asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will finance urgent studies into the co-factors affecting drug abuse and AIDS identifiable in the drug abusing population in Edinburgh and Lothian region since 1983.

The Scottish Home and Health Department is at present providing funding for seven relevant projects in this general area of research, of which four have direct relevance to the drug abuse population in Edinburgh and Lothian region. In addition, additional relevant studies have recently been funded by the Medical Research Council and further proposals are under assessment.