GRIEVING DAD PLEADS FOR INJECTING ROOMS

Tony Trimingham's son, Damien, 23, died of a heroin overdose three
years ago.

It was a lonely ending in a disused hospital's stairwell not far from
Kings Cross in Sydney. The needle was still in Damien's arm when he
was found.

"We've already got injecting facilities," said Mr Trimingham with a
tiny trace of irony. "They're just not safe - or supervised."

After Damien's death, Mr Trimingham formed the Family Drug Support
program. He is in Melbourne this week, talking to as many people as
possible about drug issues.

And his parental perspective, honed as it is by tragedy, tells him
that supervised injecting rooms must be tried.

Sometimes, he wonders if supervised injecting rooms had been legal
three years ago, maybe, Damien might still be alive.

"He would certainly have had a better chance," he said.

Saving sons and daughters from drug addiction, said Mr Trimingham, is
not a quick fix.

"The reason I'm an advocate of injecting rooms is not that I think
it's going to solve the drug problem, in fact we know it won't, it's
just one strategy," he said.

"But it will hopefully keep some people alive long enough for them to
actually make the step to being drug free."

New South Wales is expected to get its first legal supervised
injecting facility this year in Kings Cross.

In Victoria, the prospect looks far more uncertain. Mr Trimingham
understands the fears that setting up such facilities will create a
"honeypot" for drug users. But he said: "It will get them off the
streets into a place where they're not in public view. It's also a
gateway to health checks, counselling and treatment."

Premier Steve Bracks said yesterday that the State Government was
determined to do whatever it could to save lives in Victoria.

"The death (toll) from heroin is totally unacceptable," he said. "We
are serious about our plan (to set up injecting rooms), absolutely
serious to have a comprehensive attack on drugs in Victoria."

He criticised Opposition Leader Denis Napthine for supporting
Dandenong Council's refusal to allow injecting facilities and called
on the opposition to be part of the solution.