TV TO PLAY KEY ROLE IN DRUG FIGHT

The Victorian Government is set to launch a major television and print
advertising campaign to kickstart Labor's drug prevention strategy.

Premier Steve Bracks yesterday foreshadowed the campaign after
revealing Labor's unsuccessful bid to introduce supervised injecting
facilities had been the big disappointment of his first 12 months in
office.

"I think the biggest disappointment or low point really from my point
of view personally was the the fact that the opposition opposed our
supervised injecting facilities," Mr Bracks said.

But he said the government was determined not to "rest on our laurels"
and the advertising campaign focusing on drug prevention would be
launched shortly.

"We are not going to just go into a corner to lick our wounds," he
said. "We have a big agenda of minimising harm from drugs and
rehabilitating people who are suffering from addiction, and prevention
of drugs.

"Part of that agenda is for the first time in many years, we'll be
launching a large advertising campaign."

Mr Bracks said the government would also push ahead with its plans for
upper house reform, another agenda item set to be voted down by the
opposition.

He said a constitutional commission would be set up once the Upper
House Bill, as expected, was defeated. But he acknowledged further
reform of the upper house was unlikely before the next election.