HEROIN ADDICTS 'LEFT TO DIE'

ONE in three heroin addicts is more scared of police involvement after an
overdose than saving the life of a co-user, according to a new
report.Heroin deaths have doubled in the past decade, but users are
refusing to call an ambulance as they fear being caught.

The Australian Institute of Criminology report released yesterday revealed
the startling figures which showed heroin users were abandoning their
mates. The report found 15 years of drug education - telling witnesses to
heroin overdoses to get medical help - was falling on deaf ears.

More than half of all heroin users in Australia have experienced an
overdose, with more than one-third overdosing in 1999-2000. In 1998 alone
there were 737 heroin overdose victims aged between 15 and 44.

In the same year more than 180,000 people witnessed an overdose. "The vast
majority of witnesses to overdoses, saw between one and four overdoses in
the 12 months prior to the survey in 1998," it said.

But it was the reaction to the overdoses that has caused the largest concern.

Almost 24 per cent of witnesses "never" called for assistance, with men
more likely than women to not call for medical help.