AUSTRALIA ALLOWS CENTER FOR ADDICTS TO BE OPENED IN SYDNEY

SYDNEY, Australia - Heroin addicts in a neighborhood here called King's
Cross used to rent rooms for 15 to 30 minutes at cheap hotels that
sometimes also sold drugs and syringes.

Five years ago, the police cracked down. But the problem simply moved into
parks and back streets where, to the aggravation of residents, syringes
were tossed on sidewalks or discarded under trees. And drug overdoses have
been on the rise. The government, desperate to improve the situation and
after months of legal challenges, this week allowed a former pinball hall
in the heart of King's Cross to open as Australia's first legal, medically
supervised center for addicts to inject themselves.

Advocates like the Rev. Ray Richmond, of the nearby Wayside Chapel, said he
hoped the center would "meet some of the users' needs, but also meet the
needs of the community." But advocates are cautious in describing the
center's mission and the ills that it won't or can't cure, like
drug-related crime, and even drug use itself.

"The main purpose of the injecting center is a harm-minimization measure,"
said the Rev. Harry J. Herbert, executive director of Uniting Care, the
church-affiliated group that is operating the center, which is paid for by
the government.

"Some of our supporters tend to over-emphasize what the center will
achieve," he added. "If they set the bar too high, we'll never climb over
that."

Though new to Australia, medically supervised centers for addicts are not a
new idea. Over the past decade, 45 have been set up in Europe, including in
Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands. In Frankfurt, deaths from
overdose fell by one quarter in the three years after that city's program
started.

The primary purpose of such centers is to provide a safe place for addicts
to inject drugs. Australian research has found more than 80 percent of
those who shoot up in public would prefer to use a supervised center. And,
according to an independent survey last year, 71 percent of people who live
and work in King's Cross support the center.

The center here opened Sunday night and its medical director, Dr. Ingrid
van Beek, says eight addicts used it during the first shift. Within a month
or so, the center will be open for a pair of four-hour shifts daily.

Inside the building, which has a security guard, visitors enter a reception
room that looks like a doctor's office. Addicts must be at least 18 years
old and provide medical staff with information about themselves and their
drug use before being registered. The center will be restricted to
registered addicts, and no one who is drunk or pregnant will be allowed to
inject drugs.

A second area inside resembles an examining room, with stainless-steel
countertops and sterile equipment. Specially trained nurses will hand out
needles and swabs to users who will sit at one of eight booths, which not
only offer privacy but also allow staff members to monitor activity. The
center has oxygen supplies and other materials required in case of
overdose. In a separate lounge area with an adjoining counseling room,
staff members will be able to offer information about treatment and social
services like housing assistance.

The center's presence, which was first authorized in legislation passed by
the state Parliament in 1999, has been opposed by local businesses. The
King's Cross Chamber of Commerce and Tourism, which failed to stop the
center from opening, says it is already harming business.