IT beggars belief that Wiltshire Constabulary is considering disbanding its drugs unit to fall in line with some high-handed, and totally unproven, Government edict.

The national model of dealing with drugs is being imposed on police forces across the country, but not until 2004.

By then Government policy on drugs may have changed several times and, if the last two or three years' turnarounds are anything to go by, who knows what the attitude to anti-drugs policing will be?

So why is there a need to rush headlong into embracing this policy now and shut down the unit at Melksham?

Consider what Wiltshire has at present; a small, highly specialised and motivated team of officers who have invested time, risked their own safety and devoted their careers to gathering information on the drugs scene in Wiltshire.

They know where the deals in north Wiltshire are done and largely who is responsible for them.

They have built relationships with other agencies, including Social Services, health workers, councils, support groups and other branches of the police force not to mention the media. They have a proven track record of success, they have the respect of their peers and they are feared by the drug dealers themselves.

Can anyone see the sense in sweeping all this away and sending these officers back to normal duties?

What a waste of expertise and dedication, and taxpayers' money that would be.

The new model for policing involves all officers being responsible for detection and removal of drug dealers.

But who will organise the undercover investigations, the long-term surveillance and successful operations like Operation Sirrus, which resulted in 13 dealers being jailed?

This move will be a slap in the face for the dozens of families who have seen their loved ones' lives blighted, or even ended, by this evil trade.

One of the few comforts for them has been the knowledge that there is an on-going fight to prevent others suffering the same fate.

But if this policy is enforced the fight will swing violently in favour of those who profit from the misery they cause, and the only people who will be pleased about that are the drug dealers themselves.