MOST ADDICTS FAVOR ROOM IDEA: STUDY

Heroin addicts overwhelmingly support the establishment of supervised
injecting rooms, a survey of 215 of Melbourne's street-based users has found.

The survey of the attitudes of street addicts found 96.2 per cent to be in
favor of injecting rooms if they were set up in an area where they bought
and used heroin.

The survey also found that 88.7 per cent of participants would use an
injecting room instead of the street, with concern for the welfare of the
wider community being a major factor in forcing their heroin use indoors.

"Injecting rooms are not just one answer to the problem. The public need to
support safe injecting room not just for use but for themselves and the
rest of the community," an unidentified 28-year-old woman commented in the
survey.

It was found that the heroin users who participated in the survey were well
informed on the issues of supervised injecting rooms and were articulate in
expressing their views. The participants were also aware of the potential
health and public benefits that the rooms were expected to deliver for drug
users and the wider community.

Acting executive officer of Youth Substance Abuse Service Fran Holgate said
that a major concern of the drug users surveyed was to minimise the harm
their syringes caused to the wider community.

"We did not know the extent of their concerns for the wider community," Ms
Holgate said.

The survey was produced by the service with Turning Point Alcohol and Drug
Centre.