ADDICTS DIE IN GRIP OF RED TAPE

Drug addicts were dying while bureaucratic delays meant the Victorian
Government failed to deliver on its commitment to provide more residential
drug treatment beds, Odyssey House said yesterday.

Odyssey chief executive David Crosbie said the government had told the
agency more than 12 months ago that treatment beds were a priority and
would be funded.

He said there were fewer than 120 specialist drug treatment beds in
Victoria, but the number needed to be doubled.

"It seems like the whole process is getting a bureaucrat in the drug
treatment services to agree there's a need, put that up through the public
health division, back to the drug treatment area, then off to Treasury and
Finance, then off to an expenditure review committee, then off to a
subcommittee of cabinet, then cabinet approves it, then it's in the budget,
then it's back to drug treatment services, then they decide they need an
interdepartmental committee on drugs, and then along comes Penington," he said.

"What do we need to do? Produce a list of people who've died trying to get
into these kind of services? Produce their parents and friends? At what
point do you say this is a tragedy that we're not prepared to accept any more?"

Mr Crosbie sent a letter to all Victorian MPs this week after another
client died of an overdose while waiting for access to a bed.

Odyssey is funded to provide 65 residential treatment beds and, through
fund-raising, provides an extra 15 beds. It has 20 people waiting for help
in its preparation program.

A spokeswoman for Health Minister John Thwaites said the government was
doubling the number of detoxification beds available and had increased the
budget for drug treatment and services by $18 million as of July 1.

She said the government had also opened four youth residential withdrawal
services, 11 youth home-based withdrawal services, eight rural youth
detoxification beds and 10 women's alcohol and drug supported accommodation
places, and put an extra $1.1 million into drug treatment services in the
juvenile justice system.

Premier Steve Bracks said drug detoxification and rehabilitation were part
of the government's four-pronged attack on drugs.

He also said the government was open to a suggestion from VicHealth to set
up "drug hotels" - supervised injecting facilities that provided
accommodation, food, clothes, counselling and medical care.

"If these are suggestions that we should examine in conjunction with the
Liberal Party, we'll do that. But it's not currently our policy," he said.

Opposition health spokesman Robert Doyle said he also supported the concept
- - but without injecting facilities attached.

He said evidence from the Netherlands and Frankfurt showed addicts,
particularly in cold weather, used heroin less when they were provided with
shelter and support.

The opposition will be briefed by the government's drugs adviser, Dr David
Penington, on Monday.