A GWENT Assembly Member is calling for a Royal Commission review into the scourge of drugs after a grieving father made an emotional plea to other parents in yesterday's Argus.

John Griffiths, Newport East AM, made the call after the Argus revealed how 18-year-old Matthew Gibson died of a suspected drugs overdose.

He was found in a part of the Westgate Hotel which is under renovation and which police say is being used as a squat. Police are waiting for the results of toxicological tests, but Matthew's father, Peter Lewis, (pictured) is convinced drugs caused his death.

Mr Lewis took the unusual step of contacting the Argus within hours of his son's death to warn other parents of the dangers their children face.

Mr Lewis said drug user Matthew started on cannabis, which he branded the "gateway drug to hell," before going on to take crack cocaine and heroin.

He told us: "My son died aged 18, in a derelict building, alone. "I watched him go from cannabis to pills, to paste, to crack and then heroin. He was 18 and died looking like a 40-year-old. I watched as my son was destroyed by drugs.

"I would urge parents to come down hard on their kids if they are smoking cannabis." Mr Griffiths said Newport's drug problems are a reflection of the general problem throughout the country.

He added: "I favour the plans for downgrading of cannabis. "It is the heavy-handed enforcement of the law in this area which creates more problems than it solves.

"It is very difficult and I can sympathise with any parent who has lost a child in these circumstances.

"My own preference is for the Royal Commission to do a review on illegal drugs and law enforcement.

"I can understand why people have strong reactions in circumstances such as this, any of us who are parents would have the same reaction.

"It is a very complicated area and I feel it needs a high-level inquiry to see the best way forward.

"Any solution to the drugs problem in general must involve a social-economic approach. It has got to be about good education and training for people, especially the young. "There has got to be a good quality of life. There is a demand for drugs, and in my opinion the reason why there is this demand is that young people do not have enough else in their lives."