BRACKS SET TO UNVEIL $77M DRUGS PLAN

The Victorian Government will today unveil a $77 million drugs strategy
that doubles the number of rehabilitation beds, funds local council drug
strategies and provides $11 million to assist in drug prevention.

Premier Steve Bracks and Health Minister John Thwaites will announce plans
to establish three new rehabilitation centres for young people, including
extra services in the northern and western regions.

Under the three-year strategy, $30 million in funding will be provided to
double the number of rehabilitation beds in the state from 400 to 800 by
2002-3.

The initiatives include a $2.3 million plan to open a new 15-bed
rehabilitation centre for young people aged 15 to 20 years.

The centre will provide 24-hour staffed residential drug treatment with
funding provided to allow for an average four-month stay.

Government sources said the service would focus on "relapse prevention",
with the centre providing treatment that "helps get people back into
community living".

The centre, the location of which is yet to be determined, is expected to
treat about 40 young people a year.

Mr Thwaites is also expected to detail plans for two new 10-bed youth
alcohol and drug support accommodation centres.

The centres, to be located in the northern and western regions, will be
available for people aged 12 to 21. The service is directed at people who
have gone through drug or alcohol withdrawal but are deemed to require
continuing support.

The three new centres follow recent government announcements that extra
rehabilitation services will be set up in Geelong and Ballarat.

The government package is expected to provide $17.5 million over three
years to allow councils to fund local drug strategies. A further $11
million will fund a range of prevention measures.

Additional funds will be allocated to fund Labor's response to the recent
report by Dr David Penington's drug advisory committee. The government is
also finalising details of a television and print advertising campaign that
is expected to be launched early next year.

The government's focus on drug prevention and rehabilitation follows the
opposition's decision to reject Labor's bid to set up supervised injecting
facilities for heroin users.

Mr Bracks has nominated Labor's failure to implement the policy as the
biggest disappointment of his first 12 months in office. But he has
insisted that the government will tackle harm minimisation and address
rehabilitation of drug users.