LEGALISING DRUGS WILL CURE NOTHING

The decision by authorities in New South Wales to allow legal heroin
injections is a setback. It goes against the federal government's drug
policy. It also sets up serious conflicts within Australia. There is
already confusion between Australia and its neighbours, including Thailand.
Indeed, the main question about this dreadful decision is whether it is a
sinister conspiracy to get a foot in the door of drug legalisation, or an
ill-considered humanitarian attempt to put a tiny plaster on a badly
infected wound.

Either way, the debate surrounding the decision by the New South Wales
special minister of state has been brewing for some time. Certain
authorities in Sydney-and in Melbourne-have pushed for legal "shooting
galleries" where addicts can walk in and receive their drug, for free. The
Protestant Uniting Church has had a site in mind for some time in Sydney.
Fittingly, it is a former pinball parlour in Kings Cross, the sleazy part
of the Olympics city.

As envisaged by its backers, addicts will walk into the UnitingCare
shooting-up room. Paid staff will screen them-for what is not clear-and
inject them. Ingrid van Beek, a doctor working on the details, claimed that
"many" drug users die when they need heroin so badly that they pass out.
She had no figures or examples. Australia recorded 360 deaths by heroin
overdose in 1998, and few dispute that the number is on the rise.

There is no way, from Bangkok, to judge the motives driving the Uniting
Church group. It is clear that they have strong support from groups which
want to legalise illicit drugs. They also have won the support of
government, and of several humanitarian groups. Their avowed goal is to
save lives. It is an admirable aim, although the chances of success are
questionable.

What is most troubling is that neither the Uniting Church nor the New South
Wales government seems to have considered the side- and after-effects of
their remarkably simplistic plan. For example, we have seen no discussion
of what addicts will do in between their free heroin doses. In Switzerland,
a similar (but not identical) experiment managed to attract huge numbers of
drug addicts who polluted and ultimately terrorised an entire city centre
before the drugs-free zone was abolished.

Our main concern is not whether Kings Cross attracts additional sleaze.
Rather, we wonder if Australia is serious about its drug policies. Prime
Minister John Howard last week assured the region that the Sydney shooting
gallery is against federal law. Thailand, then, is confused why it will
open at all.

Thailand is at the centre of the struggle against illegal drugs. We will
question any new policies which seem to change that struggle. And we have
the right to clear, straight answers. If Australia intends to supplement
its drug policies with a humane regard for addicts and other victims, it is
certainly acceptable. If the country is merely embarking on the slippery
slope to drug legalisation, we think the Sydney heroin store is a bad idea,
and should be reversed.

We will support and applaud any new programmes to attack illegal drugs on
the demand side. Children and other would-be addicts need information,
education, guidance and help. Addicts need access to help and treatment.
What drug users do not need from government is support groups to help them
justify their addiction.

Australia has taken the wrong tack, even in the unlikely event it is for
humanitarian reasons. By setting up conflicts among local governments, and
with foreign allies, authorities in New South Wales are likely to do far
more harm than good. Legalising drugs cannot solve the serious problems
that seethe from this illicit activity. On the contrary, drug legalisation
will only expand them.