REVOLUTION AHEAD

MOST Victorians think heroin injection rooms will be commonplace within 10
years.

Sixty-eight per cent believe marijuana will be legalised in the next decade.

A Herald Sun poll has also revealed the vast majority (75 per cent) expect
heroin to remain an illegal drug.

Seventy-nine per cent believe Victoria's heroin toll will pass the state's
road toll within 10 years.

The Herald Sun Millennium Survey found 65 per cent of Victorians fear an
epidemic worse than AIDS before 2050.

Even more young people (70 per cent) believe there will be a killer disease
to rival AIDS and 67per cent of women expect a new epidemic.

These findings are part of a major Herald Sun poll that canvassed the
hopes, aspirations, fears and predictions of Victorians.

The Millennium Survey results will be used to help shape how the Herald Sun
tackles a wide range of issues in the new century.

Other findings of the survey, taken from a random sample of 2000 Victorians
selected from thousands of responses, include:

MOST believe robotic hearts will end the need for cardiac transplants
within 10 years.

47 PER CENT are convinced scientists will be able to clone humans within 10
years.

MORE than two-thirds of Victorians fear our rapidly ageing society poses a
threat to Australia's well-being.

76 PER CENT believe health care will be less affordable in 20 years than it
is now.

ONLY 48 per cent expect the public health system to improve in the next 20
years.

75 PER CENT believe doctors will learn to regenerate tissue and bone so
limb replacement becomes a reality within 10 years.

ONE in three women say medical advances that prolong life are bad because
they interfere with the natural cycle of life.

The survey revealed most Victorians are fairly confident medical science
will come up with cures for many diseases within 50 years. Seventy-three
per cent expect there to be a cure for AIDS within that time.

Those aged 45 to 54 are most confident of there being an AIDS cure (82 per
cent), followed by those aged 55 to 64 (80 per cent) and 35 to 44-year-olds
(77 per cent).

Only 64 per cent of those aged under 25 expect a cure for AIDS.

Even more Victorians expect a cure for cancer.

Seventy-eight per cent expect this killer to be tamed by 2050.

A cure for the common cold is also high on the list of expectations.

Seventy-one per cent of Victorians expect doctors to come up with something
to prevent the onslaught of coughs and sneezes.

And even more people aged over 65 (76 per cent) expect colds to be a thing
of the past within 50 years.

A massive 82 per cent of Victorians expect the gap between rich and poor to
grow in the next 20 years.

Those aged 25 to 34 (86 per cent) are even more fearful about the haves
getting a bigger slice of the pie.

Forty-three per cent of Victorians think Australia will fall into a
depression in the next 50 years.

Rural Victorians (47 per cent) thought it even more likely the state would
sink well into the red, while the majority of those aged over 65 (56 per
cent) are expecting another depression.

Australia's short-term prospects were considered brighter, with most (55
per cent) predicting its economy to be stronger in 20 years than it is now.

Even more under 25s (68 per cent) expect a healthier Australian economy in
2020 than in 1999.

A bare majority of parents (51 per cent) think their children will be
better off than them when they grow up.

And 59 per cent of Victorians believe Australian children will grow up to
be better off than their parents.