ONE SUBURB, ONE YEAR, 26 PEOPLE LOST TO HEROIN

When Chris Blake fatally overdosed on heroin in January this year, the
first people to find him were his two young nieces. They thought he
was sleeping and tried to wake him up.

Yesterday, as the girls played in a park in Footscray, the story of
how their uncle died alone after a 10-year heroin addiction was retold
as a lesson for those involved in the debate over drugs.

According to his sister Colleen Grima, Mr Blake's death at 29 might
have been avoided by access to supervised injecting facilities.

"My sister's two little girls found Chris ... and they tried to wake
him, not knowing he had overdosed," she said.

"If there were safe houses where he could have gone, he might be alive
today."

Ms Grima was speaking at a memorial ceremony organised by the Open
Family organisation for Footscray residents who died from heroin
overdoses last year. Twenty-six white crosses were planted at the
Railway Reserve park beside Footscray station, a popular site for drug
users.

Open Family chief executive Nathan Stirling said the ceremony was held
to focus on the lives lost and families affected by heroin use, but
the event was not without politics.

Mr Stirling attacked the emergence of what he called a campaign of
fear over injecting rooms. "So many ridiculous groups are springing up
with emotive, nonsensical statements when people's lives are literally
ending," he said.

His statement followed revelations in The Agethat the local group
Footscray Matters had joined a coalition of anti-injecting room groups
across five municipalities earmarked by the Victorian Government for a
trial of supervised injecting facilities.

Maribrynong City Council, which takes in Footscray, is yet to decide
on whether to allow a trial pending community consultation.