HEROIN SHORTAGE MAY BRING MORE FATALITIES

Sydney is in the grip of a heroin shortage, sparking frenzied demand for
methadone and detoxification treatment and rising anxiety about an overdose
epidemic when supplies are inevitably restored.

The shortage, confirmed by police, doctors and drug and alcohol workers,
has led to reports of a dangerous increase in impurities and a doubling in
the street price of heroin - from the usual $50 a quarter gram up to $120
per quarter in some areas.

NSW health figures show more than 15,000 people are registered on methadone
programs - rising from just over 14,000 three months ago. In January alone,
an extra 300 people registered for treatment.

Naltrexone clinics and private detoxification clinics from Edgecliff to
Fairfield and Campbelltown are also reporting an increase in demand for
treatment services, while Mr Tony Trimingham, founder of the Family Drug
Support 24-hour line, says more and more parents are calling to report an
alarming rise in the injection of other drugs such as cocaine and
benzodiazepines.

Assistant Commissioner Clive Small said there were heroin supply shortages
in both Sydney and Melbourne.

He said the shortages were probably the cumulation of a number of factors
in the past two years. These included the interception last year of some
large heroin importations, the recent arrest of several critical players in
heroin distribution networks in Hong Kong, China and Canada, the work of
the Joint Asian Crime Group, including Crime Agencies, the Australian
Federal Police, Customs and the National Crime Authority, and a series of
local crackdowns.

Some local distributors had withdrawn from the market, at least in the
short term, unwilling to gamble with increased risks of detection.

"There has been a significant rise in price to the extent that the price of
a quarter weight has risen from $50 to $70 and even $100 or $120 in some
places ... I couldn't say that there will not be an influx," he said.

"But now there is a shortage of supply, and we strongly support people
going into treatment and taking the opportunity to seek treatment. And once
on, don't give it up. Don't go back to heroin once the supply comes back."

Dr Alex Wodak, director of St Vincent's Drug and Alcohol Services, said
patients were reporting both the shortage of heroin and anxiety about the
sharp increase in demand for treatment.

He warned drug users to be very careful about quantities when supplies
return. "If people who haven't used for a while start up again - and we
very much hope they do not - they should understand that their tolerance
will have dropped and it is imperative they use much, much smaller doses,"
he said.

Mr Trimingham said:

"We now know from the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre that we
have 95,000 dependent heroin users ... what happens when supply is stopped
or reduced?

"This is causing some terrible problems for families and real concern of a
rise in deaths if supply is restored and users lose tolerance."