NSW TO USE CONTROVERSIAL DETOX DRUG

SYDNEY: NSW became the first Australian state yesterday to approve the
use of the controversial detoxification drug Naltrexone in public
hospitals to treat heroin addiction.

The drug, available across the state towards the end of the year, is
expected to reduce by two days the withdrawal time for addicts weaning
themselves off heroin.

Announcing the move at a drug summit at state Parliament yesterday,
NSW Special Minister of State John Della Bosca said Naltrexone's
introduction into the public system was to provide an alternative
solution and would be administered closely.

"We are very careful and tread our path fairly carefully," he
said.

The use of Naltrexone in detoxification has a chequered history, some
patients dying after the drug was used in the "rapid detox" process in
conjunction with anaesthesia or heavy sedation.

The state Government aims to avoid the problems associated with its
use by only introducing it a few days into the patient's detox process.

The director of Clinical Health Services with NSW Health, Dr Tony
Gill, said, "What we are introducing into the public health system is
induction on to Naltrexone within detoxification which occurs after a
couple of days and, therefore, doesn't have the problems of an
anaesthetic or very heavy sedation and the risks associated with those."

Naltrexone blocks the opiate sites in the brain, suppressing cravings
and preventing any heroin high if the patient shoots up.

Addicts who begin detoxification would be given the drug in the second
day of their withdrawal, shortening the process by two days.

NSW Health will develop protocols for the drug's use, including which
patients would be suitable for treatment, before training medical
practitioners throughout the state.

Dr Gill said a continuation of Naltrexone treatment after
detoxification would be left to GPs.

"The intention is to get people through withdrawals in a shorter
period of time and hopefully more successfully," he said.

The Government will spend $50,000 on training for practitioners,
additional costs to be absorbed by the clinics.

Another hot topic at the Salvation Army-convened drug summit was the
Government's heroin shooting gallery trial.

NSW Opposition Leader Kerry Chikarovski criticised the media for
popularising the 18-month trial in Sydney's Kings Cross.

"We need to have the courage to stand up and say that just because
something is popular in the media doesn't mean it's right," she said.

"We've got to have the courage to say, for example, that an injecting
room is not about helping people give up drugs.

"It is merely about facilitating their ongoing addiction."

The Salvation Army's Major Brian Watters said the room would have only
minimal positive effects, and he wanted preventive measures introduced
instead.

"I liken it to building a decent fence at the top of a cliff instead
of having a fleet of ambulances at the bottom," he said.

Mr Della Bosca said, however, that the injecting room was designed as
a gateway to treatment, not an end in itself.

"It's completely different to many of the experiments in this type of
program in other countries, and it is a trial." - AAP