HEROIN TRIAL LACKS LIBERAL SUPPORT

The Victorian Government is yet to win the broad political support needed
to implement the proposed supervised injecting room trial.

The Liberal Party, which controls the upper house of parliament, said it
would not approve such a "radical social experiment" until the full details
were known. The National Party expressed "very, very grave concerns" about
the proposal.

The trial will not go ahead without the support of the Liberal Party, with
legislation set to go before State Parliament during the spring session.

The Gippsland West independent MP, Susan Davies, said while she was
uncomfortable with the trial she would not stand in its way.

She said she would like to see an increase in detoxification and
rehabilitation services.

"It (heroin) is a poison I would rather people stay away from," she said.

Fellow independent MP Craig Ingram said there was deep concern in the
community about supervised injecting rooms and the number of heroin deaths.

"I will be looking very seriously at anything that is proposed to address
the issue. I would have to be fully convinced that this (supervised
injecting rooms) was the best way that we should go," he said.

The Opposition's health spokesman, Mr Robert Doyle, said the Liberal Party
supported recommendations by the Penington committee for local drug plans,
increased support services and further research into the causes of addiction.

He said the party needed more details about the supervised injecting room
trials before giving them approval.

"We believe that there are still some questions to be answered about heroin
injecting facilities," Mr Doyle said.

"We need to know the specifics of what these facilities will do, who will
run them, where they will be and how they will be evaluated."

Mr Doyle said there was bipartisan agreement on the need to address the
problem of heroin use, but "we can neither support nor oppose until we see
the specifics".

He said rehabilitation and detoxification services should be the initial
focus of any drug program, rather than safe injecting facilities.

National Party leader Peter Ryan said he had "very grave concerns" about
the proposal.

He suggested Victoria should monitor similar trials in New South Wales
rather than rush to conduct its own social experiment.