HEROIN TRIALS BACKED IN AUSTRALIA

CANBERRA, Australia -- Australia's top law enforcement agency said
Wednesday it would support legal distribution of heroin to addicts as
part of the battle to stem the nation's escalating drug problem.

The government immediately rejected the National Crime Authority's
proposed trial distribution of heroin to addicts by doctors, saying
education and policing were the best ways to combat drug use and
trafficking.

In a report on drugs and organized crime, the agency said options
such as a heroin distribution trial, which had been ruled out
previously, should now be considered to help tackle the rising
problem of drugs and organized crime in Australia.

Drugs are the most lucrative commodity for organized crime and the
impact of drug abuse costs an estimated $880 million a year,
according to the report.

"Suffice to say that experience should encourage us not to rule out
consideration of options previously deemed unpalatable," the report
said. "We must respond to the ongoing progression of this problem."

The agency said under its heroin distribution proposal, doctors would
supervise the supply of heroin to addicts from a
government-controlled repository. This approach would attack the
profits of suppliers, agency chairman Gary Crooke said.

"If something can be done to combat this enormous opportunity to
combat profit and control a price, perhaps that is ... one of the
many matters worthy of consideration," Crooke said.

Spain approved a limited heroin distribution experiment in April. In
1999, Switzerland concluded that its five-year experiment in heroin
distribution improved health and reduced crime.

Australia has one state government-backed heroin injecting center in
Sydney, which allows addicts to shoot up in a safe and clean
environment that is medically supervised.

According to recently released figures, less than 1 percent of the
nation's 19 million population used heroin in 1998, but the number of
users is rising while the age of addicts falls.

Two-thirds of heroin users reported having overdosed on heroin, and
there were more than 14,000 hospitalizations nationwide attributed to
illicit drug use in 1997-98.

Opposition Labor Party leader Kim Beazley said he would consider
favorably any proposal for a heroin trial put by a state government
if he won office at federal elections expected in November or
December.

However, federal Justice Minister Chris Ellison said the government
has already ruled out heroin trials.

"The government has made it very clear it's considered this option
and rejected it," Ellison said. "We believe there are other methods
of treatment, of diversionary programs which would be much more
effective."