KINGS CROSS RESIDENTS, BUSINESSES CONSIDER LEGAL ACTION

Outrage over injecting room

SYDNEY: A disused pinball parlour smack in the middle of Australia's most
notorious sleaze strip will become the first legal heroin injecting room.

The empty shop at 66 Darlinghurst Road, Kings Cross, is quietly nestled
amongst strip joints, porn movie houses, pinball parlours and brothels.

By mid-year, 200 heroin users a day are expected to visit the site to shoot
up at the Uniting Church's controversial medically supervised injecting
room.

The decision sparked outrage among residents and local business leaders, who
claim they were not told about the central location of the centre which
would hurt tourism and business.

They are considering legal action to block the move, claiming it breaches
NSW laws on injecting rooms which specify the centre requires community
support.

The site has been approved by NSW Police Commissioner Peter Ryan and NSW
Health director-general Mick Reid, and was backed yesterday by the NSW
Government.

Open between 4pm and 11pm, the centre will accommodate between eight and 10
users at any one time, with two nurses on hand to monitor and consult with
them.

The establishment of the centre is expected to cut the number of overdoses
in the drug-infested area, which is currently averaging six a week, and
reduce the amount of used syringes littering the streets.

Yesterday's announcement has ended months of speculation and uncertainty
about the controversial trial, which again came under fire this week by
United Nations drug experts who accused Australia, among others, of helping
the illicit drug trade by setting up injecting rooms.

It came as Germany's lower House of Parliament legalised injecting rooms
yesterday, with the country's upper House to consider the issue today.

Tempers flared outside the Sydney site yesterday when business leaders
crossed paths with drug users and supporters of the injecting centre.

"This location is an absolute disaster, not only for the local businesses
and the local residents but it's a tourism disaster," one businessman said.

One drug user then interjected, saying the facility would reduce overdose
deaths and help rid the street of used syringes.

"I'm a drug addict okay, I wouldn't be on the street, people wouldn't be
throwing their syringes in the gutter ... if we had a room to do it [in],"
he said.

Newly appointed centre medical director Dr Ingrid van Beek said the site was
ideal because it was well lit, not particularly residential and the most
heavily policed area in NSW.

Dr van Beek said she accepted the centre would be operating under the
spotlight of intense scrutiny but could not rule out the possibility of
overdose deaths at the centre.

Uniting church spokesman Reverend Harry Herbert said Mr Ryan initially had
some reservations about the chosen venue but his fears had been allayed.

"We are not entering an area in which all the adjacent businesses are
squeaky clean, so I think the injecting room will have no effect whatsoever
on that particular section of Darlinghurst Road," Mr Herbert said.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister John Howard said he continued to oppose the
controversial 18-month trial but it was a decision for the NSW government.

"I don't agree with it now and I think as time goes by it will not be seen
as making a positive contribution," Mr Howard told Perth Radio 8PR.

"But it's a decision of the NSW Government and the NSW Police, they are
entitled to take that decision if they believe that's good policy."