DRUG PROJECT MAY EXPAND ACROSS STATE

The Victorian Government is close to securing Commonwealth support to take
its ground-breaking diversion program for drug offenders statewide.

Health Minister John Thwaites said that negotiations with the Federal
Government to fund the expansion of a program to divert drug users from
crime into rehabilitation were "pretty much final".

Victoria is eligible for a $23 million share of a $220 million fund
announced by the Commonwealth last year to support drug rehabilitation and
other treatment programs.

Mr Thwaites said that the government wanted to build on the success of a
pilot drug diversion program in Melbourne's northern suburbs and expand it
statewide.

The minister said that an expert evaluation of the program showed it had
the potential to help drug users, particularly young people, to break out
of a cycle of drug taking and crime.

"This evaluation is a real indication that if you do point drug users,
particularly young people, in the right direction many of them will take up
the opportunity," he said.

Chief Commissioner Neil Comrie said that police fully supported the
expansion of the program, under which apprehended drug users receive a
caution if they agree to undergo treatment.

Sixty people passed through the program during its trial, half of them 21
years or younger. Of those, 35 per cent chose to stay in treatment after
going through the process.

Paul McDonald, chief executive of the Youth Substance Abuse Service, which
has treated those aged 21 or under who have been diverted through the
program, said yesterday that more than half had come back for more
treatment after they had completed their stated requirement.

"One of the furphies around the drug debate is that young people are
reluctant to go for assistance or treatment," he said.

"We've found time and again that young people actually want help and it
(the drug diversion program) puts them in the right place to deal with
their issues."

Mr Comrie yesterday said that the program could help about 8000 Victorians
each year access drug treatment services.

Police Minister Andre Haermeyer said that it was far better to get such
people into treatment rather than put them in prison.

"The chances of them coming into contact with drugs in the prison system is
greater than in the general community," he said.

Mr Haermeyer said that the program was based on the principle that drug use
was a health rather than criminal issue, but it did not mean the government
was "soft on drugs". "Traffickers, dealers ... these people will be hit
with the full force of the law," he said.

Mr Comrie said that the state-wide implementation of the drug diversion
pilot would free police resources to concentrate on traffickers.

Mr Thwaites said that the diversion program was an important part of the
government's overall drugs strategy, and Commonwealth funding was vital to
its expansion.

"The Commonwealth has supported this program and is considering making a
major funding initiative to enable the expansion," he said.

Negotiations began before Christmas and are expected to be finalised next
month.