HEROIN was once recognised for what it is - an insidious destroyer of hope and happiness. When it first crossed our borders from West Yorkshire cities we made plans to cut off the supply and keep our children safe.

What happened? Today heroin is everywhere. We are resigned to its presence, tolerate its trade, accept the crime and misery it generates. Worse than that, we all but celebrate its existence: heroin chic and Brit gangster movies twist a modern plague into shorthand for urban cool. It is as if we are all in the same narcotic trance as the addicts themselves.

If ever there was a wake-up call, it is our story tonight. While we may be tempted to dismiss heroin-users as architects of their own misery, Sadie Milson was a truly innocent victim.

She was only 19 months old when she swallowed her mother's methadone and died in her sleep. Heroin had claimed another young life and shattered many more.

It is all too easy to understand the drug dealers' motivation: money. They must insulate their consciences with banknotes. But we hope anyone who ever sold drugs to Fiona Milson sees our pictures of Sadie tonight and understands what they have done. The rest of us should stop shrugging and start fighting. It is time to renew our battle to rescue communities from the heroin nightmare.

We owe it to Sadie.

Updated: 10:41 Thursday, September 01, 2005