BRACKS IN TALKS BID ON DRUGS

VICTORIAN Premier Steve Bracks indicated yesterday he was willing to
compromise on a plan to trial five heroin-injecting rooms, as
Coalition opposition mounted.Mr Bracks said he would discuss any
alternatives developed by the Liberal Party, including fewer trial
facilities.

"We'd look at any sensible proposal the Liberal Party wanted to
discuss - looking for support from the Liberal Party means they have
input as well," the Premier said.

He ruled out any prospect the Government would seek to establish the
drug trial without legislation if it could not win the support of the
Opposition - a move that would require police agreement to not arrest
users near the injecting rooms.

"We have made a decision to go with legislation because the police are
seeking legislation, and so they should," he said.

But Opposition health spokesman Robert Doyle rejected the Government's
offer, saying its willingness to compromise was proof of policy confusion.

"Premier Bracks is running around in panic mode on a very serious
social issue, asking us to support something when he's not even sure
what he's asking us to support or the public to accept."

Mr Doyle said the Liberal Party would not make up its mind on the
proposal until the legislation was introduced in parliament. "We have
no policy at this stage."

The exchange came as the country's largest agency dedicated to helping
drug-addicted youth yesterday released findings of a survey that found
widespread support for the injecting-rooms trial.

The Youth Substance Abuse Service found that of the 215 frequent drug
users questioned, 89 per cent said they would use an injecting facility.

Mr Bracks received support from federal Opposition deputy leader Simon
Crean, who urged Victorian Labor to press ahead regardless of
political obstacles.

"It's their intention to implement it and I would encourage them in
that direction," he said.

But National Party leader Peter Ryan reiterated his personal
opposition, saying the trial was a step towards "the ultimate
surrender, which would be to legalise heroin".

But after Independent MPs Russell Savage and Craig Ingram expressed
reservations on Wednesday about supporting enabling legislation, the
third Independent, Gippsland West MP Susan Davies, yesterday offered
tentative support for the trials.

"I think we need to look at possibilities that might reduce the number
of syringes on the ground and reduce the number of bodies lying in the
gutter," she said.