SO IT'S COME DOWN TO THIS

VICTORIA will get five state-sanctioned heroin injecting rooms this
year 96 but local councils and residents will decide where. The State
Government yesterday approved an 18-month trial of drug rooms,
claiming 64per cent support in suburbs where they will open.

But the plan may be thwarted by some councils earmarked for the
centres.

Only Port Phillip and Yarra councils yesterday backed the trials 96
with the nation's first official drug room possibly to open in
Collingwood in September.

The cities of Melbourne, Greater Dandenong and Maribyrnong remained
non-committal, declaring they would consult residents before deciding.

The State Government backed the trials after a report from the Drug
Policy Expert Committee, chaired by Professor David Penington,
recommended them to stop the climbing heroin abuse death toll.

But Prof. Penington conceded supervised heroin injecting rooms would
not be set up against the wishes of local people.

"There are of course people who are opposed ... but the problem is
rapidly getting worse," Prof. Penington said.

In other developments yesterday:

UNDER-18s will be banned from centres during the trial, but the
government has left open the possibility of including them later.

SHOPS and residential areas will be no-go zones for the
trials.

POLICE have warned they will pursue dealers trying to take advantage
of the trial by trafficking in the area.

INJECTING rooms will be set up in ground-floor, multi-roomed
centres.

$55MILLION in new funds for drug programs has been committed by the
State Government over the next three years, in an early Budget
announcement.

Councils will get $8million as part of sharing the burden of the
government's controversial drugs policy.

Prof. Penington said the 64per cent support for injecting rooms showed
the public wanted something done.

"We're not talking about establishing centres in open trading areas,
residential areas and so on," he said. "We're not talking about
establishing centres against the wishes of local communities."

Prof. Penington said his recommendations aimed at dealing with
community concern about open drug use rather than solving the drug
problem.

"We are not suggesting for one moment that injecting facilities are
the answer to Victoria's drug problem," he said.

"They are specifically to do with the open drug scene that is causing
so much disquiet in certain communities."

Health Minister John Thwaites said the injecting rooms were one part
of a wide-ranging drug strategy.

"While contentious, a trial of properly-established injecting
facilities has considerable potential to save lives and reduce public
nuisance and associated crime," he said. "The government is leading on
this issue but we need to take the community with us."

Centres would be positioned near drug markets but would not be on
shopping strips and would be unobtrusive, he said.

Doctors, lawyers, welfare groups and the state's leading business body
welcomed the trial.

AMA state vice president Allan Zimet said the association was keen to
see well monitored injecting rooms as well as research into their
efficacy. "The harm minimisation approach to drug abuse looks at
treating the addiction and subsequent illness rather than the crime,"
he said.

Traders led the charge against it, groups calling for reassurance
injecting rooms would not be placed near their shops.

Australian Retailers Association spokesman Timothy Piper said the
committee had given an assurance the centres would not be on major
trading thoroughfares.

He said this should extend to all retail areas. "Shoppers must not be
alienated from their local shopping environment," he said.

Federal Health Minister Michael Wooldridge said he was concerned about
the potential legal liabilities of operators, but the Federal
Government would not block the rooms.

The State Government will introduce legislation in this session of
parliament, and delay resolution to allow public debate until the
autumn session in September.

Mr Thwaites appealed for a bipartisan approach. The government will
need the support of Liberal MPs to get the laws through the Upper House.

Opposition health spokesman Robert Doyle said the Liberals wanted more
detail. He said people needed to know exact sites. "With these very
radical social proposals, I think we need to have firm answers before
we support or oppose," he said.

National Party Leader Peter Ryan said the facilities sent out the
wrong messages and asked why the government was rushing to do it.