DRUG CHALLENGE FOR LABOR

THE Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation has called on WA's Upper House
MPs to support a move by the Australian Democrats for an inquiry into
holding a heroin prescription trial and setting up safe injecting rooms.

Foundation president Jason Meotti said the debate about alternative heroin
harm reduction measures had been going around in circles for years without
a serious study on whether they would be useful. He urged bipartisan
support to hold such an inquiry to get answers on the effectiveness of safe
injecting rooms and a heroin trial.

Labor would be put to the test when the Democrats' motion came to a vote in
the Legislative Council because its drug strategy called for an inquiry
into injecting rooms, Mr Meotti said.

Democrats MLC Norm Kelly told the Legislative Council that he had dropped
his push for the immediate introduction of safe injecting rooms.

He would instead seek to set up an inquiry into their effectiveness in
preventing overdose deaths.