PRISON DETOX SCHEME IN BID TO BEAT CRIME

Prisoners on heroin will be given the controversial drug Naltrexone to
help break their addictions under a series of radical NSW Government
trials announced yesterday.

Corrective Services Minister Bob Debus said the program was designed
to ensure inmates were drug-free before they were released back into
the community. It was believed to be the first of its kind in Australia.

He said the trial would also include the use of Buprehorphine, which
has yet to be approved by federal health authorities, and a
long-lasting methadone alternative called LAAM.

If successful, the programs would help break the cycle of drug abuse
and crime, Mr Debus said.

"Over 70 per cent of prisoners are jailed because they have committed
a drug-related offence," he told Parliament.

"Drug-free former inmates will mean one thing: less crime, less
housebreaking, less crime in the streets."

Mr Debus said the trials were initiated in response to recommendations
from last year's Drug Summit. Under the program, Naltrexone would be
given to about 450 inmates at Parklea Correctional Centre over a
two-year period from August.