DROP IN HEROIN USE BUT CRIME LEVELS STAY SAME

Heroin use has fallen sharply in Cabramatta this year but the drop
has not had any significant impact on crime levels, a new study has
shown.

And while a drought of the drug has seen supplies, consumption and
purity fall and prices rise, a resultant increase in the intravenous
use of cocaine could in turn drive up crime.

A study by the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research released
yesterday suggested there had been a 60 to 75 per cent reduction in
heroin use at Cabramatta and a drop of at least 16 per cent across
the state.

Since Christmas 2000, when the heroin drought is deemed to have
begun, the average cost of a gram of the drug in Cabramatta has risen
by 75 per cent, from $218 to $381.

The number of new needles and syringes dispensed to Cabramatta heroin
addicts by public hospitals has fallen by 59 per cent between July
2000 and June this year, and the rate of overdose has fallen 74 per
cent during the same period.

The bureau said the popular wisdom of higher heroin prices leading to
higher crime rates had not held true.

Motor vehicle thefts and theft from the person in Cabramatta and
across the state held at a stable rate from July 1999 to June 2001.

Robberies and break-ins increased sharply in Cabramatta in the first
few months of the heroin drought but fell quickly back to their
original levels.

Shop stealing dropped sharply and levelled out at a rate lower than
before the drought took effect.

The Police Commissioner, Peter Ryan, described the study's results as
"very en-couraging".

The Premier, Bob Carr, said the figures were "cause for cautious
optimism" and said legislation providing police with greater powers
to tackle street drug dealing was obviously working.

The Leader of the Opposition, Kerry Chikarovski, said the figures
showed a "negligible" drop in heroin use.

"Despite claims by the Government that their long overdue policing
policies in Cabramatta have in fact cleaned up the streets, figures
today show that the impact on the availability of drugs is
negligible," she said.

She said the study's finding that the average time it took to score
heroin had increased from 11.4 minutes before Christmas to 15.2
minutes after Christmas was "hardly anything to crow about".

The bureau said the only downside of the heroin drought had been that
about 56 per cent of the 168 Cabramatta heroin users interviewed said
they were topping up their heroin use with other drugs.

Cocaine was the most common drug supplementing heroin use, but some
were also taking benzodiazepines, cannabis and amphetamines.

"The major concern now is the shift which is occurring among some
heroin users toward greater use of cocaine," said the bureau's
director, Don Weatherburn.

"Cocaine use poses a much bigger threat to public safety and public
health than heroin use."

Overall, the results of the study were good news for NSW, Dr
Weatherburn said. "It's the best news I've seen on the drug front for
quite some time."