PREMIER THROWS LIGHT ON DRUG CHANGES

The trial of cautioning people caught possessing small amounts of cannabis
would be extended for two years, and those who received a second warning
would have to undergo counselling, the Premier announced yesterday.

The Parramatta adult drug court trial, designed to reduce drug-related
crime, would also be extended.

The rapid detoxification drug naltrexone would be available in public
clinics from next month, and youth drug rehabilitation centres would be set
up this year in Dubbo and Coffs Harbour, Mr Carr said.

The announcements, many of them extensions of recommendations of the 1999
Drug Summit, formed part of the Mr Carr's mid-term address in Penrith
yesterday.

Police had issued 1,887 cautions for cannabis possession since the adult
cannabis cautioning scheme began last April, he said.

Most of those cautioned for possessing up to 15 grams of cannabis were male.

Only 13 offenders were caught a second time, and received another caution,
something the Special Minister for State, Mr Della Bosca, said was a sign
that the scheme was an effective form of early intervention.

In future, people cautioned for a second time will have to take part in a
compulsory education session with a drug counsellor.

The drug court trial is to be extended by another year, to July 2002, and
there will be a full evaluation early next year.

Drug offenders would also be given bail if they entered treatment under a
new trial in local courts, Mr Carr said.

Naltrexone would be used subject to certain conditions, including the
suitability of the patient, and it would be administered to patients in
clinics under general anaesthetic.

Mr Paul Dillon, of the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, welcomed
the extension of the cannabis cautioning system and the mandatory education
program. However, he warned that naltrexone should not be seen as a magic
bullet.

"It is but one more therapy to be added to the existing methods."