THE END OF A LONG, HARD ROAD

With the final stage of his final report on illicit drugs in the hands
of the Victorian Government, David Penington yesterday signalled that
he was ready to retire from his role as chief drugs adviser for
successive state governments.

In fact, Dr Penington said, he had been trying to retire for some
time. Instead, for the past five years he has been monitoring drug
trends and trying to convince the public to set aside prejudices about
drug addicts and consider the evidence he has carefully collected from
Australia and overseas.

After delivering the Drug Policy Expert Committee's final report to
Health Minister John Thwaites, Dr Penington said he doubted that he
would continue in his role as a drugs adviser. He said he had numerous
other commitments and there were plenty of other experts on the
committee capable of guiding the government.

Dr Penington, a medical doctor, former chairman of the federal AIDS
taskforce and former vice-chancellor of Melbourne University, said
that he was satisfied with the changes in public opinion on drug
issues, despite the fact that several of his key recommendations -
most recently the establishment of supervised injecting rooms - had
not materialised in Victoria.