FEDERAL LAWYERS REJECT HOWARD LINE ON HEROIN

The Prime Minister's opposition to Victoria's plan for heroin
injecting rooms has been undermined by advice from the
Attorney-General's Department that it might not breach international
treaty obligations.

The advice, given to the Victorian Government in September, is also at
odds with warnings from the United Nations' International Narcotics
Control Board that the plan could breach a treaty and imperil
Australia's $150million-a-year legal opiates industry.

Mr Howard referred to the advice yesterday to demonstrate that his
Government had warned of the potential treaty breach in September,
well before he wrote to the Premiers of Victoria and New South Wales
this week urging them not to proceed until the Commonwealth could
consider "all of the implications" of their plans.

But the full text of the advice from the secretary of the
Attorney-General's Department, Mr Tony Blunn, shows that the injecting
rooms could fall within the treaty if drug users received medical
supervision to help them withdraw from heroin.

Mr Blunn's letter told the State Government that if drug users were
"part of a program of controlled medical supervision aimed at
assisting their withdrawal from heroin", it would "enhance the
possibility" that the injecting facilities would be within Australia's
treaty obligations.

The Victorian Health Minister, Mr John Thwaites, said yesterday
Victoria had always intended to have supervised injecting rooms as
part of a "broader primary health care approach".

A spokesman for the Vienna-based Narcotics Control Board yesterday
reaffirmed the board's opposition to injecting rooms, warning that
Australia could ultimately face an international embargo of its opiate
exports.

However, it would be the first such embargo against a signatory to the
1961 convention on narcotic drugs. And, the spokesman said, the agency
would be "extremely reluctant" to recommend such a penalty. Mr Howard
yesterday told ABC radio the September departmental letter proved that
Canberra had warned Victoria of potential legal problems months ago.

He also dismissed the criticisms of Dr David Penington, the chairman
of the Victorian Government's Drug Policy Expert Committee, who said
the UN agency was influenced by "zealots" who lacked an understanding
of the drug problem.

"Well, I am not a zealot," Mr Howard said. "I'm a concerned Australian
who doesn't believe that having a safe injecting room, so-called, has
been demonstrated overseas to be beneficial and who doesn't believe it
will do other than send the wrong signal here in Australia. That's not
zeal, that's plain Australian commonsense."

But Mr Thwaites said the letter provided evidence that a supervised
injecting facility might not breach international obligations. The
letter states Australia is a party to the Single Convention on
Narcotic Drugs which limits the import, export and production of
prohibited drugs to medical and scientific purposes. "If a
drug-injecting facility was conducted simply to enable users to use
heroin in a clean environment, it would be difficult to argue that the
addicts were in use and possession of drugs for a medical and
scientific purpose," Mr Blunn wrote.

" ... if the framework for operating drug-injecting facilities
indicated that access by drug users would be part of a program of
controlled medical supervision aimed at assisting their withdrawal
from heroin, this would enhance the possibility of the proposals being
within the convention."

Mr Thwaites said: "The facility will contain health professionals who
will not only save lives but also help with rehabilitation and social
support. The Penington committee will be advising on the full range of
services that are needed, which I'm sure will bring the facilities
within the terms of this letter."

Dr Penington said he would be examining different models of medical
supervision for the injecting facilities.

"Certainly a facility which is directly controlled by medical people
many hours in the day is unlikely to be one which will work
effectively on the evidence that we have looked at from Europe," Dr
Penington said.

"On the other hand, medical oversight of the facility will be
necessary, quite certainly, and there need to be ways by which people
using the facility can access treatment and counselling and
rehabilitation services."