HEROIN TRIAL DELAYED

Moves to open Australia's first legal heroin injecting rooms were stalled
yesterday after legal action by the Kings Cross Chamber of Commerce in the
NSW Supreme Court.

The chamber, which opposes the location of the injecting rooms in a disused
pinball parlour on Darlinghurst Road, had sought an injunction to stop the
Uniting Church from opening the premises before a hearing in the Supreme
Court in March challenging the validity of the operating licence.

Lawyers for the Director-General of the NSW Department of Health and the
NSW Police Commissioner yesterday gave the court undertakings they would
not recommend the 18-month injecting room trial start until after a
judgment from the hearing was handed down.

Under the legislation governing the trial, the Uniting Church had to give
14 days' notice that the rooms were available for inspection by the
Director-General and the Police Commissioner before they were opened. The
Uniting Church sent the chamber a letter, dated January 15 and received on
Tuesday, saying the rooms were available for inspection.