IF WE CARE, LET'S GIVE ADDICTS A SAFE PLACE

Last Sunday week, I travelled to the peninsula with some friends. We parked
our cars among the tea-trees and walked to a bench overlooking the sea.
There we sat quietly for a while and remembered the life and tragic death
of a beautiful and passionate young woman. Her mother was there, along with
close relations and friends.

Cecily had died four years ago to that day from a heroin overdose. She
should have lived a long and happy life. She was vibrant, the sort of
person who gulped down life.

I am reminded of her every time I hear people talk of "druggies" or
"junkies", and I wince at those simplistic and pejorative labels. I
remember her compassion for people and animals and her love for her baby
brother.

As people engage in a battle of words over injecting rooms, I think about
Cecily and what she would have wanted, not only for herself but for other
users.

In the City of Maribyrnong, where I live, a group opposing a supervised
injecting centre in Footscray has been formed. Its members call it
Footscray Matters and say they base their agenda on the principle of social
justice. They claim to speak on behalf of the majority of residents and
traders.

This group does not represent me. My idea of community is not restricted by
geographical or familial boundaries but is linked by other bonds. Where
people matter. And that is what worries me about resident groups lobbying
against injecting rooms - the notion of rights to a physical space takes
precedence over the issue of where drug users should inject.

I have sympathy for Kerry Flattley (who wrote the article "Footscray's not
the place to hide our failure" on this page on May 25) wanting to avoid the
pain he sees in the streets of Footscray. But this same pain is to be seen
in Springvale and Richmond, and in the city and many places around the
suburbs. It cannot be avoided, no matter how we duck and weave.

And this is the fundamental difficulty I have with Flattley's argument. He
says: "...this is not our (i.e. Footscray's) problem and we will not
participate in any measures that treat it as our problem or make it our
problem. It is society's problem and we demand that society deals with it
by sharing its responsibility and its cost."

Flattley must know of John Donne's often-quoted phrase: "No man is an
island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of
the main." It is worth keeping this in mind as we consider these issues. We
must start to think beyond our regional boundaries and recognise that we
are "society".

It is heartening to know that a new group, Footscray Cares, is gathering
force. I hope other regions take note of the emphasis implied in the name.
Our children and our neighbor's children need our care. This includes the
provision of education, counselling, detoxification and rehabilitation
services.

But, meanwhile, too many young people are dying in alleys and public
toilets and alone in their rooms. If they inject heroin they deserve a
secure place to do it. They do not deserve to be avoided or moved on.

The injecting room should stand as a symbol of our compassion, and our
recognition that all lives are worthwhile.

That is what I reflected on when I sat on that bench dedicated to Cecily's
memory and looked far out to the sea. I am sure she would have agreed.