CALL FOR HELP FROM INSURERS

The insurance industry could help fund drug rehabilitation services as
it would benefit from a drop in drug-related crime, a magistrate said
yesterday.

The senior magistrate at Ringwood Magistrates Court, Paul Smith, also
told the Eastern Region Drug and Alcohol Conference that new sentencing
options were needed to help drug offenders with rehabilitation.

Mr Smith said anecdotal evidence showed that about 80 to 90 per cent of
burglaries were heroin-related and the insurance industry would be a
prime financial beneficiary from a reduction in home insurance claims.

"Perhaps as part of the overhaul of Victoria's approach to drug
policy, the government could negotiate with the insurance industry to
become a financial partner in running drug rehabilitation," he said.

Mr Smith made the suggestion in relation to prescription heroin being
made available to users.

But given the Commonwealth's opposition to heroin trials, Mr Smith
agreed that insurance companies would still benefit from any drop in
drug usage and hoped they would consider all options.

Mr Smith also called for more appropriate sentencing options for
magistrates to encourage drug offenders to go into rehabilitation when
they were at their most motivated - just before they were sentenced.

He suggested magistrates be given the power to defer sentencing for up
to two years for offenders of all ages.

A spokesman for the Insurance Council of Australia, Rod Frail, said the
drug problem was a community issue that should be funded by government
but individual insurance companies could, and did, support various
anti-crime initiatives.