A study of the long-term risks posed to Scottish society by drug and alcohol abuse will be launched today at Holyrood by the parliament's Futures Forum.

A study of the long-term risks posed to Scottish society by drug and alcohol abuse will be launched today at Holyrood.

The parliament's Futures Forum is to set out its research plan at a conference looking at ways that both illegal and legal addiction is affecting many families and communities.

It is to hear from the chairman of a major UK study of drug abuse, Anthony King, whose full report is to be published in March.

It is understood to include research showing the public are more pragmatic about drugs remaining a problem than politicians who aim for drug-free'' communities.

Labour MSP Susan Deacon, a member of his commission, set up by the Royal Society of Arts, previewed the event by calling for politicians campaigning for the May elections to "get real" about the nature of the problem, recognising it was far more complex than they made it sound, with debates for or against harm reduction and for or against methadone as a treatment for heroin addicts.

Significantly, the conference and subsequent research are to tie in alcohol abuse with illegal drugs.

This reflects statistics that show around 60,000 children live with drug-abusing parents, but more than 100,000 live in homes where adults abuse alcohol, and it aims to move the debate beyond questions largely about criminal justice.

Ms Deacon, a former health minister who is standing down from her Edinburgh seat at May's election, said: "We've got to talk about drugs differently. Politicians may feel it's a jaggy place to go, but we can't keep avoiding it for ever.

She added: "We need to stop moralising about this, be pragmatic about it, look at how we reduce harm in the broad sense and how things vary from case to case."