PROFILE OF AN URBAN HEROIN ADDICT

The average heroin user experiences his or her first hit at the age of 18,
is hooked less than two years later, and can expect to overdose at least
once while a drug addict.

A survey of 511 heroin users in central and south-western Sydney, conducted
by the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, has been included in a
report on drug enforcement, released yesterday.

Of those surveyed, 65 per cent said they relied on illegal activities such
as selling drugs, shoplifting and robbery to support their heroin habits.

Two-thirds of those questioned said they had been stopped by police in the
past six months, and three-quarters who indicated they had a habit worth
more than $100 a day said they had been arrested.

Only one-quarter of respondents described obtaining heroin as "very risky",
while 70 per cent said it was either "fairly risky" or "not very risky".

The average age at which the respondents started using heroin was 18.7
years, regular use started at 20.4, and 44 per cent said they had overdosed.

The report found almost 40 per cent of the people interviewed indicated they
would "definitely" or "probably" enter a methadone program "tomorrow" if a
place were available.

The report's author, Dr Don Weatherburn, said Asian and Aboriginal heroin
users did not enter methadone programs at as high a rate as Caucasian or
Middle Eastern participants.

"Lack of interest does not seem to be the explanation, although a high
proportion of Asian respondents appear to be concerned about substituting
one addiction for another," the report says.

Dr Weatherburn said the issue needed further research.

"More study may find [Asians and Aborigines] are more suited to [the
methadone alternative] naltrexone, but it is an issue we need to
investigate," he said.