CONDEMNED TO DEATH BY CHRISTIAN `PRINCIPLES'

What an inspiration to see the Primate of the Anglican Church in Australia,
Archbishop Peter Carnley, come out in favor of trialling supervised
injecting rooms for heroin addicts, and advocating making drugs available to
addicts. How predictable the response of his brother archbishop in Sydney,
many evangelical Christians and some politicians, including the Premier of
Western Australia.

Those of us who profess a Christian commitment must tackle the use of drugs
from two closely related perspectives: the first as Christians; the second,
infused by our Christian belief, as citizens.

As Christian citizens, the truth is undeniable. First, despite some
considerable success on the part of law enforcers, illegal drugs continue to
flow into this country.

Second, this supply does not create the market. The market is fuelled by the
supply, but if there were no market there would be no supply.

Third, while we can identify various common factors that help to explain
some people's attraction to drugs, we are not much wiser as to why some
people are attracted to drugs and others in similar circumstances are not,
and why some who are attracted become addicted, while others do not.

The fourth fact is so self-evident that it is distressing it is necessary to
state it. No one chooses to become addicted. Addiction is a form of slavery.
Some people are in such a state of despair that they appear to not care, but
addiction is not a lifestyle choice, like preferring chardonnay to shiraz.

Fifth, if we have learnt anything, it is that the problem cannot be solved
by law enforcement alone.

Sixth, drugs are in some way related to 90 per cent or more of the
circumstances that fill our prisons.

Seventh, the cost to the community of law enforcement, prison maintenance
and medical and paramedical assistance is astronomical.

Eighth, as citizens, Christians or not, we rightly feel oppressed by the
violence often related to drugs on our streets, by public drug use and by
the litter of used needles.

Ninth, most of those who speak against supervised injection trials are those
whose comfort zones are least invaded by the drug problem.

And the 10th fact, and a very powerful fact, too, is that those most
experienced with dealing with the problems in one-to-one situations, such as
the police and ambulance workers, are most frequently well represented among
those who recognise that so-called "zero tolerance" and the use of the
criminal justice system simply do not work.

As citizens we are obliged to face the problem, acknowledge that as a
society we are not solving it, and support measures that will at least be in
line with reality.

As Christians, we have a further focus. Jesus did not shun the outcasts of
society - the prostitutes and the tax collectors. Each member of the Church
is obliged to seek out those who are in need of love. It is Christian love
that should drive each one of us to help those who suffer and to help rescue
those lives. It is not surprising that it was the Sisters of Mercy and the
Uniting Church who first offered to run injecting rooms in Sydney. The
Church cannot turn its back on the suffering on our streets.

Injecting rooms should not be sterile hostile places, but warm comforting
centres staffed by men and women who love, so that addicts will be attracted
to them. Heroin should be made available, not to encourage the users in
their drug taking, but to help break the nexus between drug addiction and
thefts, burglaries and assaults, and to separate the users from the
suppliers. There is also the guarantee that the heroin is as safe as it can
be, and safely injected, reducing the possibility of fatal infection and of
death by overdose.

With the safe injecting environment goes counselling and practical help,
counselling not just directed to drug taking but to the whole lifestyle and
personal problems of the addicts, which underlie his or her drug taking.

The purpose of injecting rooms and the free supply of heroin is to wind back
the use of drugs, not to encourage it. If a trial is not successful, then
obviously we must rack our brains and try something else.

What we do know is that if we continue to allow heroin use to belong to the
street, the problem will become larger, not smaller. We have reached a point
where those of us whose comfort zones are least invaded will not be able to
continue to ignore the problem, or pontificate about the virtues of
so-called "zero tolerance".

If we get heroin use off the streets and away from the suppliers, then we
can begin in our schools to look more closely at the societal and personal
causes of addiction, before drugs take control. Then, perhaps, someone will
be able to explain to me why those cheerful, lively children I once knew
died of overdoses in their 20s. And, perhaps also, I shall live free of the
fear of hearing of another past student whom we as a society have condemned
to die because of our neglect and because we have put "principles" before
love.

Tony Hewison was headmaster of St Michael's Grammar School from 1980 until
his retirement last year. E-mail: ahewison@primus.com.au