THE BUSINESS OF GETTING KIDS OFF DRUGS

THE GOVERNMENT must move with full speed to regulate the multimillion dollar
drugs detoxification industry. Its promise of a crackdown yesterday -
following an investigation by this newspaper - is welcome.

Clinics claiming to break drug dependency have sprung up across the State at
an alarming rate. Charging fees of up to $10,000, they trade on society's
most vulnerable: parents desperate to free their children from a cycle of
despair, and addicts simply fighting for their lives.

Some are reputable. But the fact that this booming trade was able to spread
so quickly and unchecked is a cause for concern. It appears that, apart from
ensuring it is prescribed by a registered GP, a clinic's owners are under no
legal obligation to do anything else.

Yet while many involved in the care of young people caught up with drugs
honestly believe that naltrexone helps kick the habit it can be as lethal as
the drug it is supposed to supplant. Mixed with heroin, for instance, it can
kill.

Those who administer it are supposed to be properly trained in its benefits
and drawbacks. And according to one of Australia's leading experts, Dr
George O'Neil, it is vital patients are adequately assessed.

"They are in an intensive-care state for at least three days afterwards so
there can be numerous complications," he told us.

When Health Minister Craig Knowles announced that naltrexone could be used
to treat drug withdrawal in the State's public health system, he said:
"Clinical guidelines will be developed in consultation with leading experts
in the field to ensure that private and public sector clinicians adopt best
practice."

Surely this was shutting the stable door after the horse had bolted. The
guidelines should have been drawn up and issued before naltrexone was made
available. What good are they now to Thi Ngoc Diem Nguyen, the 19-year-old
mother whose death, while still under investigation, sparked the current
wave of concern?

The Government cannot say it wasn't warned. Last month, Gosford coroner John
Arms called for a licensing system to stop those who might be "motivated to
exploit addicts" in dealing with the first naltrexone-related death of
31-year-old Larissa Hawkins.

The Sun-Herald has played a major role in bringing to the attention of the
Government and the public the titanic struggle we face over drug abuse. Two
years ago, our front-page picture of a young boy shooting up on a Sydney
street sparked outrage and led to a historic summit.

So we applaud the speed with which the authorities reacted yesterday when
told of the findings of our investigation. At least it will come as some
comfort to the family of Thi to know that she did not die in vain.