WHAT'S IN A NAME?

User. Junkie. The two words are used interchangeably but ask someone who
fits the stereotype and they'll tell you there is a difference. And this
difference could be what the success of supervised injecting rooms depends
on.

Users are discreet, dispose of syringes responsibly and would use an
injecting room, while junkies shoot up in public, throw needles anywhere and
couldn't care less about a room with coffee and biscuits.

A junkie, according to Narelle, a 26-year-old user who has been on and off
heroin for the past seven years, will not use an injecting room.

"A junkie will sell their grandmother's soul for a taste (a hit of heroin).
They leave their needles everywhere, it's disgusting. They would mull it up
(prepare it) at a table in McDonald's if they wanted it that bad."

Her friend Brian, 24, a user since he was 19, agrees. "If this (injecting)
room have a decent walk ahead of them, maybe only 15 minutes, two blocks,
they would find somewhere closer."

Narelle and Brian, who usually buy heroin in Russell or Bourke streets, do
not think dealers would be quick to move close to an injecting room if one
were set up. "They would have enough business with junkies just shooting up
as they pleased. Junkies don't care about a room," he said.

Lisa, 39, a user for 20 years, said she always snaps the needle off a
syringe after she uses and finds a sharps bin, but fewer and fewer drug
addicts take any care.

"I always try and use a toilet or somewhere with a bin nearby, if I have to
shoot up in the city. Everywhere you look are dirty needles, it is bad for
the rest of us," she said.