisation of drugs, supported rehabilitation charities including Action on Addiction, the charity Mentor and others... highlighting the personal struggle of someone who appears to have failed to achieve recovery herself...

The case of Eva Rausing is also proof that drug addiction is not limited to one social group and can affect people from privileged as well as deprived backgrounds.

Whilst the debates about drug use can become emotional surely what is needed is a clear rational approach that finds a way of prioritising reduction in the harm to individuals and society; but also especially a better awareness about the dangers of drugs and especially information that protects children and vulnerable young people.

Arguably, more information about the dangers and outcomes of drugs needs to be built into debates about drug policy.

Young people often start on a journey with drugs due to its taboo nature, or ‘glamour’ associated with various irresponsible public figures; or simply to mask the pain of some aspect of their life; or peer pressure; or simply via ignorance of its dangers, and only end up having their potential for a happy life taken away from them...

As such while solutions need to be multi-pronged one of the best interjections into the drug policy debate this year has been from the young people's charities, the Angelus Foundation and The Amy Winehouse Foundation, who are petitioning the government to make effective drugs education a compulsory subject on the National Curriculum.

The two charities, both dedicated to raising awareness of the dangers of drugs, including 'legal' highs, club drugs, and alcohol...want a national drugs education policy to replace the current system which has no definite policy about who and how drug education is delivered in schools...

Significantly the charity points to research that shows that poorly taught drugs education can actually increase the use of drugs amongst teenagers.

Many parents will be no doubt concerned to learn that over 60 per cent of schools spend less than one hour per year on drug education.

And as there is no curriculum the main issue is that without training and a policy developed by experts the messages young people receive about the dangers of drugs and alcohol can vary enormously and could be unintentionally harmful...

Many would like to see the curriculum teaching the hard lesson that drugs can indeed be fatal and have serious harmful

consequences that are damaging to both individuals and society at many levels, as evidenced by the acres of recently published information, identifying the enormous social costs of drug addiction and the huge multi-billion criminal empires that spring up around it.

Angelus Foundation founder Maryon Stewart has said: "Effective interventions shown to reduce the use of drugs and alcohol by in excess of 50 per cent have been peer reviewed and published in medical journals and are currently being delivered in schools in both Canada and Australia.

"To provide drug education to a child costs £500 but according to surveys, the cost per drug-using child is in the region of £1 million by the time they are 30..."

Providing effective drugs education could save billions of pounds spent on treatment as well as money lost to the criminal justice system; and save countless people from a life of misery...never mind the unquantifiable social costs of drug addiction to communities...

Every person who is a victim of drugs is a terrible shame and condolences go out to all the families who have lost people in such circumstances.

Some charities are suggesting as a reaction to such tragedies there should be more energy put into solutions that involve responsible messages to prevent further tragedies.

There’s nothing clever or attractive about the use of drugs and so more on developing education policy that will save lives and rescue people from the misery and potentially fatal harm of addiction would be helpful...

The Angelus Foundation and The Amy Winehouse Foundation with their focus on support and rehabilitation whilst campaigning for action on educating the younger generation about the dangers of drugs, should be wholly applauded and supported...