NAPTHINE SIGNALS OPPOSITION TO INJECTING CENTRES

Victorian Liberal leader Denis Napthine yesterday gave the strongest
indication yet that the opposition would block controversial
supervised injecting room legislation.

Dr Napthine said it would be "nonsense" to allow trials of the
injecting rooms unless details of where they would be located had been
made public and debated.

Money would be better spent on police resources to target trafficking,
and detoxification facilities, he said.

Dr Napthine refused to say that the Liberals would use their numbers
in the Legislative Council to defeat the legislation when parliament
resumed in mid-August.

Drugs expert David Penington said he was disappointed that Dr Napthine
was commenting on the legislation before Dr Penington addressed the
Liberal party room on July24.

If the legislation is passed, individual supervised injecting rooms in
the municipalities of Yarra, Port Phillip, Maribyrnong, Dandenong or
Melbourne could be established, provided there was council consent.

Dr Napthine was also forced to reflect on the growing illicit drug
problem in his own backyard - his electorate of Portland - at a
gathering of residents from the anti-injecting room group, Footscray
Matters.

Also yesterday, police reported a huge reduction in the number of
ambulance callouts to overdose patients in Footscray.